Being overweight is not only physically uncomfortable, but financially distressing as well. Due to the manifold risks associated with extra weight, people who are overweight may receive a higher health insurance quote than those who have a more healthy height-to-weight ratio.

Life insurance providers determine whether an applicant for individual health insurance is overweight during a physical assessment. Individuals with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or more are considered obese. BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. Not far behind the BMI ratio deemed obese, those with BMIs of 25 or over are classified as overweight. An individual will most likely not be refused coverage for being overweight, although if s/he is too obese, this is a possibility. Anyone who is overweight will definitely have to pay much higher premiums as a result. According to the American Obesity Association, the number of overweight people has been growing steadily since the 1960s. Currently, 200 million American adults, or 66.3 of the adult population in the United States, are overweight or obese. This means that a significant number of Americans are currently facing higher health insurance coverage costs than they would if they weighed less.

Overweight individuals have many more risk factors than people at a normal weight. People who are overweight are more likely to develop or experience worse effects of over 30 separate medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gallbladder disease, breast cancer, kidney cancer, endometrial cancer, depression, and even incontinence. Women who are obese face greater complications during pregnancy, as well as an increased risk of death. Extra weight is tough on internal organs, and may damage them permanently over time. The risk of death increases proportionately to the number of pounds a person is overweight. Even being 10 to 20 pounds overweight increases the risk of death significantly. If an overweight person also smokes or has high blood pressure or cholesterol, s/he has a greater risk of medical complication, and is thus even more likely to be saddled with higher premiums or denied coverage entirely. When processing people for health insurance coverage, life insurance policymakers must take these risk factors into account. Health insurers find the fact that they may have to pay multiple claims stemming from extra weight to a single person, an undesirable notion.

Health insurance quotes for the overweight are often much higher than for healthier individuals. Overweight individuals face an increased risk of many types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, as well as a host of other undesirable ailments. While getting health insurance coverage may not be too trying for the overweight, paying the accordingly priced premiums might be notably more difficult.