Guys! The boogie man isn’t under the bed, but rather right below our belly buttons, just about a finger’s length up our rear ends. I’m talking about the prostate gland and the fact that 1 in 6 men will get prostate cancer in their life time.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer right behind the skin cancer trio of basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. While a statistically huge number of us will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, the good news is that the survival rate is very good, with only about 1 in 8 who are diagnosed actually dying from the cancer.
It is this survival rate, driven by early detection and effective treatment options, that makes prostate cancer one of the easiest for life insurance underwriting. The earlier the cancer is detected, the lower the stage and grade and the better the treatment results. With more and more men getting regular PSA tests, expect that survival rate to climb in the future. By the way, my most recent health fair results showed my PSA at .9, down from 1.1 two years earlier. Safe for now.
I’ve review a lot of articles about prostate cancer and how to avoid it. This one I read just recently is kind of like just doing what your mother said. Eat your vegetables! Sure can’t hurt and it tastes good too.
Now, back to the subject at hand. As a baseline underwriting view, if your cancer is diagnosed when the PSA is 10 or less and the biopsy shows a stage of T1 or T2 with a Gleason grade of 3+3=6 or better, depending on treatment results you could be back from the brink of uninsurable to close to standard rates in a year. That scenario would be if treatment was a radical prostatectomy and your PSA was at 0 for a year. With other treatment options the time frames can change.
Bottom line. Good news. Ultimately very survivable and very insurable. Talk to an independent life insurance agent about it today. Make sure you have a copy of your biopsy and that you know all of the relevant test results. The more information you can provide, the better the chance of finding good rates.
May 23rd, 2008
I know I’ve been all about the downside of smoking and life insurance this week. I’ve gone on and on about the valid reasons why life insurance underwriters are a bit brutal when it comes to smoking, especially in combination with health issues that are caused by smoking or are exacerbated by smoking.
So, in an effort to end the week on an upbeat note, I thought I would shift gears from cigarettes to cigars. While most of us can probably agree that there are fewer known health risks connected to cigar smoking, primarily because you’ll kill yourself if you inhale, most insurance companies treat cigar and cigarette smokers exactly the same. If you smoke, you’re a smoker.
There are a handful of companies that allow “occasional” cigar use at rates as good as their best non smoking rates, but they are all over the map on what they call occasional. For instance, West Coast Life says 6 per year or less, Banner Life is at 1 per month, and Genworth is 1 per month. Keep in mind that life insurance exams test for nicotine, and there is a requirement with all “occasional use” companies that you test negative for nicotine. I always encourage the “occasional” applicants to lay off the occasions for 2-3 weeks before the exam. One of my clients recently disregarded that suggestion and had a cigar 2 days prior to the exam and blew his chance for some great rates.
There are a few more companies that actually allow you to celebrate all year. American General and ING Reliastar will allow a cigar a week, but again you have to test negative for nicotine. Just in case anyone thinks I am gaming the system by suggesting to clients to lay off for 2-3 weeks, these companies know that if someone smokes 1 per week consistently they will test positive. They also know that the agents recommend a hiatus and as long as the labs show what they want to see, they will approve it.
Many more companies offer their second best non smoking rate for occasional use. Included in that group would be Savings Bank Life who will allow a “few cigars a year”, North American at 2 or less per month and Lincoln Benefit at 1 per month. Again, negative nicotine.
The standout company in the crowd is Prudential who will allow cigars, pipes or chew at standard plus non smoking rates. No limits are required and they expect a positive nicotine result. They are the go to company for pipes and chew and for anyone that will have a problem showing a negative nicotine level.
Bottom line. At least there are options when it comes to cigars, pipes and chew. When it comes to cigarettes, the rate choices are high or higher.
May 23rd, 2008
