Older people, by general practices, are required to pay higher premiums for medical insurance. This has been highly contested, as people tend to feel that it is unfair for the older members of the population to have to pay more, when they can hardly support themselves financially.
Perhaps the main reason why older people have to pay a higher premium is due to the simple and almost indubitable fact that older people tend to fall ill more easily then the younger population. Consider the chances of 60-year-old man being struck by stroke to that of a 20-year-old. Assuming there is no vast difference between the eating habits of both, it is, by common sense, agreed that the old man would be at a higher risk.
With the above-mentioned reason, coupled with the fact that insurance companies are not charity organizations but financial companies that want to make profits, it is understandable with the simple statistics that an older person should pay more. This is to ensure the profitability of the insurance company, as well as to avoid people abusing the insurance schemes. Assuming that everyone pays the same amount for insurance coverage, it would definitely make more sense to dump your entire life assets on the old man, since chances are he will fall seriously ill, and you can make a fortune out of it. Outrageous.
It is unavoidable that people question this practice as everyone understands the financial situations of the elderly. This may not be too much of an issue in countries that offer a welfare system or a pension system for the retired, but it is indeed a rising problem in other nations.
One way to curb this problem would be to start purchasing insurance at a younger age, so that even if the cost of premiums rise as you extend your insurance plans, it would be cheaper than purchasing a plan in the later stages of your life.
Basically, older people would be made to pay more premiums because of the way the business world works. We should not avoid insurance plans just because of the premiums. Rather, let us look at how we can start planning such that we will be able to support ourselves in the later stages of our lives.