Health Insurance Articles

How Long A Medical Condition Will Affect Health Insurance Costs

2011-01-09

Various medical conditions can have longstanding effects on your health insurance costs. Depending on the severity of the condition and how it affects your body, you may have to pay extra on your insurance premiums in order to stay covered.

When acquiring health insurance quotes, you must tell the potential insurer about any pre existing conditions you may be afflicted by. The insurance companies will utilize this information to ascertain how much risk each applicant constitutes and then figures out how much they should charge for their premium based on the amount of risk they are taking on.

This price will most likely be set for an entire year and will not be renegotiable before the end of that pre determined period. However, at the end of that time, the insurer will re-evaluate your health and possibly adjust their price in premium if your condition has substantially changed. For example, if your health has improved and your physician is willing to provide verbal or written notification that you are better off now than previously, most insurers will view this as evidence that they can lower your rates. However, if your medical condition has taken a turn for the worse, some insurers may go so far as to completely deny coverage or insist on a waiting period before coverage starts. This will almost always certainly mean a rise in your health insurance costs.

As long as you pose a risk to the health insurance company, your health insurance costs will be affected. If you are requiring things that the health insurance company has to pay for such as frequent doctor visits, medication prescriptions, in-office testing, or physical rehabilitation, they will force you to pay higher premiums. You are of course still saving in the long run by avoiding massive hospital bills.

If you are worried that a severe medical condition may inhibit your ability to be covered by health insurance at all, you do not need to worry. As of June 21, 2010 a high-risk national pool was created comprised of people who had been unable to find coverage for six months due to their pre existing medical conditions. People in this group are divided into similar groups and assigned a set premium price. This is meant to be a temporary way for people with pre existing conditions to get affordable health insurance. This will be a rather expensive route but it is certainly better than not being covered at all.

So by knowing how different insurance companies will view your pre existing medical condition, you will be better informed of how long it will affect the price of your health insurance.