What is the process for qualifying for health insurance?
January 13, 2010 by Tom Martens
Filed under Health Insurance
Countries like South Africa offer a National Health Service for every citizen, meaning they are provided with health insurance covered by Social Security and National Insurance funds.
Well, no, not exactly. The coverage many citizens receive is bare minimum, unable to keep up with the fast pace and always changing medical field. The coverage does not do justice for the high costs.
A lot of major businesses are finding more peer pressure to adopt a company wide insurance plan that helps employees pay for basic medical needs as well as more severe and life threatening medical needs. This will hopefully in turn allow more citizens around the world access to primary health care.
For the percentage of the population who lacks sufficient funds, they must turn to alternate means. They can either stick with the state provided health insurance or consult a private insurance broker. Private health insurance brokers are located in offices around the country or even online.
The most important stage when searching and finding the appropriate private insurance company is the process of running the client through a medical physical. Medical physicals are a way for the insurance agency to analyze your current and past health. At the physical, the doctor will examine your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, as well as other important vital organs.
The doctors are required to ask you personal questions at the appointment. These questions will range from your diet and exercising habits, to whether you smoke or do elicit drugs. While these questions are embarrassing, you must answer them honestly. The doctor will also take into account your weight and if it could improve.
Along with the weight, the doctor will gage the possibility of future diseases based on past family diseases and disorders. In medicine, doctors have found a common link between current diseases in patients and the same disease found in older family members. So family hereditary diseases are studied and scrutinized.
After the physical is completed, the doctor will fax the information over to your insurance provider. The insurance agency will examine your medical records closely and heed to any advice from the doctor. Entire staffs at insurance agencies spend their entire day judging these reports and deciding who and who doesn’t qualify for health insurance.
If you smoke or drink heavily, do drugs, or perform any other activities detrimental to your health, an insurance industry is going to think twice about covering you. They will also weigh in how much you weigh, because several diseases derive from poor weight.
Health insurance providers want to help, but they are only willing to take so many risks. Take care of your body and lifestyle and you will make a perfect candidate for health insurance.
Graham McKenzie is the content Syndication Manager at insurance123.co.zaSouth Africa’s leading Health Insurance information portal.
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