Where 10 percent inflation is the good news
It's health insurance. (Picture from Chuck Ponzi's blog.)
Health care inflation will slow next year, writes Kaiser Network proudly. A report from AON Consulting estimates next year's health premiums will be up "only" 10.6% from this year.
The company surveyed 70 carriers, and it didn't matter what kind of plan they were talking about -- HMOs, PPOs, POS plans or CDH plans. (Consumer-Directed Health plans are the latest "silver bullet" conservatives say will rein in costs once and for all.)
No matter what plan you're on, the increase is roughly the same, within a few tenths of a point. It's more than double the rate of inflation, meaning health care will keep swallowing more of the national budget next year.
The usual villains were described. Aging. Rising demand. Higher drug costs. The report suggested costs might be cut a bit through company-directed wellness and disease-management programs.
But it's still going up.
Again, health inflation is a reality no matter what plan is used, no matter whether it's seen as a private or a public good. You may cut your own bills a bit by taking better care of yourself, but not much.
Consider this an open thread.