Smokers Short Term Health Insurance

What All Smokers Seeking Insurance Should Know

Who is Considered a Smoker?

One of the main things that you may be wondering is who is considered to be a smoker? Well, almost all insurance companies have the same exact perception of what a smoker is. It is anybody who uses any products that contain nicotine and tobacco such as cigarettes and chewing tobacco. However, what you may not know is that most insurance companies also consider a smoker to be someone who uses any type of nicotine prevention products, such as the patch or nicotine gum. How often you use these products does not matter to most insurance companies.

All Insurance Companies’ Policies Are Different

The guidelines that each and every insurance company has for smokers is going to vary. While the common belief is that some insurance companies will not allow smokers to be covered by their policies, this may be true… but it is very uncommon. It is probably only the less well known insurance companies that will not allow smokers to be eligible. Majority of insurance companies which will allow it will, of course, allow it at a higher cost. In fact, it is a known fact that just until recently, smokers have been paying rates that two to three times higher than the rates of insurance for people who do not smoke. More and more insurance companies seem to be developing better rates for people who are smokers. For example, if someone who is healthy aside from the fact that they are a smoker, chances are that they will get a pretty decent health insurance rate.

Quitting Can Be Beneficial

Something else that you may not know about most insurance company’s policies is what will happen if you quit. Many companies will offer you rates that will continue to keep on dropping, as long as you stay tobacco free. Most companies will allow you to switch to the same rates for non smokers once you have remained tobacco free for a certain amount of time.

Find Out Before You Buy

One of the keys to finding the best rates for you, as a smoker, is making sure that you have a good idea of several different rates offered by different insurance companies for short term health insurance before you decide to buy a policy. Just as if you normally would, regardless of if you are a smoker, it is a good idea to know several different rates before you decide on one certain policy. You want to make sure that you will be getting the most affordable rate as possible- which may be difficult for you as a smoker, especially if you are not healthy otherwise. Just remember to shop around and compare as much as possible.