We Know You Want a Lower Health Insurance Rate
The high price of living
Year after year the cost of daily living keeps on rising and rising. From grocery bills, electric bills, water bills, gasoline bills to insurance bills. Bills, bills, bills, they eat up your money. And it makes you crazy that insurance rates go higher by the minute! These problems just make your blood pressure higher! As bad as it is, health insurance should not be last on the list. You can find a rate that you can afford.
Can you afford them? Can they afford you?
In applying for health insurance, insurance companies would tend to question you about your lifestyle, health or medical history, as well as family history. No, this isn’t about applying for a matchmaking program that will get you the perfect spouse. This is what the insurance company calls “the getting to know you” stage of applying for insurance. This is their way of knowing which type of program they can match you with or, in lay man’s terms: a program you can afford or if the program can afford your health problems.
Playing the insurance game
Now, applying for insurance is like venturing into a relationship. It’s like a chess game. You have to know your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the insurance company’s. Knowing and understanding your health needs and the options that insurance companies offer you is a big factor in getting the right health insurance at a reasonable rate.
During your intial contact with the health insurance representatives, it is wise to answer their questions comprehensively. Explain your answers, especially when it comes to your health history. One word answers are vague and the health insurance representatives will likely misunderstand you and could assume a worst case scenario. For instance, with questions regarding past illnesses, if you had a benign tumor removed, explain to them that the prognosis was good and that it will not likely recur. Don’t just say that you had a tumor. Specify the kind and nature of your past illnesses so that they can get a clear picture of them.
Be 100 percent honest
It would also help if you tell them everything they need to know. And don’t lie about your medical health history because insurance companies will always discover the truth and they can terminate your insurance if the information withheld is that of a serious type. Be honest in answering questions and give all your medical records for the insurance company to check. In this way, misunderstandings are prevented and insurance is not sacrificed (especially if you really are healthy).
Also be aware that the insurance company may plan to contact your doctor. So it would be advisable to inform your doctor that you are applying for insurance so that he can give comprehensive information about your medical health history. Because if the insurance representatives dropped by your doctor’s office without a notice, your doctor (or worse, his assistant) could give them hurried and vague information. A short notice to your doctor will be enough to gear him with the complete medical health information the insurance representative will need.
Be ready for the physicals
Most insurance companies require their applicants to get physical examinations. You should be ready for them and ask your doctor what are the precautions and things you must do and not do prior to specific physical examinations. For instance, some physical exams require you not to eat 6 hours before the procedure. Better results may mean lower rates.
Think twice, think wise
And you probably have heard this already, but choose your health insurance company wisely. Scrutinize every detail about its benefits, inclusions, and exclusions. Another thing is keep your insurance shopping to yourself. Your insurance benefits exploration or investigation may cause trouble and insurance companies may decline your application or give you unjust rates. In hiring a broker, inform him that you are shopping for rates secretly. In that way you can clearly have well-informed choices in choosing the health insurance that you think will provide your needs.
The easy and hard solution
But the best way to get lowest rates in health insurance is to stay fit and healthy. Ironic as it may seem, health insurance companies love to insure healthy people. They give lower rates to people, who are physically fit, safe and live an accident-free lifestyle, and have an immaculate medical health history. Some health insurance companies even give encouragement, and sometimes prizes, to those who routinely hit the gym and sport a healthy behavior.
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