A Healthier Life can Lower Health Insurance Premiums

PRLog (Press Release) – May 23, 2008 – Nearly 66 percent of adults that live in Texas are overweight or obese. The cost to deal with the health care needs of those residents could go from $10.5 billion in 2007 to roughly $39 billion by 2040. To put this into perspective, 66 percent could rise to 75 percent making the projected tally in 2040 some 20 million obese Texans. Those numbers are staggering.  

To make these numbers even more dismal, a report released in 2005 indicated Texas had the 6th highest rate of overweight adults in the US.  The rate dropped to 12th in 2006, but not because obesity in Texas improved.  It dropped because other states’ obesity rates increased faster than Texas.  This does not mean good news for an already over-taxed health care system.  And these figures only deal with adults, not the ever-increasing rate of obesity in the state's children. Texas schoolchildren in 4th grade that are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight ranked 42 percent in 2004-05.  Thirty-nine percent of eighth graders and 36 percent of eleventh graders also fell into this category.  These children are future health care users.

To acquire the cheapest insurance rates, you must prove to the underwriters you are a good risk.  If you can't do that, then the rates you end up paying will be high because of your lifestyle choices.  Insurance companies exist as businesses, and businesses operate on the bottom line.  If an insurance company feels someone is a bad risk, they can either do nothing, increase rates for the applicant, or attach a policy rider/waiver in order to exclude some condition(s).  They aren't in business to lose money.

Health care insurance rates can quite simply boil down to how you choose to live your life.  Making wise decisions about what you do to stay in good health could be the best decision you have ever made.  It could also mean you will save money when it comes to health care insurance.


To learn more, visit http://www.texashealthandlife.com.