How Being Physically Fit Can Lower Health Insurance Costs

Everywhere you turn, there’s a “get in shape” this and an “eat healthier” that. Maybe it sounds a little over played, but you might want to listen up. Look, for some of you who have been boo-hoo-ing about your health insurance premiums, you could actually benefit from some of the gurus and gym heads that seem to creep their way onto your devices, TV and magazines.

Don’t freak out

You don’t have to totally lay off of the pizza and wings for good, but you’ll need to pull back some and include a more nutritious diet, if you want to save on your insurance costs. And you’ll need to hit the gym or do something that makes you break a sweat. Really anything that resembles exercise. You see, your monthly premium is determined by a number of factors that are associated with your health and physical fitness. The less healthy you are, the more you’ll have to shell out for those monthly payments. Ouch!

Here’s the breakdown

If your BMI or Body Mass Index is high, you’ll be paying a significantly higher premium than people with a normal BMI. You’ll be considered high risk and well on your way to diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, joint issues, cardio vascular artery disease, stroke and sleep apnea. You’ll be on a slew of medications, specialized treatments, costly procedures, which cost more for the insurance company. But guess what! They’ll just raise your rates. It’s a bummer, but it’s real talk.

If you’re puffing on cigarettes or cigars during your lunch break, you’ll need to kick that habit fast, quick and in a hurry. Using tobacco products like cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco or snuff most often result in a heavy penalty by the insurance company. You can be charged a higher premium or they could just refuse to provide you coverage altogether.

Even if you stopped using tobacco a while back, even years, you can be charged more. Tobacco users are at high risk of cancer, heart disease and emphysema. And after years of smoking, it could take a while for any detrimental issues to surface or for someone to recover from tobacco related illnesses. So, if you haven’t started smoking, don’t even think about it.

Your gig can be an indicator of the cost of your insurance premiums. It’s cool to have a job that doesn’t involve back-breaking work, but if you’re sitting all day performing repetitive tasks, that might be a problem for the insurance company. These types of sedentary jobs could lead to cardiovascular disease, so you could be paying more for insurance.

All is not lost, though. If you get yourself together, start exercising and eating better, you could go back to your insurance company and let them know about your lifestyle changes. Some insurance companies have been known to reduce the rates for customers who can show that they’ve made the change to get physically fit.