Know How Your Medical History Can Affect Health Insurance Premiums

Health insurance in today’s day and age is no less than a necessity. With growing instances of health contingencies, seeking financial protection against unexpected medical treatments is of utmost importance. Moreover, health insurance plans provide a mental assurance that you need not worry about money when the time comes. Hence, skipping on a health insurance cover is like throwing caution to the wind. When buying medical insurance cover, various factors come into the picture, such as your age, lifestyle, and vices. But one critical factor that isn’t considered by many buyers is your and the family’s medical history. This article explains how the medical history of a person has an impact on the premium calculation.

Why does the family’s medical history impact premium calculation?

The eligibility of an applicant for a specific insurance policy is decided not based on a single factor, but on many factors at once. These multiple factors impact not just the premium calculation, but also the policy terms. Among these different factors, your family’s medical history is crucial. As many ailments are passed on to a person because of the genetic history of their family, insurance companies keep a special tab on such a medical record. For instance, diabetes, cholesterol, and asthma are some hereditary ailments. So, if most of your family members are either suffering from such ailments or have suffered in the past, the probability of you suffering from that ailment increases. Thus, to minimize the risk for the insurance company, the premium value is increased accordingly. *Standard T&C Apply

What is that the insurance company wants to know when looking at past medical records?

When applying for a family health insurance plan, the insurer looks for the following:

1. If any immediate family members, such as your parents or siblings, are or were suffering from a specified health condition.
2. If the answer to the above is yes, then the age when they first got diagnosed with the particular ailment.

Once you have provided them with the above information, you may be required to avail of a medical check-up to detect any early signs and symptoms of such ailments.

What happens in case a specific illness runs in your family?

The impact of any disease in your family’s lineage depends on whether it is a one-off situation or not. For instance, if only one member of your paternal family suffered from cholesterol, so you need not worry. Similarly, accidental injuries to family members are not considered. Both these situations do not impact the premium amount. However, if it is discovered that more than one person suffered from such an ailment, it increases the likelihood that you may develop it in the future, if not affected by it in the present. This disclosure of a family’s medical history does not impact the coverage of your health insurance policy. But if it is later discovered that an important part of your medical history was concealed during policy purchase, it may lead to your claim application getting rejected. Hence, you must avoid hiding any information about pre-existing diseases that run in your family. *Standard T&C Apply The medical history of your family is not just relevant when buying an individual insurance plan, but also when purchasing a family health insurance policy and even critical illness insurance. So, make sure to provide adequate disclosures concerning not just yours, but also your family’s medical history.   Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.