Rise of health insurance costs has raised anxiety among some in South Florida

MIAMI — First it was home insurance. Then it was auto insurance. And now some South Floridians could see a dramatic rise in their health insurance costs.

Industry analysts are predicting a big rise in health insurance costs in 2024. Open enrollment for health plans will open shortly and the true costs will become apparent.

For private health insurance offered by many companies, worker premiums could go up anywhere from 5 to 20 percent, according to health insurance experts

The jump is being blamed in part on inflation, the rising cost of healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the Van Horn Law Group, which has 30 workers, employees have experienced 10 to 15 percent health insurance premium increases every year for the past few years.

Though the firm, which deals with bankruptcies, has a brisk business, the revenue isn’t enough to deal with increasing health care costs. The firm pays 50 percent of the healthcare cost for workers

“Wages are going up but it’s not keeping pace,” said founder Chad Van Horn.

Employee LaVerne Wallace was paying nearly $500 a month for health insurance before she switched to the open market in April.

She is paying about $200 a month now under the Affordable Care Act but that plan has a downside.

“It was hard to find physicians who would take it,” she said. “And I lost my primary care physician.”

Expecting even higher health insurance costs next year, Van Horn said he is looking at ways to help his employees shoulder the cost.

Joan Murray

Joan Murray is an award-winning reporter who joined CBS Miami in August 2001, shortly before the 9/11 terror attacks. She was among the first to report the South Florida connection to the terrorists.