Health is wealth but wealth cannot buy you good health

• Anonymous

Everyone will connect with the above mentioned old adage. How true it is. With good Health come heaps of health related benefits. You can use a good health score to enjoy financial benefits as well. Health Insurance policies are insurance covers that pay for your medical bills should you fall sick. It is an important requirement these days. With the soaring medical costs, one cannot do without a medical insurance policy these days. Like every insurance policy, one must pay the premium yearly to enjoy the coverages every year.

Your medical Insurance Premium depends on your health quotient. When calculating your medical insurance premium, health insurance companies consider your BMI score, whether you are obese and inactive, do you work in a stressful environment, whether your smoke or drink, suffer from a chronic ailment etc. If the answer to most of these questions is affirmative, then possibly you will be paying a higher premium than those with better health.

It is simple economics.With a poor health score you become a risky candidate for insurance companies. They expect you to be making more frequent trips to the sick bay, paying costly specialist fees, taking costlier prescription drugs and therefore, filing for claims more frequently. Naturally, the insurance company, since it presumes you to be a risky applicant, jacks up your insurance premium to cover the additional risk.

How to save on Insurance Costs?

Paying a lower premium on your policy is an incentive to maintain yourself in good shape. A lot of companies that pay for their employees’ group medical insurance encourage their employees to enrol in corporate wellness programs that involve going for marathons in groups, exercise regularly, build a gym in the office premises, invite guests to talk about health benefits and even have a panel of doctors exclusively for their employees.

Set yourself some achievable goals. Then find yourself a “workout-buddy” who will coax you to stay put on your fitness regimen and help you achieve your fitness goals. You could seek professional help if you like or ask a friend or relative to be your companion and give you pointers on how to become fitter.

Cut back on foods that are known to lead to a sharp weight gain such as fried foods, junk foods, sweets etc. A dietician would be the best person to help you with a diet plan that would suit your daily life style.

Alter your lifestyle. Set proper timelines and become more organised. Eat, sleep and workout at the same time every day. Quit smoking completely and limit your drinking to be able to meet your fitness goals.

Your health index is clearly inversely related to your insurance premium. Once you better your health score you lower your insurance premium without losing any benefits offered by the policy. Some factors such as rising medical costs are beyond your control but factors such as improving your health are very much within your reach.

Consider taking a family floater policy instead of an individual insurance policy. The average age of the group of members and therefore the varying level of riskiness helps you pay a lower premium than on individual policies for each member.

By becoming healthier, you not only feel good about your own self, improve your self confidence, save on doctor’s bills, improve your longevity, give a sense of security to your loved ones but also pay a lower premium on medical covers life insurance policy. Thus you enjoy multiple benefits. You can use this money saved to create an emergency fund, avoid taking a personal loan or may be prepay an outstanding debt.

Food for Thought

An apple a day, keeps the doctor away. Wouldn’t you rather pay for an apple every day than pay that money to an insurance company for your medical insurance policy? Becoming more conscious of your own health will reap more benefits than one. One of them is certainly saving money due to a lower insurance premium.

Time to kick the cigarette butt and take out your running shoes. Go for a run and breathe in some fresh air. You can view it as you are being paid to go for a run because every time you eat a salad instead of a burger or consider a healthy beverage instead of alcohol, your pocket gets heavier and the clamour of money collected gets louder by way of premium saved.

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