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What is Premium Loading in Health Insurance Plans?
Premium loading in medical insurance is an additional charge to your regular premium that covers an individual who is likely to make claims due to a pre-existing medical condition.
For example, when you are diagnosed with a specific medical condition that could occur again such as a heart attack, you are more likely to make a claim from your medical insurer.
The higher the risk of you making a claim from medical insurance, the higher premium your medical insurer will charge you. The additional difference is premium loading.
How does Premium Loading in Health Insurance Plans work?
The amount of premium loading in health insurance policies can depend on a few things such as: your smoking habit, your medical history, your age and the nature of your job (whether or not harmful to your health).
Premium loading impacts both life insurance and medical insurance. However, this article merely focuses on health insurance.
The premium loading can occasionally get higher without regards to you getting older. If you smoke habitually, are diabetic, obese or your profession is health-threatening, then the premium loading will become higher than that of an individual who has a healthy habit and works in a safe office.
This simply arises from the fact that you have a higher risk of falling ill.
A premium loading can be a good outcome when you have an illness that is difficult to cure such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension.
In this case, you are more likely to frequent a hospital and need to pay for additional medical equipment or medicine such as an inhaler or insulin that will help you cure your medical abnormality.
Not all insurers provide this as an option on their policies so it is always worth checking which insurer can provide this when you are considering a medical insurance policy.
