Group employment insurance expert weighs in
Many Americans are upset that older people are going to face a ‘age penalty’ under President Trump’s healthcare plan, but not everyone sees the situation as problematic. In fact, some experts think that it won’t be the unfair cost that Americans fear it will be.
Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA and group employment insurance expert says, “For many years, insurers have been able to charge older people higher premiums, as it is understood that they will generally have higher health costs and require more doctor’s visits. This reality has been folded into insurance costs for older people for a significant period of time, so President Trump’s so-called age penalty won’t be changing things too much. The only difference is that Obamacare only allowed insurers to charge older folks three times as much as they what they would charge other people for the same coverage, whereas President Trump’s plan allows for them to charge up to five times as much.”
Still, Wilson doesn’t believe that this means that millennials will be getting a free ride, as he explains that President Trump’s “continuous health insurance coverage incentive” will hit younger people the hardest.
“Younger people are disproportionately likely to suffer a lapse in insurance coverage,” says Wilson. “And President Trump is asking that people who drop in and out of the insurance market be faced with penalties for doing so. This continuous coverage incentive applies to anyone who opts to go without insurance for longer than 63 days and then desires to resume coverage. The idea is that young people can’t cherry-pick when they want insurance, leaving older folks stuck with a hefty bill.”
For more on this topic, please contact Rob Wilson at rwilson@thewilsoncompanies.com.