Kind of an ugly image, but the reality is that the US is outgrowing itself by leaps and bounds. You know I will jump on my life insurance band wagon about that, but think about the strain that this will put on the government and health care systems and the increase that will have to come in health insurance premiums to compensate.
Obesity leads to diabetes, vascular and heart diseases, and a host of other high dollar health issues. The most obese places in the country also happen to be some of the poorest places in the country. When these health issues hit the health care system, a big part of the bill will be split among us all.
According to an article by the Trust for America’s Health, adult obesity rates rose in 31 states last year. 20 of those states were repeat performers. See how your state ranks.
From a life insurance standpoint this is alarming. What is happening is that people who purchased life insurance when they weren’t obese are becoming obese and changing their mortality experience. I’m not going to set off the alarm yet, but doesn’t it make sense that if life insurance rates have been coming down for years due to people living longer, if that trend reverses due to epidemics of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, it could reverse the direction of those rates.
Just an fyi along those lines. For all of you millions who have universal life and whole life policies that are dependent on the non guaranteed side of the policy, guess what happens if the company’s mortality charges increase????
Bottom line. Look for insurance companies to underwrite weight issues more strictly in the future. They have already cracked down in the past 5 years and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen anything yet.
My 20 years of experience give me the knowledge and leverage to find reasonably-priced life insurance for people who have been declined or are paying more than they need to.
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