Lifestyle Decisions May Be Inflating Health Insurance
At
MSNBC the lifestyle and decisions of America's Baby Boomers have been linked to health problems like obesity and sickness, but what goes unsaid in the article is the relationship between this growing health problem and the rising costs of
health insurance.
Of course, there are a great many Boomers out there who take excellent care of themselves. After all, we're talking about the same generation that made yoga, granola, and fruit smoothies into groovy lifestyle options.
But as the article points out, there are also the ones who aren't taking good care of themselves at all.
According to the piece, "obesity rates substantially grew for baby boomers (those born from 1946 to 1965), compared with the generation before them." And in some cases, Boomers are more than twice as likely to be overweight as their parents were at that same age.
Why is this happening now? A combination of lifestyle issues seem to be making healthy decisions difficult for many modern Baby Boomers. These include working longer hours and a lack of sleep, alongside bad eating habits. The more complicated nature of our lives makes it easy for people today to put their health on hold. Even worse, Baby Boomers are also inclined to think that medicine will take care of them when they need help: "many boomers have a knack for being overly optimistic" and they delay doing something proactive about their health until the situation is so bad that costs will be very high.
Facts on:
Baby Boomers
Did you know...
In some cases, boomers are twice as likely to be overweight as their parents were at the same age?
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Now, with millions of Baby Boomers poised to retire soon, and in a dangerously poor state of health, (along with everyone else who isn't taking good care of themselves) it's a bit easier to see why the cost of health care is going up so quickly. Combined with the ever-rising costs of technology, prescription drug costs, and the pricetag of caring for those who make unhealthy lifestyle decisions, America's health insurance has become overpriced and difficult to afford.
Hopefully, with health insurance costs appearing to be the main topic of upcoming legislature, change is on the horizon. Until then, consumers are stuck comparing health insurance plans and searching for
affordable health insurance that will still protect them in their time of need.
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