It is worth noting that the amount "paid" bids award hasn't increased in at least 10 years. Initially, the EPs paid all of the costs (airfare, hotel, entry fee, etc) directly. As that got too expensive for them, the board of directors (a majority of whom are EPs) voted to cap the contribution required of the EPs. In the meantime, the price has continued to skyrocket, but it no longer affects a majority of the board members directly, so they haven't seemed to care about the price. The "paid" bid bid now doesn't even typically cover just the hotel and entry fee - much less airfare. Even with a paid bid, it can still cost several hundred dollars to send an athlete to Worlds.
As the price increases, the price of a paid bid should grow to match. This should be re-configured to cover the (typical) average cost to send an athlete. Perhaps then, the Board of Directors would be more interested in keeping the cost down to a reasonable amount. Let them share some of the pain athletes and families feel.