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Tackle Medical Inflation: Reduce Your Insurance Costs
Healthcare costs have been rising over the years under inflationary pressure, causing the benefits provided to diminish while the insurance premiums rise relentlessly.
What causes medical costs to constantly skyrocket? Wonder what insurers can do to keep insurance plans affordable to the general public? Are you interested in knowing how you can utilize the benefits of your health insurance policy to help cut insurance costs?
In this Pacific Prime article, we will discuss the major factors contributing to the surging medical costs, and how insurers and the insured can work together to help reduce insurance cost so everyone can access comprehensive and quality healthcare at a reasonable price.
The Drivers of Increased Medical Costs
The culprit of medical inflation can be attributed to three factors: delayed treatment during the pandemic, medical advancements, and the increased use of medical diagnostics.
Post-Pandemic Treatment Delay
Since the pandemic has posed less of a threat to society, people have returned to seeing doctors after the pandemic. Some are catching up with recurring medical visits that were postponed over the period, while others are planning treatments that have been put on hold during the pandemic.
What’s more, as mask-wearing is not mandatory anymore, there’s been an increase in respiratory illnesses that require frequent general practitioner (GP) visits. This is a possible consequence of heightened sensitivity to air pollutants after 2 years of constantly wearing masks.
Medical Advancement
Medical advancements have led to better medical outcomes with higher effectiveness and fewer side effects, but they are more expensive as a result. Keyhole surgery, chemotherapy advancements, robotic surgeries—these cutting-edge technologies are expensive to purchase and maintain.
Although the costs associated with advanced technology will diminish over time as these new medications and facilities are manufactured, the initial costs of research and production can be quite high, which directly impacts the cost of offering health insurance by insurers.
Increased Use of Medical Diagnostics
The advocation of preventive care has contributed to the increased use of medical diagnostics. Both service providers and users are increasingly requesting additional diagnostics that could better pinpoint the root of the issues, improving the medical outcome of patients with serious issues.
Although more screenings could mean more accurate diagnoses, which reduces the need to treat further complications, additional screenings will add up and increase the overall cost of treatment. This in turn spikes up the number of screening or surgical claims, making insurance more expensive.
Keeping Premiums Down
From reducing claim abuses to cutting down maintenance costs, health insurance companies have been taking proactive measures to tune down insurance premiums to make them more affordable to access without forgoing sufficient benefits for the well-being of the insured.
Method #1: Utilize Telemedicine Services
Telemedicine has risen to become a new trend for receiving medical help; there is a 64% year-over-year increase in adults aged 55 or over seeking telemedicine services, and 74% of millennials prefer teleconsultations to in-person doctor appointments.
Telemedicine is a viable way to reduce the cost of in-person consultations for minor health issues. The insured is granted access to telemedicine services, where they can consult a doctor anywhere at any time. Most consultations are proven to be resolved over electronic devices without the need for an in-person follow-up.
Method #2: Offer Second Medical Opinion Services
Access to a second opinion helps the insured get multiple unbiased opinions that empower them to make informed decisions about their health. Different doctors may give different medical opinions, so it is possible to find an alternative treatment and avoid unnecessary treatments.
Method #3: Offering Professional Consultation Services for Formulating Treatment Plans
Insurers can invest in a team of trained medical professionals to review each treatment plan, ensuring the necessity and appropriateness of the treatment. By doing so, one can save on unnecessary treatment costs, while aiming to provide the best solution to keep the insured’s health in check.
What Can Policyholders Do?
As policyholders, you might wonder – what could your impact be on medical inflation? Insurance premiums are calculated based on your credit score and claims history. This means that if you happen to submit claims frequently, your insurance premium may increase more than expected each year.
To avoid this from happening, you can follow the above three methods. What’s more, you can secure a health insurance policy that is customized for your health to avoid paying extra for unnecessary coverage. The key point to take away here is to only pay for what you need.
Understand Your Healthcare Needs By Working With Pacific Prime
Understanding your healthcare needs is overwhelming enough, let alone dealing with all the plans available out there for your selection. That’s why you might wish to consider working with Pacific Prime.
Pacific Prime has over 20 years of experience in giving impartial insurance advice to people who are lost in the insurance journey. Not only can we help you figure out what your healthcare needs might be, but we can also compare and find the best insurance policy for your requirements and budget.
Contact us today for a short conversation with our team of insurance specialists, or get an obligation-free quote from our online quote system!
Since joining Pacific Prime, Eric was exposed to a new world of insurance. Having learned about insurance products extensively, he has taken joy and satisfaction in helping individuals and businesses manage risks and protect themselves against financial loss through the power of words.
Although born and raised in Hong Kong, he spent a quarter of his life living and studying in the UK. He believes his multicultural experience is a great asset in understanding the needs and wants of expats and globe-trotters.
Eric’s strengths lie in his strong research, analytical, and communication skills, obtained through his BA in Linguistics from the University of York and MSc in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of Bristol.
Outside of work, he enjoys some me-time gaming and reading on his own, occasionally going absolutely mental on a night out with friends.
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