How to secure life insurance with cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy is just one of numerous cardiovascular disorders. In order to secure life insurance with cardiomyopathy you must work only with an expert agent that specializes in this particular type of risk. Many agents are not experienced in this type of risk.
Often times an unexperienced agent can do more harm than good when trying to secure life insurance with cardiomyopathy. We will go into more detail later on in describing how your agent can actually hurt your chances of a good offer.
Your expert agent will know which life insurance carriers specialize in underwriting cardiomyopathy.Many life insurance carriers simply are not in the special risk marketplace. It pays to know which companies actually like this type of risk.
First, your agent will need to find out as much as possible about what type of cardiomyopathy the insured is dealing with.
What are the different types of cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy typically refers to a disease of the heart muscle. The heart becomes enlarged and thickens.
What life insurance underwriters are usually concerned with when evaluating an application is what caused the cardiomyopathy and what is the current state of the heart muscle. This will typically determine what time of premium offer can be considered.
The good news is that life insurance companies that specialize in underwriting affordable coverage for cardiomyopathy look at each individual differently. They do not just throw each case of cardiomyopathy in the same barrel and choose a rate.
One person with cardiomyopathy may get a much better rate than other simply because they are following their Dr’s advise better or there cardiomyopathy is just not as severe.
Types:
Congested or dilated Cardiomyopathy– Dilated cardiomyopathy develops when the ventricles enlarge and weaken. The condition usually starts in the left ventricle and over time can affect the right ventricle. The weakened chambers of the heart don’t pump effectively, causing the heart muscle to work harder. Over time, the heart loses the ability to pump blood effectively. Dilated cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure, heart valve disease, irregular heart rate, and blood clots in the heart.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy usually is inherited. It’s caused by a mutation or change in some of the genes in heart muscle proteins. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy also can develop over time because of high blood pressure, aging, or other diseases, such as diabetes or thyroid disease. Sometimes the cause of the disease isn’t known.
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy–
Certain diseases, conditions, and factors can cause restrictive cardiomyopathy, including:
- Amyloidosis: A disease in which abnormal proteins build up in the body’s organs, including the heart
- Connective tissue disorders
- Hemochromatosis: A disease in which too much iron builds up in the body. The extra iron is toxic to the body and can damage the organs, including the heart.
- Sarcoidosis: A disease that causes inflammation and can affect various organs in the body. Researchers believe that an abnormal immune response may cause sarcoidosis. This abnormal response causes tiny lumps of cells to form in the body’s organs, including the heart.
- Some cancer treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy
For the purposes of this article we will look some general ideas on how some individuals may be evaluated when trying to secure life insurance with cardiomyopathy.
An individual applying for life insurance with a history of dilated cardiomyopathy will typically be insurable after 2 years from onset providing there is no evidence of congestive heart failure and the heart size is less than 25% with no arrhythmia’s. This also assumes no other medical risk that could cause a possible declination of protection.
A special risk life insurance company will typically charge a higher premium the closer the individual is to the onset of their cardiomyopathy. For instance, someone that was diagnosed 10 years ago and has remained stable will get a much better risk class than someone diagnosed just 2 years ago.
An individual who tries to secure life insurance with cardiomyopathy such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can also be insurable. Typically, this individual will have had echocardiograms and other tests completed to determine the extent of their cardiomyopathy.
If they are over the age of 18 and the case is determined to be mild or borderline, it is possible that only a slight rating would be assessed or even a possibility of a standard rating.
Moderate cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with good echocardiograms and no cardiac enlargement greater than 25% can typically be underwritten with a 200% to 300% rate up above the published standard rates.
More severe cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that shows enlargement over 25% along with other factors can sometimes be declined or postponed until heart studies improve. In these cases, an individual may have to try and secure some type of guaranteed issue life insurance coverage.
Individuals with a diagnosis of restrictive cardiomyopathy are typically not an insurable risk with a standard type life insurance policy. These individuals would also need to look for coverage thru possible guaranteed issue types of plans.
Use only an knowledgeable agent when trying to secure life insurance with cardiomyopathy
As mentioned earlier your agent is your best resource when trying to navigate the waters of the insurance world. With over 1,200 life insurance companies it can sometimes seem overwhelming trying to locate the best company.
Once you have determined your need for coverage , you will then need to find an agent that specializes in finding the most affordable coverage for individuals with cardiomyopathy. Fortunately, you have landed on this page. We are experts and know what companies to go to when looking for the best rates.
We know how to negotiate with the underwriters and how to make them bid for the best possible rate. Believe me, this is more an art than a science. Most typical life insurance agents simply are not experienced in the “special risk” marketplace.
Just as you wouldn’t go to your primary care doctor to do brain surgery, you also don’t want to use a generalist life insurance agent.
The biggest mistake most agents make when dealing with special risk life
The first thing many life insurance agents want to do when speaking to some one about life insurance is to get them to complete an application and get them examined. Many times, agents who don’t know what carrier to go to will simply advise their customer to apply to multiple carriers. This is a huge mistake.
Life insurance companies don’t want to waste their time and money underwriting a policy that may have no chance of being placed with their company. So, when an insurance company receives an application, the first thing they typically do is review the medical information bureau to see if any other applications have been submitted.
The MIB is an insurance clearing house they all insurance companies use to protect each other. If an insurance carrier runs an MIB report and see that an insured has applied to, or perhaps been turned down by multiple insurance companies, they know this insured is just shotgun applying to everybody.
They know their is very little chance this applicant will accept a policy. So, instead of spending the money underwriting the policy and hoping the insured might accept “their” policy, they decide to simply withdraw or decide not to participate.
This could have been a company that would have given a good offer on a policy, but because some rookie or un-experienced agent decided this was the best way to proceed, the applicant never got an offer.
The better way to secure life insurance with cardiomyopathy
The best way to find out which carrier will offer the best rates and to keep the information out of the MIB file is to do an informal application.
An informal application is simply a way for the agent to get the best potential rates without having to formally fill out a bunch of paperwork and do an exam. Eventually the insured will have to complete an application and do an exam. But, why not find out which carrier will make the best offer before jumping thru a bunch of hoops.
Here’s how we do and advise our clients. We gather all the medical information we can get from the customer. This may include just answering a bunch of questions regarding their health history or even securing their personal doctor’s records. With the customer’s written permission, we then shop the case out to multiple insurance companies.
This typically involves making phone calls and discussing the situation personally with the underwriter’s or sending a written summary of the situation to the different underwriter’s.
Once the underwriter’s review and give us their best case scenario, we will run rates for all the different companies to see which one offers the best rates. This makes each company earn the business.
We then come back to the insured with the best offer. At that time we will then take a formal application and submit any outstanding medical requirements to the company that gives us the best tentative offer.
This is the best an only way to secure the best rates of life insurance with cardiomyopathy.
If you would like to discuss your situation, please contact us at 1-888-393-9003 or email Mike@specialriskterm. com
Thank you for reading this blog.
