You may have recently seen an increase in the amount you pay for health insurance. Here, we look at some of the things that might be causing this and how to stop them.
According to the market research group Datamonitor, health insurance premiums go up by 8% every year because of medical inflation. The steady development of new drugs, treatments, and tools used to diagnose medical conditions, as well as the costs that come with them, are clear reasons for this....
You may have recently seen an increase in the amount you pay for health insurance. Here, we look at some of the things that might be causing this and how to stop them.
According to the market research group Datamonitor, health insurance premiums go up by 8% every year because of medical inflation. The steady development of new drugs, treatments, and tools used to diagnose medical conditions, as well as the costs that come with them, are clear reasons for this. This makes sense, and everyone wants the most recent tests and treatments. Equipment gets old over time, and the words "newer" and "improved" always mean that the price will go up.
A second reason could be that insurance risks and costs go up as people get older. There are still a lot of insurance companies that use age bands, where costs go up at the end of every ten years. For example, a person between the ages of 40 and 49 would pay the agreed-upon premium for their age group. When you reach the scary age of 50, the next age group is 50 to 59, and so on. The increase gets bigger as you get older, and for people 60 to 69, it could be as much as 50 percent.
Many insurance companies have chosen to spread out the price hikes over a year. Three of these are BUPA, Pruhealth, and Axa PPP. Customers of Axa PPP, for example, should expect their premiums to go up by about 2% because of their age. It is said that this method is being considered by other insurers.
People are worried about how quickly the cost of health insurance is going up, so many decide to drop their policies when they're getting close to age 60, which may be when they need them the most. In the seven years before 2004, the number of people with private health insurance went down by 15.2%, according to data from Datamonitor.
Insurers have come up with some ways to cut costs because of this. You could choose to pay a higher deductible, which would let you make a plan that fits your budget. For example, BUPA says that you could cut your premium in half if you were willing to pay a GBP2000 excess. If you spend more than GBP100, your bill could go down by about 10%.
You might also be able to get up to a 50 percent discount on your premium if you haven't made any claims. If you decide to switch providers, you should be able to move this.
Companies handle discounts for not making a claim in a lot of different ways. At the start of a policy, Axa PPP gives you a 27.5 percent discount for not making a claim. If you make a claim, you lose this discount. Not all of BUPA's policies offer no-claims discounts, but some do. These policies also guarantee that if a claim is made, the premium will only go up by a maximum of 10%.
Pruehealth wants their policyholders to stay healthy so that they can pay less for their insurance. Depending on how hard you work, you can save anywhere from 25% to 100% on your insurance premium for the following year. Points are given for doing different things and making changes to how you live.
With so many options, now is a great time to look into them all. Don't just keep paying, and don't lose that valuable coverage by cancelling your health insurance. Instead, go online and find an insurance broker who will find the right coverage for you at a price you can afford. With the online discount, your wallet will also benefit.
