When you have a pre-existing medical condition, it’s still possible to enroll in a life insurance plan. Although the ideal time to start a life insurance policy is when people are young and healthier, you can still start a plan at any age. However, people without pre-existing conditions and younger individuals are often issued policies with lower premiums.
Common Pre-existing Conditions
Various widespread ailments such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes make up the list of pre-existing conditions that insurance companies consider in relation to life insurance plans. About half of all Americans under 65 suffer from some type of pre-existing conditions, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Here are other common medical conditions in America:
- Obesity
- Anxiety and depression
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Sleep apnea
- Asthma
What Affects Life Insurance Costs?
Insurance companies combine several factors to determine costs for life insurance plans. Aside from your age, weight, and health, other important factors are the history of your family’s health and whether you smoke tobacco. Not only is cigarette smoking the top cause of lung cancer, but it also leads to other ailments, such as emphysema.
When you fill out a life insurance application, you’ll need to disclose your pre-existing conditions, any prior hospitalizations and surgeries. The insurer will then assign you to a risk category. Risks are directly associated with insurance costs.
Look at Your Options
For certain combined pre-existing conditions, you may have difficulty finding an affordable life insurance plan. An alternative option to consider is Guaranteed Issue (GI) Whole Life Insurance. A GI policy guarantees a death benefit so that your survivors have funds to pay their living expenses. This policy is typically available to seniors through age 85, even for individuals with poor health or credit.
Another option is Simplified Issue (SI) Insurance. This coverage is aimed at elderly and ill individuals who have difficulty finding affordable life insurance plans. As the name suggests, it’s also a more simplified type of insurance. You may need to answer questions about your health, but you won’t need a medical exam, as with GI. This coverage is usually available for people between the ages of 20-70 and can last up to 30 years.
Younger SI applicants correspond with higher death benefit payouts to their beneficiaries. The older a person gets, the more the death benefit declines. While a young adult might associate with a death benefit over $500,000, survivors of a policyholder in their sixties might only split benefits from $350,000.
Tips for Applying with Pre-existing Conditions
- Be honest and transparent: Answer all application questions truthfully. Lying on an application may lead to policy cancellation or declining to pay out a death benefit. Insurers will require a release of your medical records before issuing a policy, and have available to them information if you have been canceled or declined for life insurance before.
- Consider your health status: It’s sometimes helpful to wait for your health to improve before enrolling in a life insurance plan.
- Prioritize health: Staying healthy is one of the keys to happiness, so pay attention to nutrition, exercise, and proper sleep.
Life insurance can be a puzzling topic, especially for those with pre-existing medical conditions. Make sure you understand a life insurance policy thoroughly before signing it. Contact us at Lou Aggetta Insurance for more information about appropriate health insurance coverage options that match your pre-existing conditions.