Should Health Insurance increase annually as you get older??

Masala

Hi

I see my policy for myself and wife is gone up Again this year ... this time by 24%. This is same plan for last few years and went up already ++% last year.

Just wondering are they 'trying to run me out' of the game as I get older?

Am afraid that when I hit 63/64/65 .... the costs will be prohibitive.

Is 24% the going increase for 2021....has anyone seen this happen to them??

JPup

The policy price will have gone up the same amount for everyone regardless of age. So nothing personal to your situation.

Best thing would be to contact a broker and ask them if they can find a similar policy that is cheaper. If you shop around you can save quite a bit usually.

Jim2007

Masala wrote: »

Hi
Is 24% the going increase for 2021....has anyone seen this happen to them??

I’ve never really dug into it, but it is a fairly well known issue here in Switzerland as we don’t have a public health system.

As I understand it healthcare costs are seen as a shared burden among the holders of a particular policy. So if the total cost of healthcare for the group goes up, everyone in the group will get hit with a higher premium nothing to do with the individual.

Typical what happens is that as the group gets older the costs rise, so the premiums rise, but since you are older, making a switch is more difficult and high premiums discourage young people from joining.

Marty Bird

OP use https://www.hia.ie/ to compare your plan with other providers you maybe able to get it cheaper.

Geuze

24% is not a normal rise.

Typical rises are more like 4-6%.

Masala

Geuze wrote: »

24% is not a normal rise.

Typical rises are more like 4-6%.

Gonna ring them tomorrow on it.

It a nightmare looking at these things.... always afraid that I will get a cheaper plan but then get caught out when it comes to claim as I miss3d something in the move.

At my time o& life ...its Eyes, Hips, Knees, Heart I need covering. Giving me Maternity, Free Kids cover is worth sfa to me!

Atlantic Dawn

Masala wrote: »

Gonna ring them tomorrow on it.

It a nightmare looking at these things.... always afraid that I will get a cheaper plan but then get caught out when it comes to claim as I miss3d something in the move.

At my time o& life ...its Eyes, Hips, Knees, Heart I need covering. Giving me Maternity, Free Kids cover is worth sfa to me!

You basically need your own team of actuaries to look at the plans, goes way over my head. If it was me I'd list my must haves like specialist cardiac, cancer, new treatments etc that you need and search price plans offering this.

joebloggs32

Masala wrote: »

Gonna ring them tomorrow on it.

It a nightmare looking at these things.... always afraid that I will get a cheaper plan but then get caught out when it comes to claim as I miss3d something in the move.

At my time o& life ...its Eyes, Hips, Knees, Heart I need covering. Giving me Maternity, Free Kids cover is worth sfa to me!

They are looking for suckers who don't move their policies often enough and just simply renew.
Its most likely a similar plan to what you are on would hsve been launched recently under a different name, with a lower price to tempt in new customers. Its a game of cat and mouse really. You just have to find it.

Jim2007

Geuze wrote: »

24% is not a normal rise.

Typical rises are more like 4-6%.

I hope it will not become the new normal, but as the demographics change the cost of healthcare will rise, that is life.

Here (Switzerland) the norm among our 50+ health insurance companies is about 1% - 3%, a few will hit 7% - 10% and the odd outlier will be 25% or more.

Probably like pensions, it is a crisis waiting to happen.

Wanderer78

Masala wrote:

Just wondering are they 'trying to run me out' of the game as I get older?

Its the nature of the beast of introducing highly extractive industries such as insurance into health care, sometimes in order to 'maximise share holder value', squeezing customers is required, it's called 'rent seeking', apparently it's good for us!

titan18

Health insurance is community rated, so barring the LCR charge if you enter after 35 with no previous cover, everyone pays the same. Maternity benefits on health insurance is also mandatory

Jim2007

joebloggs32 wrote: »

They are looking for suckers who don't move their policies often enough and just simply renew.
Its most likely a similar plan to what you are on would hsve been launched recently under a different name, with a lower price to tempt in new customers. Its a game of cat and mouse really. You just have to find it.

That is all well and good when you are young and healthy. But as you get older it becomes much more difficult to simply switch as you will almost certainly have pre existing conditions, on going treatments and a higher risk profile during waiting periods.

joebloggs32

Jim2007 wrote: »

That is all well and good when you are young and healthy. But as you get older it becomes much more difficult to simply switch as you will almost certainly have pre existing conditions, on going treatments and a higher risk profile during waiting periods.

If you have existing cover then no waiting periods can be applied to your new policy for the conditions covered on your old one. Ongoing treatments may not prevent switching.

The whole "corporate" plan thing shows up how much of a charade the switching thing is.
Look for a plan that suits your needs, and when identified, ask them to give you a corporate an that will have those benefits

The J Stands for Jay

Jim2007 wrote: »

That is all well and good when you are young and healthy. But as you get older it becomes much more difficult to simply switch as you will almost certainly have pre existing conditions, on going treatments and a higher risk profile during waiting periods.

Not really relevant with community rating.