8 of 10 · Half the money
A typical year is cheap. The premium is not priced off a typical year.
MEPS 2022: top 5% average vs the cheaper half of the country.
In MEPS 2022 the cheaper half of the country averaged $374 of medical spending. The top 5% averaged $67,321. Those five people spent about half of everyone’s dollars.
The premium is a tax on the room to pay for the five. If you want to move the pile, you move hospital nights and specialty drugs — not the aspirin.