Ballooning costs and ballooning waistlines. When it comes to health and health insurance, these are the two biggest issues on the plate today. But are these really two separate problems? You already know that too many super-sized meals and the temptation for junk food will cost you in the long-term, but you may not have realized how much of a price you’re paying now, in health insurance premiums, for the weight problem.

Rupees & Rupees

Health insurance premium rates have been on the upswing, with double-digit increases in each of the past two years. Most analysts blame an increased use of medical services for driving up costs. But are we really just a nation of hospital junkies? Surely, we don’t go to the Doctor for fun. Why are we seeing the doctor so much anyway? The answer may be: obesity. It’s impossible to know exactly how much obesity contributes to the increase in insurance premium, but take a look at some numbers: Over 50% of urban Indians presently qualify as overweight or obese. Even among children, obesity rates have tripled over the past decade. And obesity is known to result in a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer, as well as respiratory problems.

Obesity and Health Insurance

Insurance companies understand that obesity isn’t profitable. If you’re an obese person trying to make a claim on your retail health plan, chances are that the claim will be turned down on the grounds of pre-existing condition. And if you’re covered under a Group Health Plan taken by your employer with Pre-existing condition cover, your claim can’t be turned down but the increased cost of insuring you is still there, borne not only by yourself but by your co-workers as well.

Now this doesn’t mean that slim folks should blame heavier folks for the annual insurance rate hikes that everyone dreads. There are other factors involved, like the increased use of diagnostics to rule out many non-existing conditions that insurance companies pay to hospitals. But, these examples serve to demonstrate the fact that this problem touches most all of us in one way or another. And if so many Indians across the country are obese and it’s twice as expensive to profitably insure an obese person, you can begin to see how big a role expanding girth may play in expanding health insurance costs. 

Prospects for a National Diet ?

A sedentary lifestyle, irregular meals, rich food and no time for exercise make up the deadly recipe for health disaster afflicting the urbanites in India. It’s expected that obesity will soon overtake smoking as the number-one cause of preventable deaths in India.

Perhaps a greater awareness of the connection between obesity and health insurance costs will encourage government and health insurance companies to step into the fray. Perhaps it will prod health insurance companies to expand coverage to include weight-control programs.