Life Insurance Options After You Have a Health Issue
In our experience, we’ve found that many people look for life insurance coverage after they’ve had a health issue. For some who have suffered a major health impairment, it’s too late and they have become uninsurable. In other cases, life insurance is available but at a much higher rate and after a lengthy waiting period. Most people don’t think they need life insurance because they feel that they will never get sick or die at a young age. The fact is that it is important to lock in a lower life insurance rate when you’re young and healthy. Waiting to buy life insurance could have a catastrophic financial impact on your family. Here’s what you need to know about life insurance options after you have a health issues.
Get Coverage When you are Young and Healthy
When you’re young and healthy, life insurance is probably the last thing on your mind. The fact is that this is the best time to get life insurance assuming you need it. You should look at life insurance at certain life milestones such as marriage, starting a family or purchasing a home. If you put off buying life insurance and you develop a health issue, you could leave your family in a vulnerable financial position. Unfortunately, many people wait until it’s too late and start looking for life insurance coverage after they get sick.
How Life Insurance Companies View Some Common Existing Health Issues
The good news is that you can still get life insurance if you develop certain health impairments. Some life insurance companies might postpone your case for 6 months or longer before they will decide on your case. This gives them time to make sure that you are responding to treatment and following up with your doctor regularly if you’ve just developed the health impairment. The rule of thumb is the more severe the impairment, the longer you must wait for a decision. Here are some examples of common health impairments and how life insurance companies will likely assess the during underwriting:
Type II Diabetes: The insurance company will want to know the age of diagnosis and any medications you are currently taking. They will also be interested to know if you see your doctor regularly and how well you are controlling your diabetes. If you are consistently keeping your A1C levels in a normal range, you could qualify for better than ‘Standard’ rates in some cases.
High Blood Pressure: The life insurance company will want to know the date of diagnosis and any medications you are taking. If you’ve just been diagnosed with hypertension and you are starting medication, your case might get postponed for 6 months to a year to make sure you are compliant with medication and you are keeping your levels in check. You can get ‘Preferred Best’ rates with controlled hypertension in many cases.
Prostate Cancer – When assessing prostate cancer, life insurance companies will look at your Gleason score and your PSA readings for starters. They will want to know the age of diagnosis and any treatment that you are receiving. Typically, the older you are when diagnosed the better.
Breast Cancer – Typically, most life insurance companies will require a waiting period of up to 2 years after you have received chemo or radiation therapy. This will give them an opportunity to better assess your situation and make an accurate underwriting decision. You might be required to pay a flat-extra (an additional premium per $1,000 of coverage) for a certain period such as 3 to 5 years.
Coronary Artery Disease/Heart Attack/Bypass Surgery – When it comes to major issues like heart attacks or bypass surgery, life insurance companies always postpone your application for some period to see how you are responding to treatment. In the case of a heart attack, your application will be postponed for a period that will allow the life insurance company to ensure you’re following your doctor’s treatment plan and review the results of any cardiac testing.
Every Case is Different – The examples above are described in very general terms. The outcome of your case will depend on specifics of your situation. Your medical records will be ordered by the life insurance company so it can do a thorough evaluation of your medical situation before deciding on your case.
Options if You Are Uninsurable for Fully Underwritten Coverage
A fully underwritten policy is usually the best way to go for most applicants, even ones with mild to moderate health issues. Life insurance underwriting has come a long way and you would be surprised at how affordable coverage can be even if you have certain health issues.
But what if you’ve been declined for fully underwritten life insurance coverage? If your medical condition is such that you are declined fully underwritten coverage, you can opt for guaranteed issue (GI) coverage. With GI coverage, there are no health questions and you can’t be declined for health reasons. The issues with GI coverage is that it is expensive and it is only offered in smaller face amounts like $25,000 or less. One major drawback is that there is a 2-year waiting period to be eligible for full death benefits. In other words, your policy must be in force for at least 2 years before your beneficiaries would receive the full death benefit if you passed away. If you die within 2 years, your beneficiaries will only receive the premiums you paid in plus interest.
Life Insurance Options After You Have a Health Issue
This article was meant to outline the important points about life insurance options after you’ve had a health issue. One, buy coverage when you are young and healthy. We have no idea what the future holds so it is important to lock in lower rates before anything could go wrong. Two, make sure you are taking the necessary measures to treat your health issue. Life insurance companies aren’t going to look at your case until you understand the severity of your health issue and you are on a treatment plan with your doctor. Three, there are options outside of fully underwritten coverage if you are denied. The alternative comes with some drawbacks but at least you can get some guaranteed coverage in force. We can help you explore all your options when it comes to getting life insurance after you’ve been diagnosed with a health issue. Call us or email us with any questions.
About Us
Archstone Insurance Services, LLC is an independent agency that shops over 40 of the top life insurance carriers to provide huge savings on life insurance coverage for our clients. We are happy to answer any questions you might have about any of the insurance products we offer, your planning needs or your existing coverage. Feel free to call us directly at (888) 687-9444 or email us at info@archstoneagency.com.
