Smoking is injurious to health and now to your health insurance premium too

Today is World No Tobacco Day.

Tobacco is one of the leading killers across the world. The World Health Organisation predicts that tobacco deaths in India may exceed 1.5 million annually by 2020. Around 4,000 different chemicals are present in tobacco and more than 60 of these are known to cause cancer. Currently smoking kills close to 90,000 people in a year in India. Tobacco-related cancers accounted for 42 per cent of all male deaths and 18.3 per cent of all female deaths in India in the year 2010. Both active and passive  smoking are equally injurious to health.

On the eve of World No Tobacco Day, insurance companies in India have dropped a bombshell! General insurance companies has reported that they would be charging higher premium rates for smokers  when it comes to issuing of  medical insurance. Life insurance companies have already started charging higher premium rates for smokers than for non-smokers, There is a difference of 15% in premium for life insurance policies between smokers and non-smokers.

Health Insurance companies as such had increased health premium rates by 15-20 per cent due to medical inflation and higher claim losses. An additional increase in the premium for smokers will definitely burn a hole in the customers pocket. Currently health insurance companies are not charging higher rates for smokers citing the reason that the information on correlation between smoking and higher medical insurance claims are still being gathered. Most companies merely ask for a medical check up if you are above a particular age and have the habits of smoking and drinking.

An additional reason for considering the smoking parameter while calculating the medical premium is the fact that regulations have now stipulated that health insurance polices should come with life long renewals as opposed to being one year contracts.

So the next time you reach out for that packet of smokes think twice about its effects on both your health and on your wallet!