New York Offers Costly Lessons on Insurance New York Times
17.04.10
She was lucky to live in New York, one of the first states to require insurance companies to offer comprehensive coverage to all people regardless of pre-existing conditions. But Ms. Welles, 58, also pays dearly: Her premium is $17,876 a year.
“That’s a lot of groceries,” she said.
New York’s insurance system has been a working laboratory for the core provision of the new federal health care law — insurance even for those who are already sick and facing huge medical bills — and an expensive lesson in unplanned consequences. Premiums for individual and small group policies have risen so high that state officials and patients’ advocates say that New York’s extensive insurance safety net for people like Ms. Welles is falling apart.
The problem stems in part from the state’s high medical costs and in part from its stringent requirements for insurance companies in the individual and small group market. In 1993, motivated by stories of suffering AIDS patients, the state became one of the first to require insurers to extend individual or small group coverage to anyone with pre-existing illnesses.
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Life Insurance For Senior Citizen
Why is life insurance for senior citizens more expensive?
Amelia
Houston TX
Buying life insurance for senior citizens can be stressful. As age increases, life insurance also gets more expensive and difficult to obtain. Life insurance for elderly is more expensive than those for young adults because seniors are older and closer to passing on thus they are more of a risk to insurer. Some insurance providers would not even offer their policy to those who are beyond a certain age limit.
Generally, life expectancy is a major factor that determines a life insurance rate. Insurers usually take a look at the applicant’s lifestyle which gives them an idea of the individual’s expectancy rate. This includes the applicant’s present health condition, health history, family health history, age, sex, height, weight and even their records with DMV. The reason behind this process is that insurers want to make sure that they are not holding too many policy holders that are too much of a risk to insure. If this happens, they are putting themselves at a financial loss because of paying too many death benefits.
Despite it being difficult to obtain than an average policy, it is still possible to avail of an affordable life insurance for senior citizens. There are many life insurance companies offering favorable rates among different types of population group. In fact, there are several companies that specialize in life insurance for senior citizens. Some insurers also have been liberal over their coverage specifically on the natural changes that will take place in a senior’s health. A competitive insurance carrier may allow elderly people with a total cholesterol level up to 280 to still qualify for their lowest rate. Hence all senior citizens must now consider shopping around for the best insurance rates as they could still possibly save a significant amount of money or even get coverage with better benefits.
Source: Life Insurance Houston- Houston Life Insurance