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As the baby boomer generation get closer to 65 there are many challenges for them in both group and individual health insurance markets.
If you are an employee that is 60 on a small group health plan you could be paying a large sum for health insurance. One of the calculations for group premiums is age. The older an employee is the higher the premium. This is true for both composite and aged based groups. If you are an employee on a group health plan that has aged based rates then the premiums could be very high for you. If you are with a company that is using composite then that could help you a great deal if the rest of the group is young.
A difficult decision for small groups (under 20 lives) is if they should set the health plan with composite or aged based rates. As it stands there is really no technique available that is going to reduce your premiums. Our current health insurance system is based on age.
The one technique that is available is to go out to market and pick up an individual plan. This is a great way to reduce premiums but you have to be able to get through underwriting. Genetics is tough enough but then if we add a unhealthy life style then it can be very difficult to find a policy.
In the large group arena there is a real concern with the baby boomer generation and what kind of claims they are going to have. If a company is self funding the first $100,000 in claims you understand the worry.
Time will tell if this generation in the next 5-10 years makes life style changes to reduce claims.
