Insurance World

In common with the rest of Europe, life expectancy in Britain is increasing. A man can now expect to live to 76.2 years and a woman to 80.7 years. This is wonderful news, but unfortunately we also learn that Britain is not keeping pace with most of Europe in another health aspect.

Healthy life years, as well as life expectancy have been the subject of a recent EU study and the results were based on questionnaires which were completed by some 60,000 householders. The focus of the study was on death, sickness rates and overall health.

We learn that although the average British male can expect to live to 76.2 years of age, he can only expect 61.5 of these years to be free from a disabling condition. This puts us in the unfortunate position of being the fifth unhealthiest group in the EU.

Research into these findings, still at an early stage, has not yet found the reasons for the wide variations across the EU. It seems that as far as cardiovascular disease is concerned, there is an increasing risk the further north you go and Help the Aged feel that a lack of respect for the cold in Britain constitutes a risk to health.

Italy holds the top position in the healthy living stakes, with an expectation of 70.9 healthy years and a life expectancy of 76.8 years. The healthy Italian diet, including lots of fish, vegetables and unsaturated fats, may be a key factor in their country’s excellent health record. A spokesman for Help the Aged comments that diet, smoking, the weather, smoking and health service could help to explain the differences

Interestingly, in a published table showing both healthy years and life expectancy, as far as healthy life goes, Italy tops the table, followed by Spain, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, UK, France, Hungary, Portugal and Finland. It will be interesting to see what the final conclusions turn out to be.

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At the bottom of the scale - if you come from Finland, life expectancy for a woman is 81.8 years, but you can only expect 56.5 of these to be without a disabling condition.

Bearing all these facts in mind, it’s obvious that, for Mr and Mrs Average, it would be as well to give some serious thought to the provision of both critical illness cover and life insurance. It’s a serious thought that the expectation of a disabling health condition precedes retirement age by between three and half and eight and a half years. Many men now expect to be able to work until they are 70.

Critical illness insurance will pay out a specific sum if you’re unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with one of a list of specified conditions, such as cancer, stroke or heart trouble. Read the policy carefully to check which conditions are covered. The effect of critical illness on your lifestyle can be immense. You may have to adapt your car or your home and even change your employment to suit your new circumstances. Critical illness cover will give you peace of mind should illness strike.

As far as your family are concerned, it would be a good time to take out, or review, your life insurance plans. Would their lifestyle be affected should the worst happen?

Both of these insurances can be taken care of easily. The internet is the place to go for immediate attention and a range of competitive quotations. Contact an on-line broker, who’ll offer you all the help you need.

Then sit back and prove the tables wrong.

With the rising cost of medical treatments, it has become a necessity to have a good insurance scheme. This lowers the burden on the pocket and is ideal for the salaried class.

There are many insurance companies who specialize in affordable health insurance covers. It is better to scout around for the best quote and policies. There are mainly two types of affordable insurance for the consumers. They are:

a) fee for service
b) managed care

An affordable insurance helps one to combat against unforeseen diseases or illnesses. It may not be possible for the individual to meet the costs of treatment of a serious ailment. So the affordable health insurance provides the funds needed so unexpectedly costs can be met.

These kind of insurance can be of various types like individual, family and group health insurance. There are many schemes for different age groups.

Low cost or affordable schemes are available for children under nineteen years of age, pregnant ladies, adults with or without families, adults over 65 years of age, womens routine tests with mammogram and pap tests, immigrants emergency health tests and insurance.

Health insurance should be chosen with an eye on its flexibility and whether it is catering to the particular need of the policy holder. Here it is pertinent to mention that no scheme is the best for anyone, some health insurance policies can be better than others.

The first thing that should be looked into is the type of insurance coverage and the cost of the plan. When one is going for the affordable health insurance scheme, choosing the right type of plan is very important.

The next important step is to work out the deductibles and find details about the monthly premium. All insurance companies have a network of physicians, hospitals and pharmacies. The next step is to find out whether any amount will be refunded if one goes to a physician not covered by the companies’ network and how much will the insurance company pay for the prescription medicines. Majority of the prescription medicines are covered by the insurance companies.

It has been mentioned earlier that there are basically two types of affordable health insurance. The first one, that is, fee for service, means that in this type of coverage the patient must pay a fee to the doctor whenever he or she visits the doctor. The claim can be filed either by the patients or by the doctor.

The second type of insurance, the managed care, is very popular. The company has a network of physicians and the insured has to visit them if necessary. Patients have co-pays which they pay when they visit the doctor.