Ask an average American about his or her opinion on the value of health care he or she is having and the answer will be undescerning! Typical Americans are so disconnected from the actual cost of their health care that they cannot make sound comments about the value they are receiving for their money. Some seek unnecessary care or avoid necessary care because they have no idea how much the care really costs. Health insurance is expensively priced because it has to do with the life of human beings. Health services in America is expensive and the insurance provider has to pay for the health practitioners whenever the case arises.
Insurance premiums which the insured pay regularly to the insurer as a contribution for the insurance contract are pooled together and used to upset the cost of health services recived by the insured whenever the case arises. The insurers calculate the premium using the total number of the insured with the projection of cases expected using precedence and future development forecasts (actuary science). The premium has to cover the cost of undertaking restoration of the insured and administrative costs of the insurers plus profit to justify their being in business.
Most Americans do not subscribe to health insurance until it becomes necessary. Some health cases are not determinable until they become manifested, for example cancer. Predicting its future occurence may be difficult and paying for its care is expensive. If more people subscribe for health insurance irrespective of their state of health, the premium will be lower and health insurance will be cheaper.
Compared to places like United Kingdom, Sweden, France and Ireland, health insurance is more expensive in America because the governement wants to encourage best practice in health services and is not ready to subsidise. In these other countries mentioned above, governments subsidised the cost of health services of the residents becuse of the social consequence of not being responsible. America has left health services in the hand of private practitioners. All costs are paid by individuals!
But compared with other services like entertainment, food and housing, and viewing health as a property without alternative, one can say that health insurance in America is not expensive. A lot of people that recieved health services in 2008 were from outside America. If the services are expensive, those people will not patronise it. Customers claim it is intensive. It is a matter of value for money (vfm).