Buying for health insurance is more difficult as we get age. We are more likely to have pre-existing conditions, to have a weight problem and and simply being older increases our rates.
If you have a medical conditions finding health insurance will likely be more difficult whether you are younger or older. Insurance carriers could deny coverage. They might charge extra. They could eliminate coverage because of your condition and offer you a plan that won’t cover you for the thing you are most concerned about.
The best way to overcome the impact of a longer medical history is to improve our health. Sometimes following doctor’s orders, improving your diet and exercising can make a difference. Often, however this doesn’t help and we have to deal with the impact that the medical issue has on our lives.
If your application is denied or have an elimination rider placed on your plan, you should see what the insurance company’s competitors would do for you. You may want to accept the policy that is offered to you, but only keep it until you could find something better.
Insurance company underwriting guidelines vary from carrier to carrier. For this reason, you should make sure that the carrier that you settle on has the most favorable view of your medical conditions. One carrier might deny, another might eliminate coverage for the condition, a third might increase your premium. Yet a fourth company might accept you without a rider and charge you standard rates..
You should also see how close you are to being charged less. Often as a medical event ages, it becomes less expensive to insure. A cancer diagnosis that is only a month or two old is likely to result in an automatic denial for an underwritten contract. If the condition was last treated 5 years ago, you might get a policy with standard provisions.
Finding out how close you are to having the insurer approve your contract applies to your BMI or body mass index as well. You may only be five or ten pounds away from a cheaper insurance rate. Be sure to ask how close you are to a lower rate if your body mass index affects the rate you are charged.
If you can’t find a medical insurance contract that you could qualify for due to your BMI or your medical condition, you may be able to get coverage through a state sponsored or federal sponsored policy. You may qualify for a special policy offered by your state. You may qualify for Medicaid or Medicare.
Coverage offered by the government can be important options, but one should be sure to look at options from private insurers first. Plans offered through the government are cost more or have lower benefits or have fewer doctors and hospitals in their networks.
The impact of age is hard to avoid. Getting older does increase the rates that we are charged for life, health care and disability insurance.
A few insurers will charge a lower premium if the policy is placed in the name of the younger spouse. This could result in substantial savings if your wife our husband is more than five years older or younger than you.
Whether we are younger or older, finding a good health care insurance policy boils down to finding a good price, a good network and good coverage. The reason for a good price is obvious. We need a good network so that we can visit doctors that are close to us. A policy should, of course, have good coverage.
It may be harder to get coverage as we age. Health conditions, weight and our ages can all work together to increase our rates and makes getting coverage more difficult.
