For as long as there has been life insurance and heart attacks there has been misinformation about the impact of the event on future ability to obtain the insurance.
Two of the most common myths are that 1. If you’ve had a heart attack then you are simply toast and will not be able to get life insurance and 2. There is a five year waiting period after you’ve had a heart attack before you can apply for life insurance. If this was a multiple choice test the answer would be 3. none of the above.
With heart disease testing and detection improving all the time and with post heart attack treatment doing the same, the chances of having a heart attack and the actual damage from any heart attack have greatly diminished. New testing helps detect blockage early enough that often cholesterol lowering and clot prevention drugs keep patients from having any procedures at all. If blockage has reached a point where there is potential for damage, state of the art angioplasty or bypass surgery can be performed.
If blockage is caught early enough to treat with medication there is a good chance that, given no other risk factors, rates can be as good as preferred or preferred plus soon after treatment has started and a positive stress test has shown that the treatment is working.
If there is an angioplasty or bypass surgery with no heart attack, insurance can be applied for as soon as 6 months to a year after the procedure, again, as long as there has been a stress test completed that can address the current condition of the heart and any arterial blockage. The rates that can be approved will depend on an applicant’s age. Like diabetes, age of onset is a real hang up with underwriters. Anything prior to age 50 will incur a higher rate than post 50 and prior to 40 will be rated even higher.
If there has been a heart attack followed by angioplasty or bypass surgery, the same 6 months to a year and a good stress test applies, but you can assume the rate will be higher simply because a heart attack causes heart muscle damage that is often not reversible.
Bottom line. Heart issues don’t deal a death blow in most life insurance situations. It may make it a little harder work for your agent and you, but in most cases realistically priced insurance should be available through a knowledgeable independent agent.
October 31st, 2008
Type 2 diabetes is one of those anomalies, like obesity (which happens to be the leading cause), where there seems to be an aversion to calling it what it is, an epidemic. It reminds me a bit of the economic situation in our country and the aversion to using the word recession. Call it a meltdown, but don’t use the R word.
There are 23 million cases of diagnosed diabetes in the US today and everything I’ve read indicates there are probably close to that many undiagnosed cases. If nearly 50 million people had excessive ear wax buildup, it would be an epidemic. If you add to that the nearly 30% of the population that is obese (again, the leading risk factor for diabetes), we are a country that is in more than just economic trouble.
The thing I find most troubling from a life insurance aspect is the trend I’ve seen over the past decade of working with diabetics for a large percentage of them not to address their diabetes or their obesity with any real sense of urgency. It’s like no one has explained to them that they are just a few steps away from heart disease and possible death. I lay that blame partly on the doctors who seem to be too busy billing people to educate them but I also, in this day of Google, can’t see why self education isn’t happening at a faster pace.
The good news is for those who do take their medical situation seriously. For those who do educate themselves and do the right things like losing weight, controlling their diabetes either with medication or diet, and making the lifestyle changes they have to make, life insurance can be very affordable. Optimally a person with type 2 diabetes can still get better than standard rates, a home run where highly rated or decline results can be the outcome.
The key to better rates from an underwriting standpoint is mainly condensed into three criteria.
1. Age of diagnosis needs to be after 50. Diabetes can be a progressive disease affecting the heart, kidneys, eyesight and more. When diabetes starts earlier in life it has longer to damage your body, so later is better.
2. Absence of complications. If the disease hasn’t progressed in other health issues that is an underwriting plus.
3. Compliant and controlled. Underwriters can tell from your medical records if you have taken your diabetes seriously by complying with your doctor’s prescribed treatment and if you have, they can see the control in your lab results, most notably the hbA1c.
Bottom line. Diabetes is at epidemic levels and we, as a country, need to collectively get a grip and deal with it, preferably by prevention rather than treatment. If you have diabetes and want to find out where you stand in regards to life insurance, contact an independent agent today.
October 31st, 2008
