Obésité – Soigner sa santé et son porte-monnaie
Obtenir une Cotation Gratuite dès Maintenant
Obésité : une augmentation du poids corporel au-delà de la limite fixée par le squelette et le physique en général, c’est le résultat d'une accumulation excessive de graisses dans le corps. (CancerWeb's On-line Medical Dictionary)
Au-delà des problèmes vestimentaires l’obésité est un facteur important qui met la santé en péril. L’obésité est perçue par beaucoup, et notamment par les assureurs, comme un facteur médical important. Beaucoup de gens ne réalisent pas la difficulté d’obtenir une assurance correcte pour une personne obèse. En effet, l’assureur est souvent réticent car les risques médicaux peuvent engendrer des frais importants.
L'une des principales raisons du refus de l’assureur à traiter la demande est que l’obésité est considérée comme une condition préexistante de haut risque. Un assureur pourrait décider de prendre en charge un client obèse, cependant il faudrait s’attendre à une augmentation de la prime. Le montant peut presque doubler par rapport à l’assurance d'un client non obèse.
If you think that this is highly unfair and discriminatory against people with a weight problem, perhaps you will be correct, however discriminations against people with pre-existing or chronic conditions is a common practice in insurance market; after all insurance company is a business that in order to properly care for its clients has to make money. In fact, due to the 2004 ruling by Federal government, it is now allowed for the insurance companies to charge obese clients higher premiums in order to encourage people to get healthy and lose weight.
An interesting fact is although insurance companies recognize obesity as a high risk chronic condition; any treatments towards reducing the weight (including weight-loss medications) are excluded. But this policy also applies to any chronic condition developed by the client prior to taking out an insurance plan.
These are some of the health conditions insurance companies worry obese clients will develop:
• type 2 diabetes (high blood sugar)
• high blood pressure
• heart disease and stroke
• some types of cancer
• sleep apnea (when breathing stops for short periods during sleep)
• osteoarthritis (wearing away of the joints)
• gallbladder disease
• liver disease
Each of these medical conditions is a serious threat to a person's health and requires medical treatments that often come to an astronomical total cost. If the person becomes obese and develops any of the previously mentioned health conditions after the commencement of an insurance policy, then the treatment for those conditions will be covered, but not for obesity itself.
The bottom line is that obesity should be viewed as a life threatening condition, not just a mere esthetic concern. Perhaps in the future insurance companies will decide to include treatment of obesity in the medical cover, but until then stay healthy and fit - it's good for you as well as your wallet.
We have a large number of experienced medical consultants that would be pleased to answer any of your questions or provide you with quotes for international major medical insurance. Feel free to contact us and we will ensure your enquiry is replied to via telephone or email within 24 hours.
