By Richard G. Hamilton*, Guest Writer for Inpui.com
With healthcare on the economic and political forefront, insurance companies are tightening their belts wherever they can. This means that buying insurance may involve passing a physical exam. Sometimes, insurance companies don’t reveal the premium you will pay until after the exam. This means that if you tip the scales—whether it’s with your weight, blood pressure, or cholesterol—you may end up paying more for health insurance.
Even more irksome, if you are on a group plan, everyone in the group may end up paying more if just one person is not in the best shape. Instead of shaking in your boots when you’re asked to complete a pre-insurance physical, try some of the steps below to improve your health and ace the exam.
Quit Smoking
Nicotine can show up in a urine sample for up to two weeks after you quit, even if you only have one cigarette. And smokers pay high premiums. Stop smoking well before your physical exam, and don’t even consider taking a puff at a party. Go cold turkey—you’ll pay less for premiums, and you may start to notice the toll smoking was taking on your wallet, not to mention your lungs.
Go on a Fast
Fasting is not exactly healthy in the long run, but if you stop eating for two days before your physical, you can drastically reduce your LDL (bad cholesterol) levels. Since you probably can’t go two days without eating and stand up straight on the day of your physical, your best bet is to eat a high-fiber diet for a week before the exam. Drink a lot of water as well. Stop eating around midnight the night before the exam and your cholesterol levels will improve.
If you have a couple of weeks before the exam, go Vegan! Drink pure vegetable and fruit juices, purified water, herbal teas, and no coffee for the 1st week. Second week, keep up the juicing and clear beverages; just add spinach salads, vegetables, fruits and no dairy or meat products. Not only will your chemical levels clean up quickly, you’ll probably drop about 10-15 pounds as well.
Manage Your Blood Pressure
If you take medication for high blood pressure, keep taking it before the exam. If you don’t know whether your blood pressure is in the healthy range, you can test it at most drugstores. If it is high, starting medication immediately will help lower it before your exam. At the exam, you will have to acknowledge that you are taking the medication, but it’s better than having “uncontrolled” high blood pressure. Again, the Vegan cleanse mentioned above can straighten out this malady pretty quickly.
Manage Your Weight
Health insurance premiums are usually lower for people who fall in a healthy weight range. If you are overweight, take steps to lose weight. Starting an exercise program (with your doctor’s approval) or cutting back on calories or portion sizes can help when it comes to purchasing health insurance.
Stay Drug Free
Alcohol can be measured in a urine sample for up to 12 hours after it was consumed. Marijuana stays in your system for up to one month, and most other drugs remain for a few days. Stop taking any drugs, including over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen before your exam.
Anti-inflammatories and analgesics can cause elevated liver function levels, which can negatively impact the results of a physical exam, even for individuals in otherwise perfect health. Even eating poppy seeds before the exam can make you fail the drug test, so be careful what you consume in the days prior to the test.
If you exercise, eat well, and are generally healthy, you shouldn’t have to worry before taking a health insurance physical. Once the day of the physical arrives, there is nothing more you can do except relax. If you’re anxious when you get to the office, your blood pressure reading might be higher than normal. Just breathe, breathe out, you’ll do fine.
About the author;- Richard G. Hamilton is a content contributor for Kanetix, a car insurance comparison site, including auto insurance Ontario quotes.
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