The Impact of Alcohol Consumption and Smoking on Health Insurance
Health insurance is a personalised contract with an insurance company that protects the policyholder’s financial stability and offers benefits in case of a medical emergency. An insurance company offers financial coverage for unforeseen events, and that makes all the difference.
Your everyday lifestyle habits can lead to health issues, such as diabetes and obesity, further leading to a policy claim. Consumption of alcohol and tobacco are two lifestyle habits that cause obvious health risks, chronic diseases and severe illnesses.
All of this has an impact on your health insurance policy; let us understand how.
Smoking and Drinking: Impact on Health
● Smoking
Smoking is a lifestyle habit that leads to various diseases, such as lung cancer, difficulty in breathing, obstructive pulmonary disease, heart diseases, heightened chances of heart stroke or attack, respiratory infections and an overall worsening health condition. The biggest disadvantage of smoking is that it is addictive and hard to cut out as a habit!
Smoking refers to the consumption of tobacco in any form, such as cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, pipes or hookah. Smoking causes millions of deaths all over the world, and when it comes to India, over millions of adults lose their lives due to smoking every year.
● Alcohol
Alcohol is another highly addictive substance that is largely produced and consumed in India. Excessive consumption can lead to some of the biggest disadvantages of alcohol consumption, i.e., health risks.
Excessive alcohol causes kidney failure, liver cancer, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, digestive problems, memory issues, cognitive deterioration and other neurological damage. Alcohol consumption also leads to an increase in violent behaviours, injuries, abuse and accidents. Alcohol also causes millions of deaths around the world and in India.
Combined, these two lifestyle habits can prove to be highly risky for one’s body. They increase the possibility of severe illnesses and health conditions.
Smoking and Drinking: Impact on Health Insurance Policy
If you are looking for affordable health insurance, smoking and drinking can be a huge problem. When you compare health insurance, you will observe that the insurance companies ask you whether you drink and smoke or not. Your answer, i.e., honest answer, determines major factors in your policy.
● High Premium Amount
Health insurance smoking surcharge or drinking penalty is real. A high premium is one of the most important disadvantages of smoking and alcohol consumption. To understand this, you need to understand what determines your health insurance premium.
- Age
- Gender
- Job description and nature of work
- Pre-existing diseases
- Family medical history
- Location of residence
- Lifestyle habits, i.e., drinking and smoking habits
- Add-ons
- Sum insured
- Copayments and deductibles
All of the above factors influence the insurance company’s decision on premium allotment. The reason behind that is that all these factors determine the probability of health risks and the possibility of a claim filed by the policyholder.
When the risk and probability of a claim is high, the health insurance premium is high. For instance, an old person’s risk of contracting a disease is higher than a younger person’s, so the latter’s premium is lower. This is the same reason why drinkers and smokers pay more for health insurance. So, drinkers’ and smokers’ insurance rates are a result of their lifestyle habits.
● Policy Coverage Exclusions
Some health insurance plans may exclude financial coverage for health conditions that are directly related to your tobacco and alcohol use. This differs from one policy provider to another.
For instance, a provider might not cover medical treatment expenses for liver conditions if you have mentioned drinking in your policy form. These exclusions lead to a substantial amount of money going out of your pocket when an unforeseen health condition attacks.
● Pre-existing Conditions
Most people do not purchase health insurance for a very long time. Suppose such people have developed the habit of tobacco and alcohol consumption in the meantime.
In that case, they might have caught a pre-existing condition before they bought the health insurance policy in India. Again, these pre-existing conditions lead to an even higher premium amount. This again exhibits another disadvantage of alcohol consumption and smoking.
Reduce Health Insurance Premium Effectively
If you buy your health insurance from a reliable and dynamic insurance company like Tata AIG, you can make your policy reasonably profitable again. Follow the given steps:
- Write a letter saying you promise to quit alcohol and tobacco.
- Take steps toward ridding the habit.
- Take part in wellness and cessation programs.
Conclusion
Smoking and alcohol impact your life, health insurance and mental state as well. By avoiding these habits or quitting them early, you can significantly reduce your health insurance premiums. We hope you found this blog helpful and informative!
