Senior citizen health insurance becomes a necessity as Medicare alone might be insufficient unless you have a good savings plan or 401K during working years. Retirement is a time when you get away from the daily grind and do things that you love to do. However, when you consider the cost of a senior citizen health insurance plan and added medications versus the fixed income of the retirees, the picture looks quite bleak. Why is senior citizen health insurance so expensive to secure? Is there anything that can be done to help the situation?

Getting an insurance policy is paying against a calculated risk. People get hurt or sick, and the insurance company takes this risk into consideration when calculating the premium. The greater the risks, the higher the premium.

With increasing age, people are more susceptible to illness and injury. Illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes require long term care and medication, hence increasing the overall cost. Age is seen as a high risk factor to the profitability of the insurance company. This results in the premiums for senior citizen health insurance being higher.

However, there are some ways to help you prepare for this. When setting up your 401K savings plan, make sure that you take into consideration both the cost of living after retirement and the cost of health care. Include the projected costs for the premium payments for the senior citizen health insurance.

Sign up for the plan prior to retirement as the plan will be less expensive if you are younger at the beginning of the policy. Check the details to verify that the plan covers everything that you want and is compatible with Medicare. Your chosen plan should be supplemental to government provisions and is not intended to replace them. Always read the policy carefully before signing the acceptance of the policy.

While this may seem like an extreme expense, the additional coverage provided by these policies is worth paying for considering the kind of expenses that might be incurred.

When purchasing the senior citizen health insurance cover, shop around to get the best possible rates and coverage for your needs.