Health insurance costs are increasing every year. Across the board, the cost of the average health insurance policy premium has gone up by nearly 100% over just the past decade, three times faster than the average paycheck. Whether you are fortunate enough to have a good health care benefit package from your employer or have to foot the total cost on your own, you no doubt feel the pinch. But do you really know all the costs of your health insurance policy? Most people would be surprised to learn that they don't.

The reason is that we tend to think that our health insurance policy premiums will pay all of our health care related costs. But the fact is that they may be only a part of what we actually lay out for medical services during a typical year, especially if a serious health issue should arise. The difference between what we assume our total cost for health care coverage is and what we actually pay are the hidden health insurance costs. Once we become aware that they exist it is not hard to identify them and to determine the true cost of our health care.

The deductible is the amount you will pay out of your own pocket before your private health insurance policy kicks in. Deductibles range tremendously and affect the cost of your premium; a higher deductible means a lower premium, but they can be significant and the trade off is not truly equitable. The average amount that a family policy holder will pay is now well above $3,000.00 per year. Add that $250.00 to the cost of your monthly premium. Even if your plan is employer provided your deductible increased between 30 and 60% over the past few years and for high-deductible plans your personal payout is significantly more.

Co-payments are another out-of-pocket expense that you are responsible for each time you visit a doctor's office or fill a prescription. Like deductibles, they have been escalating rapidly in recent years. Some people regard this as a minimal outlay because it can be as little as $25.00 for each visit or prescription but some are higher and if you fill several prescriptions a month and visit you physician regularly these add quite a bit to your real health care costs. Because the cost of prescription drug is also rising drastically, co-payments are now a major part of your health insurance costs.

Take the time to figure it out for yourself and you will see that the real cost of your health insurance policy to you makes it the second largest expense in your household budget behind only your mortgage.