Buying for medical insurance might be more challenging as we get older. We are more likely to have significant medical conditions, to have an unfavorable BMI and age alone increases the premiums we are offered.

If you have a preexisting condition finding health care insurance will likely be more difficult whether you are younger or older. Insurers may deny coverage. They could charge extra. They could eliminate coverage because of your condition and offer you a contract that won’t cover you for the thing you are most worried about.

The best way to overcome the impact of a longer medical history is to eliminate the condition. Sometimes following doctor’s orders, changing our diets and getting more exercise can make a difference. Often, however this doesn’t help and we have to deal with the impact that the medical problem has on our lives.

If you are denied insurance or have a rider put on the contract, you should see what the insurance company’s competitors would do for you. You may want to accept the plan that is offered to you, but only keep it until you might find something better.

Insurance company underwriting guidelines vary from insurer to insurer. For this reason, you should make sure that the insurer that you settle on has the most favorable view of your longer medical history. One company might deny, another might eliminate coverage for the condition, a third might increase your premium. Yet a fourth company might accept you without a rider and charge you standard rates..

You should also see how close you are to qualifying for a lower premium. Often as a health condition ages, it becomes less expensive to insure. A medical diagnosis that is only a month or two old is likely to result in an automatic denial for an underwritten contract. If the condition was last treated 5 years ago, you might get a policy with standard provisions.

Finding out how close you are to qualifying applies to your BMI or body mass index as well. You may be just a few pound away from a lower insurance premium. Be sure to ask how close you are to a lower rate if your BMI affects the rate you are charged.

If you can’t find a health insurance policy that you might qualify for due to your BMI or your health condition, you may be able to get coverage through a state sponsored or federal sponsored policy. You may qualify for a special policy offered by your state. You may qualify for Medicaid or Medicare.

Government-based policies are important options, but one should be sure to look at options from private health plans first. Government-based policies are generally more costly or have lower benefits or have fewer doctors and hospitals in their networks.

We are going to be charged more as we get older. Getting older does increase the rates that we are charged for life insurance health and disability insurance.

A few medical insurance carriers will charge a lower rate if the policy is placed in the name of the younger spouse. This can result in substantial savings if your wife our husband is more than five years older or younger than you.

Whether we are younger or older, finding a good health insurance plan boils down to finding a good price, a good network and good coverage. The reason for a good premium is obvious. We need a good network so that we can visit doctors that are close to us. A policy should, of course, have good coverage.

It can be harder to get coverage when we are older. A medical issue, weight and our ages can all work together to increase our premiums. This makes finding quality health insurance harder.

Author Bio: The author blogs about finding private health insurance companies for 55 to 65 year olds. You can also find cheap self employed medical insurance on Alston Balkcom’s site.

Category: Finances
Keywords: insurance carriers,medical insurance,over age 55,healthcare