health insurance - price soar?

jazzlewazzle

hi, not sure if this is the right forum for this?

i am with quinn health care and my insurance has gone up drastically this year - whats the story? is this the same with all health care insurance providers?

Olduvai

The costs of private health insurance has been on the increase year on year. The VHI recently announced a price increase of 8% in its premiums. The reasons (although I am sick and tired of hearing them) has now conveniently shifted from the increased costs of procedures (which has decreased in costs) to the increased numbers of people and older persons who are availing of procedures. For all premiums couple in that equation the levy on all policy holders that was introduced by our esteem govt and under community rating the - monies that is paid by hibernian aviva and quinn to the vhi because it has an older client base.... hello that's the market. I cant wait for the future where the vhi may themselves have a younger client base for I equally take it that the vhi will have no difficulty in paying quinn and hibernian using that same rationale.... then there's the amount of monies they have to raise in their balance sheet to meet the financial regulatory authority requirements that so far didnt apply to them.... but not for too much longer.

That's the long and the short of it - and the way this economy is going its highly probable that more persons will be unable to afford private insurance which will put increased pressure on a public system that is already creaking at the seams!

chocgirl

Yeah I was shocked when I renewed mine last year, the goverment levy is the biggie I think, it's an additional 120 odd. I reckon a lot of people will be doing without this year!

locum-motion

jazzlewazzle wrote: »

hi, not sure if this is the right forum for this?

Perhaps "Biz > Personal > Banking & Insurance & Pensions" would be better.

jazzlewazzle wrote: »

i am with quinn health care and my insurance has gone up drastically this year - whats the story? is this the same with all health care insurance providers?

At the end of the day, healthcare insurance is a financial product which can be provided by one of three players in the marketplace. I believe that ultimately market forces will determine prices. To get the best price, shop around. If you find a better deal, take it. The greater the proportion of customers that do just that, the more price competition there will be in the marketplace.
The reason why community rating is necessary is that VHI has an older client base. If all of those older clients were to make it a habit to do just what I've suggested above, each and every year before renewal, then presumably a proportion of them would have moved insurer, and there would now be no need for community rating.

nesf

Community rating is necessary unless you want to see a situation where healthcare is cheap when you're young but very expensive when you're older or start having a family. You pay the same here regardless of whether you're ill or healthy, which is about the fairest way to do it as a society though it means higher premiums for the young and healthy.

The_Conductor

The problem is that we pay lipservice to 'community rating' without actually sitting down and costing it. The current government levy- is a sticking plaster that quite simply isn't working. Since 2008- almost 200,000 people have allowed their private policies to lapse- certainly some have moved from one providor to another- but a sizeable number have simply given up on private health insurance, because they don't see any inherent benefit in it.

VHI premia have gone up 137% since deregulation- as products launched by competitors have proven highly successful at targetting younger clientele.

We have been trying to have a US style health system- alongside a public system- and have managed to create a monster that really doesn't suit either model.

If we want community rating- and all it entails- we have to accept the cost associated with it. We also have to differentiate between it and public care- or else all we'll have are vast numbers of older people and the those with chronic illness- seeking private health insurance (as is happening at the moment)- who require cross-subsidisation from the public system.

Community rating is fine in theory- however, Ireland does not have a true private health care market, regardless of how we try to package it, and the current 'levy' is only paying lipservice to a theory that doesn't work in practise.

locum-motion

nesf wrote: »

Community rating is necessary unless you want to see a situation where healthcare is cheap when you're young but very expensive when you're older or start having a family...

Absolutely correct. I meant 'risk eqalisation', not 'community rating'.
Sorry.