An incentive
to quit smoking

Private health insurance could be your greatest incentive to give up smoking and get healthy. Premiums fall in price for people who have been non-smokers for at least a year, so giving up can save money as well as protect your long-term health. This is how smoking can affect your private health insurance options.

Private health insurance – the financial costs of smoking

Smoking isn’t just an expensive habit because cigarettes are a pricey purchase,  it can cost you in many other ways as well. From dry cleaning to tooth whitening products, those sneaky lunch time smokes can all add up. But there is another important cost that it can incur, namely the price of your private health insurance premiums. Smoking is regarded by private health insurance providers as a high-risk habit, likely to result in illness, general poor health and eventually death. Common diseases linked with smoking include lung cancer, emphysema, and cardiovascular disease. In 2016 an estimated 77,900 people died from smoking-related disease in the UK, with life expectancy for smokers reduced by seven to eight years. Here are some more facts about smoking that can affect your health insurance policy:

• The number of people aged 70 years or under who die from smoking-related diseases exceeds the deaths caused by breast cancer, AIDS, traffic accidents and drug addiction.
• Blood clots are two to four times more likely in smokers than non-smokers, due to accelerated hardening and narrowing of the arteries.
• Some forms of cardiovascular diseases include cerebral thrombosis, causing strokes and paralysis; kidney failure due to high blood pressure; and gangrene and amputation in the legs caused by blockage to the vascular supply.

With these facts in mind, it’s little wonder that you will be charged more for your private health insurance premiums if you smoke.

Private health insurance – why non-smokers benefit

Giving up smoking can help your bank balance as well as your health. Non-smokers are viewed as far less of health risk than smokers, and as a result are rewarded with lower private health insurance premiums. However, you can’t just give up smoking for a month and expect your health cover costs to drop. Premiums are only reduced once you’ve been a strict non-smoker for one year, and can provide medical evidence to that effect. So, if you want to benefit from private health insurance and reduce your costs, then throw out those cigarettes today.

Looking for health cover? Speak to Right to Health

Right to Health is a leading UK health insurance intermediary, helping individuals and businesses find the best private health insurance cover. With access to the UK’s top health insurance companies, Right to Health has advised thousands of clients and can help you to get great health coverage for a competitive premium. Right to Health is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, which means  you can be confident that the recommendations you are given really are in your best interests. To find out more or  get a review of your current health insurance, call 08000 753 999 or click the Get Quotes button at the top of the page.