Prostate Cancer Viewed More Favorably by Life Insurance!

It was not that long ago that UNINSURABLE was often found in the same sentence with cancer, no matter the type, stage or grade. That was based on the fact that back when I was young people who had cancer, almost any kind of cancer, died from it. It seemed that the news was never about treatment and survival, but about how long a person had to live. Months! A year!

Now, in a world where we have the knowledge and tools to detect cancer earlier, and treatment methods that allow us to cure many types of cancer, insurance companies have taken a refreshing new view of at least some types of cancer and have concluded that within certain parameters (stage, grade and treatment), the mortality experience is getting very close to what the average person would have absent the cancer at all.

Prostate cancer is one that has done a 180 degree turn around. With more men breaking down and getting regular checkups, any increase in the PSA or any abnormality found on a physical exam, is noted early enough that the cancer rarely has the chance to advance to a point of being dangerous. Caught early and treated early, prostate cancer has become very survivable and insurance companies are rewarding that with increasingly lower rates.

If you have had prostate cancer and would like to see what is available for life insurance, whether it is term insurance, universal life or whole life, you should seek out an independent agent and be ready with the information he or she will need to shop it successfully for you.

Acquire a copy of your pathology report. If you had a radical prostatectomy, get the post surgical pathology report. Ask your doctor what the PSA was at the time your cancer was diagnosed and what it is currently. Ask your doctor what the stage and grade or the cancer was. Be ready to answer questions about any other health issues you have faced. Given that information you may be very pleasantly surprised at the life insurance quotes your agent is able to obtain.

Bottom line, times are changing. Don’t assume that cancer and uninsurable are synonymous anymore.

This post is somewhat dated. Life insurance underwriting is changing and evolving continually. For more updated information check out some of the key word links. If you have a specific question or topic you need information for do a search. If you don’t find the answers you need contact me and we’ll make sure you get the information that is important to you.