health insurance

[waider]

When I signed up to my current job, I switched my health insurance from VHI to Bupa. I've been on VHI since birth, but the company plan is with Bupa, and they don't have any sort of alternative that would allow me to continue with my insurer of over 30 years. So, I switched.

VHI has been around quite a while, so they have a large number of older customers, and thus a higher payout burden. Bupa, on the other hand, are relative newcomers to the Irish market. In order to balance things out some without crippling people with excessive premium hikes, the Department of Health is scheduled to introduce Risk Equalisation, i.e. Bupa will have to provide VHI with a subsidy based on the relative sizes of their payout burdens (or some such; I've not actually looked into the specifics). Bupa obviously are unhappy about this, and have said they will pull out of the Irish market if the scheme goes ahead. Today the High Court has ruled that the scheme will go ahead. If Bupa make good on their threat, I could well be back with my original insurer next year.

Comments

[king-mob.livejournal.com]

In...insurers? Company plan? I thought you furriners didn't have to fuck with any of that.

[waider.livejournal.com]

Depends on how much health cover you want, and what you're earning, and so on.

Will you be screwed in the process?

[mopti.livejournal.com]

There is a provision in the law that if a company -- Bupa in this case -- pulls out, their customers will have the right to transfer their contracts to other providers in the market. I think that would mean you would not be seen as a new customer -- so lead-in and waiting times for treatment for some conditions (pregnancy, to pick an irrelevant example :) ) would start from when your policy with Bupa opened and not when your new policy with VHI opened.

I heard a radio interview yesterday with a guy from Bupa and it sounded like they would scupper the benefits such this provision in the law would provide: he was hinting that they would simply stay in the market for a bit over a year but not take on any new customers in that year and not renew and existing contracts. Thus, I extrapolate, rather than close mid-contract and have to engage in allowing their customers to transfer, they would leave them start all over again.

(A different market, but similar principle: a few years ago I had had enough shite from a Big Bank and decided I wanted to change. I researched the competitors and contacted the one I wanted to move to. I told them I was interested in taking my business to them but would do so only if I were not required to wait the introductory period that they usually required for some services (cheque book being one). There were some questions about this unusual requirement, but once they saw a record of my transactions with the Big Bank going back three years, they were happy I wasn't fiddling or laundering.)

Re: Will you be screwed in the process?

[waider.livejournal.com]

I guess I'll just have to wait and see...