Health insurers profit from their well-educated clients

Health insurance companies make an average €140 a year profit on their well-educated policyholders but can lose thousands of euros on those with chronic conditions, according to research by Erasmus University’s health management unit.

The researchers calculate the ‘average chronic condition’ costs a health insurance company around €400 but this can mount up to thousands if the condition is serious and requires a lot of care or medicine, Trouw quotes the institute as saying.
Insurance companies can claim compensation for their unhealthy patients from a special government fund, but that is being reduced in size.
Patient organisations therefore fear insurance companies may begin to target healthier clients, undermining the current single-tier system. They want the government to amend the rules to make sure everyone is treated the same.
Insurance companies are required by law to accept everyone for the basic health package but can introduce health checks and other barriers for top-up policies.
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