Health insurance costs are among the most visible and divisive issues in the political discourse of the early 21st century. For decades, employers were the most common source of health insurance for working Americans. This arrangement has become progressively less common through the 1990s and 2000s. As a private citizen seeking insurance, or as an employer looking for ways to afford this valuable benefit, body weight is one way to reduce your premium costs.
A Matter of Risk
The insurance industry runs on analysis of calculated risk. When the company gives you a policy, it bases your rates on how much they think you will cost them. Any factor in your health record or current state of health can indicate a greater or lesser need for health care. Health insurance companies take this data into account when they set your policy premiums.
BMI
Body Mass Index is one of the most common analyses used to determine whether or not a person has a healthy body weight. Your BMI is an equation that compares your weight to your height and produces a number. Even health insurance companies that don't use BMI usually consult height to weight charts that perform calculations based on the same idea. The closer your BMI is to healthy body weight, the better your chances are of getting less expensive health insurance.
Body Weight and Health
According to Dr. Walter Willett, the nutrition chair at the Harvard School of Public Health, lifespan and quality of life are directly correlated with healthy weight. Heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer are just three of the conditions that grow less common the closer somebody comes to a healthy body weight or BMI. Since these illnesses will equate to more doctor visits and expensive treatments, many health insurance companies offer discounts for policyholders who maintain a healthy body weight.
Bottom Line
The key is keeping yourself at a healthy body weight. If you are overweight, losing weight until you are in a healthy range may help reduce your health insurance rates -- provided your health insurance company has policies that allow this. If you're already at a healthy body weight, losing more weight won't further reduce your health insurance premiums.
Health Care Reform Act
The 2010 Health Care Reform Act made sweeping changes to the landscape of health care in America, and will continue to do so through 2014. Further, this attention has spawned other changes at the state and industry level. Anything you hear or read about health insurance rates today may change tomorrow.
References
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy;" Walter Willett, et. al; 2004
- "Exam Cram: Life and Health"; Bisys Educational; 2009
- CBS News: Health Care Reform Act Summary
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