4 Health Conditions That Affect Your Life Insurance Rates
Your likelihood of dying is intimately tied to your current health status… and as such, your current health status is intimately linked to your life insurance rates! Unintentional injuries and acts of violence comprise less than 10% of deaths all over the world, and a far lower percentage in Australia. Cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, cancers and respiratory problems are currently the big killers all over the world, and the risk factors for developing all of them are well documented and asked in life insurance rate questionnaires in order to determine your premiums.
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Some of these conditions you can change (happily!), some genetically determined risk factors you’ll simply have to live with. Today we examine 4 common health conditions that can affect your life insurance rates, and the medically recommended ways to change some of them!
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1. High blood pressure
Blood pressure is a complex and ever-changing web of different factors; high blood pressure can actually be caused by high water intake or a very salty meal. The best ways to lower your blood pressure in the long term and get better life insurance rates are to lose weight, give up smoking, and eat less salt.
2. High cholesterol
Cholesterol is not as simple as we may have been led to believe either! Eggs and bacon are rarely the cause of high blood cholesterol. To lower your blood cholesterol as well as your life insurance rates, permanently incorporate more beans, oily fish, garlic and tea in your diet, as well as swapping butter for margarine with plant sterols.
3. Depression
Suicide kills more people each year than stomach cancer, measles, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, drowning, war, epilepsy, alcohol abuse or drug abuse. Given that most life insurance companies will still pay out in the case of death by suicide (as long as the policy had been held for 13 months or longer), a history of depression will have a significant impact on your life insurance rates. Fortunately there are actually plenty of non-drug ways to alleviate depression, including engaging in moderate exercise every day, undertaking cognitive behavioral therapy, and practicing utilization of the decision-making areas of the brain (making decisions!) can all create substantial improvements in mild and moderate depression.
4. Asthma
Asthma is not a health condition that can be switched on or off, no matter how hard you work at changing your lifestyle. Fortunately, given that a small number of deaths worldwide each year are directly attributable to asthma, it is likely to make little difference to your life insurance rates.
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You may also want to discuss any health issues with your doctor or medical practitioner. They can also recommend other ways you can improve your overall health with or without the use of prescription medication.