Today I had to call my health insurance carrier to get an explanation on a statement I received from one of my providers.  I had already talked to the provider and was told the problem was with my insurer.  Between the two, I finally discovered why health insurance is so expensive in America.

It all began with a charge of $114.00 for what I was told was a deductible. I really can’t tell you exactly why I have to pay that amount because, after spending nearly 30 minutes on the phone with customer service, I still don’t understand why I am being billed for this amount.

And therein lies the answer to why health insurance in America is so expensive. Between a billing system that is more confusing than a Rubik’s Cube, a system of what’s covered and what isn’t covered that isn’t understood by any customer service rep I’ve ever spoken to, and providers to include doctors and facilities with no sense of what is meant by fair and just compensation, the entire healthcare system, including health insurance, is quite simply a conspiracy to bilk each and everyone of us out of billions and billions of dollars each year. Confound and confuse is obviously their modus operendi. Why else can you never receive a straight answer. Even worse, are the conflicting answers often proffered.

A health insurance policy should be able to be understood by the lowest common denominator.  By confusing and confounding us, our health insurance system collects more than their fair share from all of us with impunity. We ask no questions because we don’t know what to ask. And when we do ask — well, we might as well be listening to a politician orate. They say a lot but tell us nothing.

It’s no wander that we have become apathetic over health care and health insurance. But this is also the reason the entire system has burgeoned out of control. We have allowed it to happen, and that’s exactly what the system is counting on in the future. Their financial well being depends on it.