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Medical History Aspects that Health and Life Insurance Companies are Most Concerned About
If you think that illnesses like diabetes and cancer in your medical history are the only things that health and life insurance companies care about, think again. Those are not the only possible causes of death. There are also other data that your medical history could reveal and which a health and life insurance company would consider alarming.
Medical History Aspects that Health and Life Insurance Companies are Most Concerned about
If you wish to know how your medical history makes you look in the eyes of a health and insurance company, the following questions will allow you to determine the answer for yourself.
Vices. Obviously, if you are guilty of consuming too much alcohol, nicotine, and drugs even once in your life, this will be reflected on your medical history and your health and life insurance company would naturally learn about it. It's possible that they won't require you to pay exorbitant rates for insurance, but rest assured that you'll still be charged a slightly higher rate than they would charge other people who are free of any vices.
Top 10 Most Common Causes of Death in the United States. If your medical history reveals you to be in danger of having any of the top 10 most common causes of death in the United States, you will be definitely charged higher health and life insurance rates.
As of 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited the following as the most common causes of death: heart diseases, cancer (of all kinds), cerebrovascular diseases, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidental or unintentional injuries, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, Alzheimer's, nephritis or other similar disorders, and lastly, septicemia or having bacteria in the blood and which originates from an infection from any part of the body. Septicemia is also considered a common disease resulting and associated with other more serious diseases like SARS or severely acute respiratory syndrome.
Accidents and Job-Related Injuries. Your medical history contains information about every visit you pay to your doctor. Your health and life insurance company will not, however, stop from merely reading what your injuries consisted of. They will also determine the causes behind the injuries. If they learn that you had an accident due to your job or a particularly nasty hobby, those will definitely initiate a new round of questions for you to answer.
According to the National Safety Council, being a pedestrian, pedalcyclist, and motorcyclist are the top three most common reasons for a person to get into an accident. Obviously, being a pedestrian is something that none of us can help. But using a bicycle or motorcycle are obviously two things that cannot happen without your consent - regardless of whether or not it's required by your occupation - and these may also make an insurance company charge you a higher premium.
As mentioned earlier on, being involved in an accident will be included in your medical history and allow a health and life insurance company to research about your past. Consequently, they'll find out whether or not you're telling the truth about your occupation. The National Crime Victimization Survey reported police officers, private security guards, taxi drivers, prison guards, and bartenders as the top five riskiest jobs as of 2000. If your work by any chance falls under any of these categories then prepare yourself for another negotiation because it will take a lot of convincing for an insurance company to still give you low rates.
Emotional, Mental and Psychological Disorders. Physiological risks are not the only things that an insurance company would be concerned about. If your medical history reveals that you previously suffered from any emotional, mental or psychological disorder, the health and life insurance company will then take the necessary actions to determine if you are still suffering from the disorder today, and if you are taking appropriate medication and treatment for it, and also if there are any chances for you to become suicidal or have violent tendencies in the future. Obviously, a 'yes' to either question would not reduce your insurance rate.
The worst thing about any person's medical history is how it often portrays past and present events entirely in black and white, making it harder for you to convince the health and life insurance company to give you a more affordable option. But rest assured that it is possible - and you don't have to lie about it!
