Gephardt: Health insurance poised to spike in coming years

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Brace yourself: The amount Utahns pay for health insurance could go up in the coming years, insurance experts said, and it's not because of COVID-19 — at least not directly.

People put off a lot of elective surgeries to avoid going to hospitals and possibly contracting COVID-19. For the moment, it's left insurance companies with a lot of extra money — so much so that, by law, many Americans will be entitled to refunds for 2020 insurance premiums.

But Les Masterson of Insure.com said the probable-refund is nothing to celebrate because it means people put off necessary care. That's bad for their health and ultimately bad for everyone's premiums.

Insurance companies are doing what they do every year — trying to guess what next year will bring — and Masterson said insurance companies are worried.

"They're afraid in the next couple years, they're going to get hit with all this pent-up care," he told the KSL Investigators.

With the vaccine, more people are likely going to seek care next year, which will have insurance companies paying out more. Masterson said the price spike could really come a year from now, and then for a few years.

Yes, people will be going to the doctor again but the real fear is that those who delayed treatment of health issues in 2020 will have allowed those minor issues to grow in scope — which will end up costing a lot more money to treat in the coming years.

"In the long run, if they're putting off necessary care a year or two down the road, it could end up being a lot more expensive, both for them to pay for and for the insurer," Masterson said.

Putting off medical procedures isn't just about a fear of COVID-19. Sadly, because health insurance for about half of all Americans is tied to their jobs, somewhere around 11% of people have lost insurance this year, according to a survey by Insure.com.

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahLifestyle

Matt Gephardt

You might say that Matt Gephardt was born into journalism. On the day he arrived at the Indiana hospital, his father, a reporter, had to quickly rush away after the delivery in order to front a news report. Matt’s television debut came a few years later when, as a toddler, he was used by an Indianapolis reporter to demonstrate how prescription drugs can be mistaken for candy. Matt’s “professional” career in the business began when he was 17 years old, attending high school in Los Angeles, and he landed a summer-job as a teleprompter operator in the Salt Lake City market. He moved to Utah, enrolled at the University of Utah, and never looked back. In the more than 20 years since, Matt has worked virtually every newsroom job: production crew, video editing, video photography, producing, executive producing. In 2010, Matt made the jump in front of the camera as an investigative “watchdog” reporter. Matt’s reporting has not only earned him several journalism awards, it has also led to law and policy changes at local, state and federal levels. When not investigating on behalf of Utah consumers, Matt enjoys “urban hiking” with his wife and three children – setting out on foot towards Sugarhouse or Downtown hoping to run into a friendly group of people gathered at a park, a festival or a new store or restaurant to try out. Matt is absolutely thrilled to be working at KSL where the commitment to ethical journalism, fairness and community is in lockstep with his own ideals.

Sloan Schrage

Sloan Schrage started as an “old man” intern with KSL TV in 2007. For the past ten years, he’s produced daily and investigative stories that impact safety, security and wallets of Utah consumers. When he’s not at KSL, he’s either with his family or trying to repair cars with help from YouTube tutorials, or buying cameras or other photography gear that he’ll never use.