Here's how Obesity Affects your Health Insurance Premiums

The above plans and premiums are for AED 1,000,000 Sum insured for 1 Adult of 30 Years for Dubai city.

The ever-increasing cost of healthcare, medical treatment along with the modern lifestyle has made it crucial for people to purchase a health insurance plan. These plans ensure that you and your loved ones are safe against any unexpected medical-emergency. Health Insurance plans are vital to build a structured and strong risk management portfolio for your loved ones and family. The premium of these plans is quite dynamic and varies on the basis of numerous factors out of which one is obesity. According to statistics and researches it is clearly evident that the payable premium for health insurance dubai plans is higher for obese people.

Now the question arises, why is it so?

One of the main reasons due to which people falling in the overweight category are supposed to pay higher premiums is because obesity is linked as a prime-causative of several terminal and critical illnesses. Cases of obesity often turn into complex health issue that are even life threatening. Insurance providers charge overweight people higher due to degree of risk associated with their health. Before we dive deep into the ocean of health insurance premiums and how they are affected based on the body weight, let us first understand obesity.

Understanding Obesity

Obesity is one of the biggest silent killers in the 21^st century, one out of every six adults is obese. A report on obesity by the WHO emphasizes on the severity of the issue and how it’s been killing more people than starvation does. Technically, obesity is considered as a medical condition which results in over-accretion of fat in the adipose tissues of the human body due to some underlying cause. The BMI or body mass index is a scale that measures obesity. People that have a BMI of 30 or above 30 are categorized as obese and people with a BMI falling between the range of 25-29.9 are categorized as overweight.

Health Insurance Premiums based on BMI

As mentioned, BMI or body mass index is a scale that measure the extent of obesity and is basically the ratio between the weight and height of their body. When we come to the causes of obesity there is no single reason that explains the problem in an individual. Very often, multiple issue interwoven into each other lead to obesity such as malfunctioning metabolic activities, modern-day lifestyle, lack of physical activity, wrong eating habits, excess of junk food and drug abuse.

What initially begins as obesity in majority of the cases later takes the face of some severe medical illness that poses considerable risk to life. Common issues include diabetes, poor functioning of the cardiac system and the respiratory system, COPD, etc. As a result of medical complications, the life expectancy of obese individuals is lesser than people with normal BMI. While assessing the extent of degree of risk associated with the lives of obese people it is very clear that there is plethora of factors that affect their health.

Insurance officers take all the factors into consideration while evaluating the payable health insurance premium for an individual. Regardless, of the fact that obesity is a major reason behind numerous terminal and critical illness, insurance companies still provide health insurance so that they remain safe and protected when strokes of uncertainties hit. Furthermore, obesity does not have anything to do with the coverage of a health insurance plan. The only figure that is affected is the health insurance premium which is typically 2-3 times higher than that of an individual with a normal BMI.

Impact of Paying Higher Health Insurance Premium

In case your BMI (Body Mass Index) is equivalent or above 30 then it is very likely you will end up paying comparatively higher health insurance premiums. This additional expenditure might act as a trigger that begins the process of introspection. This introspection will make you realize the importance of good body shape which in turn will push you to the limits. The best way is to either hit gym or to get indulged in some sort of sports related activity that keeps your metabolism active.

Another way to save a bit of your money while purchasing health insurance plans is buying it online. Different insurance providers have different criteria of evaluating the payable health insurance premium based on the BMI and it varies from provider to provider. When one purchases health insurance plan online there is a considerable scope of thorough analysis followed by shortlisting and then choosing the right plan. Online purchase platforms offer a wide variety of choices for both health insurance providers and plans.

Apart from getting lower health insurance premiums, purchasing online has several other benefits i.e. quick processing, easy to choose, better prices, and additional protection via riders. Comparing different quotes online will help you to get the right health insurance premium with the right coverage.

In a Nutshell

The problem of obesity is not just limited to weight but affects different vital organs of the body as well. The best way to get rid of the high health insurance premium due to obesity is to decrease the body fat percentage and focusing on eating healthy. Exercising regularly is extremely crucial to maintain healthy BMI along with a balanced and healthy diet. Staying in a good shape will not only help you to save money but will also reduce the risk the of getting terminally ill which in turn will reduce the life expectancy and thereby the health insurance premium.