Smokers and health insurance

If you’re a smoker, you’re probably well aware of the fact that Smokers can pay nearly four times more for a health or life insurance plan compared to someone who doesn’t smoke. Simply being a smoker will usually push you into higher rates when you shop for health insurance.

If you lie on your application and die from a smoking-related complication such as a heart attack or cancer, there’s a possibility your benefits will not be paid out. If you’re given a medical exam prior to being insured, your urine will be tested for nicotine, regardless of whether or not you have declared yourself as a smoker.

What is “smoking” from the insurance point of view?

So what counts as smoking? Cigarettes are an obvious candidate. But there are many other forms of “nicotine delivery systems” that can peg you as a “smoker”:

  • Vaping & e-cigarettes
  • Cigars
  • Pipes
  • Hookahs
  • Chewing tobacco
  • Snuff
  • Dissolvable tobacco
  • Nicotine replacement therapies (patches, lozenges, gum, inhalers, nose sprays)
  • Heated tobacco products
  • Marijuana users are sometimes also considered smokers, depending on whether the use is occasional or regular.

Whether or not you’re a “smoker” is decided by each insurance company, and the parameters can vary significantly. Generally if you haven’t smoked for 12 months or more, you’re considered a non-smoker. The non-smoking time length rules vary among insurance companies.

 How do insurance companies find out that you are a smoker?

Insurance companies have many ways to verify everything you’ve stated on the application.

  • Medical tests: A primary method of verification is a medical exam, which typically includes taking blood and urine samples. These samples will reveal cotinine in your system, which is a byproduct of nicotine. Cotinine can also be detected in saliva and hair samples. However, smokers may be able to slip through if they haven’t smoked in a day or two.
  • Doctors’ records. Requesting your medical records is a routine part of many life and health insurance applications. Nicotine use will likely be noted in your records.
  • Pharmaceutical databases. Life insurers often get lists of your past and current prescriptions. Nicotine use might show up here, such as a prescription for a smoking-cessation drug.
  • Past life and health insurance applications. A company called MIB stores your past answers to individual life and health applications. If your past answers are different, it would be flagged here.
  • Social media. Insurance companies are increasingly using social media sites such as Facebook to look for evidence of factors that affect rates.
  • The sound of your voice. When you answer insurance application questions over the phone you are usually recorded. Using new technologies can analyze these recordings and flags people who are likely to be smokers.
Avoiding an insurance medical exam

Not all life insurance policies require a medical exam. Some policy types such as guaranteed issue life insurance require no exam and have no health questions. Rates are based on your age, gender and coverage amount.

  • No medical exam life insurance: No Medical life insurance may be the perfect solution for a smoker. No Medical life insurance allows you to obtain coverage with no medical exam, insurance that can cover you through a specific term or for a lifetime. Whether you’ve been denied life insurance before due to your age, health, or smoking; or you’re concerned you may be denied life insurance should you seek it, you can still be covered under a variety of policies.
  • No medical exam critical illness insurance: Illness can strike at any time, and the impact can be devastating, both to your well-being and your financial security. Critical Illness Insurance offers you the security of a plan that helps you when you’re sick and supports you while you recover. On the Canadian market, you can find many critical illness insurance policies that guarantee acceptance for all Canadians ages 18 to 69, with guaranteed coverage up to $25,000 with no medical questions required.
  • Group health insurance: If you run your own business or you work for one, there is a variety of group health insurance plans that can meet your needs. For many of those plans, there is no minimum number of employees or years in business required to apply. Although the federal and Ontario governments provide with major health insurance programs such as OHIP, disability, workplace injuries, etc., they don’t cover everything. Group health insurance provides additional healthcare coverage to a select group of people, for example the employees of a common employer, the members of a society, professional association or NGO.

Once you buy a policy, an insurance company can’t raise your rates. So if you start deep-sea diving or smoking afterwards, you’ll still enjoy the insurance rates you already locked in. The same is true for health conditions you develop after buying a policy. The risk for insurers that you’ll start smoking later in life is pretty low. Nearly 90% of cigarette smokers first try cigarettes before age 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

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