Wheeling, IL (PressExposure) September 29, 2010 -- AccuQuote, a leader in providing term life insurance quotes to people across the United States, offers tips to prevent heart disease and save on life insurance costs. The multi-carrier life insurance quoting and brokerage firm suggests quitting smoking is the best way to lower life insurance rates.

Life insurance rates are determined by a simple rule of thumb: the healthier one is, the lower their life insurance rate will be. Life insurance underwriters calculate several health and lifestyle factors in order to determine their risk of death at any given time. For instance, a person who smokes has a higher likelihood of dying from a health condition than a non-smoker. Therefore, term life insurance rates for smokers are typically 2 to 3 times the cost of non-smoker rates.

The Surgeon General has labeled smoking as the leading cause of ‘preventable death’ in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, smoking accounts for more than 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths.

Quitting smoking can significantly reduce the chances of developing a life-threatening illness, such as cancer, COPD/emphysema and heart disease. Heart disease is the number one health condition that kills smokers across the country.

Cigarette smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease by itself, but when it acts with other factors, it greatly increases the risk. Smoking increases blood pressure, decreases exercise tolerance and increases the tendency for blood to clot. Smoking also increases the risk of recurrent coronary heart disease after bypass surgery. For these reasons, term life insurance rates are highest for the smoking population.

Following are additional facts that can significantly increase the chances of developing heart disease, according to the American Heart Association:

• Women who smoke and use oral contraceptives greatly increase their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke compared with non-smoking women who use oral contraceptives.
• Smoking decreases good cholesterol. Cigarette smoking combined with a family history of heart disease also seems to greatly increase the risk.
• The link between secondhand smoke and disease is well known, and the connection to cardiovascular-related disability and death is also clear. About 22,700 to 69,600 premature deaths from heart and blood vessel disease are caused by other people’s smoke each year.

“Think about your heart and your wallet the next time you pick up a cigarette,” says Byron Udell, founder and CEO of AccuQuote. “The healthier you are, the cheaper your term life insurance rates will be. If you quit now, some life insurance companies will grant you non-smoker term life rates even after only one year of not smoking.”

For more information on non-smoker vs. smoker term life insurance rates, contact a licensed life insurance agent at AccuQuote. Call 800-442-9899.

About AccuQuote

AccuQuote helps consumers find the best values in term life insurance by combining instant online life insurance quotes with the personal service of unbiased life insurance professionals that can help answer questions, identify important issues, and make meaningful recommendations. The company offers consumers an extensive selection of life insurance options, including term life, whole life, and universal life, as well as selected annuities. The website has many handy insurance tools, including a term life insurance calculator to help you figure out how much to buy, a glossary that explains industry terminology, a collection of articles that cover the basics about life insurance and a blog which answers many questions about life insurance. For additional information or to get quotes for low cost life insurance, call 1-800-442-9899.

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