Insurance is all about managing risks.
Insurance companies avoid taking any risks
when they are setting the rates for a product.
They want to take precautions to ensure that
you won't die prematurely, causing them to pay
out a lot more than you paid in.
What
sort of risks are they interested in? Pretty
much the same health risks doctors, medical
researchers and health-conscious people are
concerned about. These are the same subjects
you hear about over and over again if you
listen to medical reports on TV or radio:
tobacco use, cholesterol, being overweight,
diabetes, and other conditions linked to poor
health and early death.
To
account for these risks, insurers will
designate your status (using a title such as
super preferred, preferred, regular or
standard) based on age, gender and health, and
that will determine how much you pay for a
given amount of insurance.
To
determine your health
status,
the insurance company will ask about your
medical history and most likely require you to
undergo some sort of physical exam. When
filling out the health questionnaire
There are some risk factors you can't control,
such as gender or age. "Women live longer than
men, so women have lower rates on insurance.
National Underwriting Studies
show that because men tend to have shorter
life spans, they pay a lower rate on an
annuity and a higher rate for life insurance.
Your age also affects the premium. Younger
people, who have that much longer to pay
premiums before they are likely to die, pay a
lower rate than an older person would be
quoted. Your family medical history, your
lifestyle (do you have dangerous hobbies or
travel frequently to locations where you could
be exposed to disease or danger?) and your
physical condition also come into play.
For most people buying
most policies, the insurer will ask you to
undergo a physical exam.
A visiting
medical practitioner, paid for by the
insurance company, will check your weight,
blood pressure and other vital signs, and
perhaps take a blood and/or urine sample.
In some cases, more extensive tests, such as
an X-ray or EKG, might be required. Your blood
and urine samples will be tested for any sign
of disease, including the presence of the HIV
virus, cholesterol level, and any indications
of disorders such as diabetes, kidney
problems, hepatitis and other problems. The
samples will also be screened for the presence
of nicotine and certain medications as well as
for illegal drugs.
Each insurance company sets its own rates and
determines what constitutes a preferred-plus
buyer, a substandard buyer or any category in
between.
What if you know you have a risk factor? In
the first place, alert our company of the
problem when you first talk about life
insurance policies. We realize that some
insurers charge higher rates for that risk
factor than others, and we can look for a
company that doesn't hike its premiums a lot
for that particular condition. If it's a
controllable risk factor, you can also do what
your doctor or spouse might be urging you to
do. Eliminate the risk factor: Quit smoking.
Lose some weight. Take your blood pressure
medication regularly. Get healthy.
If
you substantially improve your health, you can
alert the insurance company and see if it will
lower your rates. There's no danger in doing
this, because "an insurance company will never
increase the premium during the guarantee term
period, but it will decrease the premium when
people give evidence of improved health."
Some
insurance companies will also improve an
individual's rating, and trim the premium, for
risk factors that decrease over time.
TermInsurance4Less.com
3990 Avalon Park West Blvd
Orlando, FL
32828
Toll Free: 888-394-0971
