How Age Affects Your Health Insurance Premium Cost

Are you planning to purchase health insurance ?

By now, you must have gathered a few options that meet your medical needs to a tee.

Remember, in order to make the best possible health insurance policy purchase, you need to consider a few significant aspects such as age, the sum insured, coverage, number of network hospitals, pre-existing diseases, family history, work profile, gender, location, marital status, BMI or Body Mass Index 

In detail click 10 Factors That Determine the Premium Amount of Health Insurance Plans

Among these factors, age is a prime one to affect health insurance premiums. If you know your exact age, you will be able to finalize a perfect policy that covers all your medical requirements without burning a hole in your pocket. 

Read on to dig deeper. 

Why Premium Amount Changes with increase in Age?

The reasons why there is a change in the amount of premium with an increase in age are as follows:

• Critical Illness Risks

With an increase in age, individuals become vulnerable to various critical illnesses such as cancer, stroke, etc. This is one of the reasons why individuals are required to pay a higher premium amount.

• Increase in Health associated Risks

When an individual is still young, it is likely that they may not have to face any health related issues or may need any medical care in comparison to aged people or senior citizens. The risks associated with health and chances of getting hospitalized because of injury, illness or any other health problem rises with increase in age. Therefore, in order to cover such risks, an insurance company would ask for a higher premium amount for the similar plan offered to a younger individual.

• Pre-Existing Diseases

In old age, the possibility of an individual suffering through a pre-existing disease is higher before the issuance of a health insurance plan. Some other major factors that could result in a higher premium amount are pre-existing diseases and medical history of the family.

• Increase in Health Care Expenses

Nowadays, due to technology advancement and improvement in health care procedures, there is a sharp increase in medical expenses. And with the passage of time as you get older in age, you would be requiring a higher sum insured in order to completely cover all your healthcare expenses, which would directly put an impact on the premium rate paid against the health insurance plan.

Note: You can easily get an affordable health insurance plan if before purchasing a policy you thoroughly assess various options available to you in the market. In order to make an informed decision, you can also use a premium calculator at InsuranceDekho website.

How age affects your health insurance premium?

Anyone interested in buying a health insurance cover should note that changing age changes the health insurance premium too. 

How?

Well, health insurance premium increases with age. 

The younger you are, the lower your premium will be. Likewise, the older you are, the higher your health insurance premium will be. 

Since at a young age, the chances of encountering health conditions and visiting the doctor is low, the cost of health insurance premium is low. 

However, with the increasing age, the probabilities of a person facing health issues and visiting doctors rise, thereby increasing the premium amount as well. 

Does this mean you should buy health insurance at an early age to avoid high premiums and gain other benefits?

Let’s find out the answer further.

Age - a major aspect in deciding health insurance premium

While a health insurer, through its health insurance policy may provide a few common coverage benefits to all policyholders regardless of their age through a single policy, it cannot provide the same to one and all at a similar health insurance premium price. 

Age is one of the prime elements in health insurance premium calculation because it impacts the medical support a policyholder may require. 

It is significant to understand that an elderly insured individual will possess medical conditions quite different from those of a young or adult insured individual. It is because they are more prone to becoming ill and requiring medical support without facing any money concerns.
Thus, health insurance companies provide a distinction between the health insurance premium costs of the two. 

Talking about the present time, a lot has changed in the health insurance sector as well as in the thinking-process of people. 

Today, people understand that illnesses, diseases or accidents can urge anyone irrespective of their age and so everyone needs uninterrupted medical assistance. 

People tend to buy ideal health insurance policy to get themselves, their spouse, kids, dependent kids, and other relatives protected, irrespective of the age they belong. 

Buying health insurance at a young age – A Better Choice?

While you may not feel the need for health insurance at an early age, the fact is that when you choose an ideal policy, you realize you have made the right decision. 

After all, why wait for the time you become old and start contracting diseases?

Choose health insurance at a young age so that you can make yourself secure mentally, physically and financially for your present and the future. 

Need more reasons?

Here they are:

• With the passage of time and increasing age, medicine charges, fees of doctors, treatment cost etc., keep getting more expensive, thereby increasing the health insurance premium amount.

• Based on a series of factors such as gender, location, occupation, family history, and others, all the health insurance providers develop a profile for a category of customers so as to estimate the number of times the clients will seek medical assistance in a year. Later, the insurance premium cost and the coverage is decided. So, the learning for you here is that early health investment is a bonus. 

• As the age increases, health insurance companies start insisting on thorough medical check-ups to assure the existence of any pre-existing ailment. Learn that senior citizens are usually allowed the treatment for some pre-existing medical conditions, but only after a waiting period of 2 years. Many health insurance providers do not even consider including pre-existing ailments in their cover. You can prevent yourself from the same situation by choosing an ideal policy early in life.

• Talking about the time period for pre and post hospitalization (for which reimbursement is given) gets minimized with age. If you don’t want the same to happen to you, buy a health insurance policy today!

• Lastly, most health insurance renewals are provided only till the age of 80 years. In some cases, age is limited to 69 or 70 years. The early you invest in health insurance, the better chances you have for renewal. 

      Also Read

Health Insurance at an Early Age? Discover the need for it! 

Common Daycare Coverage Under Health Insurance

Conclusion 

Your changing age affects health insurance premium. Buy it today to avoid expensive premium rates. After all, a health insurance policy can give you financial stability as well as peace of mind even during a medical emergency situation. 

To make sure you choose the best one according to your needs, do emphasize your age and other factors that affect the health insurance premium  

If in need of any kind of assistance, you can give us a call at 18001-205-698.