Your health insurance can be far less expensive if you are in good shape.
Perhaps you smoke, or drink, or do recreational drugs. Maybe you do not exercise enough, or you don’t eat right as often as you should. Those lifestyle choices can cost you.
If you do not already have health insurance and then decide that you want or need it, you may find that you have a harder time obtaining it if you are not in good shape. You might smoke and then decide to have health insurance, but discover that your premiums as a smoker are quite high. The premiums are high because when you smoke, you put your health at risk. Since insurance companies are in business to make money and take reasonable risks insuring people, if you smoke, or are quite obese, you may not be considered to be a reasonable insurable risk. That means you will pay more for insurance. Those who do not smoke or who are not significantly overweight do not shell out the same kind of money on premiums.
Many insurance companies charge premiums according to the health of every applicant. Age, gender and occupation are also factored into the cost, as are pre-existing and current health issues. Figuring out a person’s premium is done according to the Health Status Rating (HSR) system, which charges higher premiums for those with a history of medical conditions or those who have current health issues.
The HSR outlines certain conditions that may increase the chances that new applicants would need health care. For those who show a rating that indicates they may need health care, the premiums are higher. Right now, insurance companies have the option to decline coverage or offer the applicant a policy based on their health. Declining to insure someone may not be an option in 2014.
Many things may change next year, and in order to keep up with those changes, insurance policies may also evolve. Based on the changes to come, companies may start screening the wellness and health of their employees in order to take control the costs of health insurance they are offering to workers.
Staying in shape may mean substantial savings on health insurance premiums. Perhaps revamping your lifestyle is something to seriously consider.
Learn more at https://www.benepath.com
by: Clelland Green
There are three key pieces of the Affordable Care Act which will cause health insurance premiums to rise faster than they would otherwise.
- Guaranteed Issue – The mandate will ease this expense, but providing everyone coverage regardless of their health will cause premiums for people who are healthy and presently buy their own insurance to skyrocket. This impact will be felt in the individual and small group markets and not in the large group market.
- More Demand without An Increase in Supply – If you significantly increase demand for any service or product and you do not have a corresponding increase in supply, prices will rise. If 30 million more people obtain health insurance (current CBO estimate is between 30 and 33 million by 2016) that will cause an increase in health care demand of at least 5% and possibly more. Most of this increase will come from the expansion of Medicaid which will create supply shortages throughout the country and will be felt particularly hard in urban areas. The result of this expansion will be further cost shifting to private insurance as Medicaid reimbursement rates are significantly below market rates – even heavily discounted market rates. Bottom line, doctors and hospitals will charge private plans more and the premiums for those plans will rise.
- Minimum Coverage – Currently people buy high deductible plans and other health insurance products where the benefits are limited in such a way as to provide an affordable plan. Exchange based plans do not have those features. Aetna’s CEO Mark T. Bertolini gave the WSJ’s health blogan example of a 40 year old Texan currently buying a $5000 deductible policy is paying $189/month and the cheapest exchange plan will cost him more than $450/month. The $3000 premium difference more than offsets the higher out of pocket expenses of the cheaper plan, which are not $3000 more than the bronze plan.
While these provisions may be popular, they are going to have a significant impact on the lives of middle class Americans who desparately need reform that will help control the cost curve.
A very common complaint heard on coffee row is the rising cost of health insurance premiums. This coming from a group of people who are smoking, eating a high-fat breakfast , and who drove to the local café despite the fact that they live just down the road from it is ironic. None of them exercise, other than to lift the TV remote and many of them drink in excess as well. Is it any wonder that those individuals have health problems that send them to a doctor more often than those who do not overindulge?
The bottom line here is that each and every one of us is directly responsible for our own health. If we strive to be healthy, we are healthy and we save money on health insurance premiums because of this. Bemoaning the high bills and the cost of premiums is counter-intuitive, when we are causing our own poor health because of our actions. If we want cheaper health insurance premiums, we have to commit to a healthy lifestyle. It is just that simple.
To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit https://www.benepath.com
A very common complaint heard on coffee row is the rising cost of health insurance premiums. This coming from a group of people who are smoking, eating a high-fat breakfast , and who drove to the local café despite the fact that they live just down the road from it is ironic. None of them exercise, other than to lift the TV remote and many of them drink in excess as well. Is it any wonder that those individuals have health problems that send them to a doctor more often than those who do not overindulge?
The bottom line here is that each and every one of us is directly responsible for our own health. If we strive to be healthy, we are healthy and we save money on health insurance premiums because of this. Bemoaning the high bills and the cost of premiums is counter-intuitive, when we are causing our own poor health because of our actions. If we want cheaper health insurance premiums, we have to commit to a healthy lifestyle. It is just that simple.
To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit https://www.benepath.com
Older people do pay more for health insurance when compared to younger individuals.
This only makes sense as an older a person will need a health insurance plan that provides more coverage. It is just an annoying fact of life that the older the population gets, the more medical help they need.
Statistics show this fact and the cost of health insurance policies follows accordingly. In reality, the higher cost is not a punishment and makes sense when the big picture is examined. Another part of the bigger picture is the fact that many people do not take care of themselves, and they pay the price for that in increased health insurance premiums as they age.
The cost of providing health services to people neglecting their health is phenomenal. No wonder the American health system is in such a mess, and the cost of care is still skyrocketing.
To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit https://www.benepath.com
Some think paying health insurance premiums is a waste of money – until they get hurt one day and find out, it was not such a big waste of money after all. That health insurance policy may save your bacon if you have been in an accident and need serious medical care.
Do not assume that just because you have not been sick or had something wrong for a few years that you are immune from needing medical care. Chances are, and this happens to everyone, there WILL come a time when you need to see a doctor. That’s just the way life is sometimes. Make sure you have health insurance coverage to pay the bills.
To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit https://www.benepath.com
Let’s face it; health insurance is here to stay in one form or another. We call need health insurance to get us through those tough times when we need medical care. How else will we pay our bills? Even for those who do not have health insurance, but may need to get it soon thanks to health care reform, know in their hearts, they need insurance.
To be without health insurance is taking a major risk with your life and health. If you cannot afford medical care then the illness you have may get worse or end up costing you your life? Is it really worth it to not have health insurance when you and your family have so much riding on it? If you are not healthy, you cannot provide for yourself or your family. If you have health insurance, you are looked after and either remain healthy or are restored to health.
These days, health insurance premiums really are affordable. Why not check it out?
To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit http://208.112.75.246/
The whole idea of health care reform is a good one, but its implementation may leave something to be desired. For instance, there is a great debate over what will happen to health insurance quotes now that health care reform has been passed into law and changes have started to happen.
On one side of the fence people say the cost of health insurance premiums will go up. On the other, they say they will go down. Funny thing is there are good arguments for both sides of this issue. They will go down because in the initial rush to sign up more people (to make more money), insurance companies will have good rates to be competitive; rates that might only last for a year until renewal time.
They will go up because if the medical loss ratio for insurance companies is now pegged at 80% then the insurance companies won’t take that hit on their own. They will pass that back down to the consumers in higher insurance premiums. What do you think?
To learn more and get a health insurance quote, visit https://www.benepath.com
It doesn’t take a fancy gym and a hard workout to stay healthy. It can be something as simple as eating healthier food, doing some form of exercise, not smoking, doing drugs or drinking to excess. These simple choices can cut your health insurance premiums down.
Another way to save money on health insurance premiums is the tried and true method of shop until you drop and find a deal. An expert health insurance broker is able to tell you who the best carriers are and what they are charging. Compare those prices along with what coverage they offer and chances are there will be an affordable health insurance plan in the bunch.
To learn more about Health insurance quotes, affordable health insurance, affordable health insurance quotes, health insurance plans, visit Benepath.com.
