Finding affordable life insurance after angioplasty
Securing life insurance after angioplasty is possible. But, it is important to remember that all life insurance carriers look at your health and lifestyle differently.
Therefore, when it comes to finding the most affordable rate on someone with a history of heart disease or diabetes you must use an expert.
An expert life insurance agent or agency is one who typically specializes in finding affordable life insurance after angioplasty. They will have years of experience and knowledge dealing with hundreds of individuals with these conditions.
There many years of experience will typically aid them in knowing which particular carriers offer the best chance for coverage. It will also help speed up the processing of underwriting and save the client time and money in premiums.
Don’t all companies underwrite life insurance after angioplasty the same?
As mentioned above underwriting life insurance after angioplasty is a specialty niche underwriting area. Just as you wouldn’t go see a heart doctor for brain surgery, you also wouldn’t go to a life insurance carrier that is not in the specialty of underwriting life insurance after angioplasty.
It’s important to remember that out of more than 1,000 life insurance companies operating in the United States, probably only a handful are really in the specialty risk underwriting field.
You want to only apply to those particular companies.
Will I pay dramatically more for coverage?
This depends. When underwriting the risk for life insurance after angioplasty a lot of factors come in to play.
Underwriters often are not that concerned with the actual event of having had angioplasty. They are more concerned with the heart disease that led to having to have the procedure. In fact, having had angioplasty can actually be a good thing. This means that the disease has been monitored and that doctors have taken care of the immediate need.
But, it is also important to remember that life insurance underwriters are looking at your overall health and life expectancy, whereas your doctor is more concerned with your day to day health.
Life insurance underwriters when evaluating your situation get much of their information from your doctor. Therefore, it is vitally important that you keep all scheduled follow-up visits and maintain control of your disease.
How your agent can help find you the lowest rates
Okay, we have already discussed how important it is to you a knowledgeable and experienced agent when searching for life insurance after angioplasty.
But, just what does your agent need from you and how can they secure the lowest rates?
Most importantly, your agent needs as many details as you can provide about your medical history. The more details the better. This will allow your agent to present a case to the underwriter.
Of course, if you have copies of medical records, EKG’s, recent lab tests that will help dramatically.
You do not want to simply apply to multiple insurance companies and hope for the best. This is a rookie mistake that a lot of agents make when dealing with someone in less than perfect health.
You see life insurance companies don’t want to waste time and money underwriting a policy if there is little chance of the coverage being placed.
Therefore, it is important with special risks cases to get a tentative offer for coverage before actually submitting an application and getting an exam completed.
Often times if the carrier is not interested in providing you with a quote, you are just wasting your time by applying and getting declined for coverage. This also hurts your chances of getting a viable offer from another carrier that might be interested.
Why you might ask? Well, again life insurance carriers use the medical information bureau or MIB to gather information. If they check the MIB and see that you have applied for coverage with several different carriers they may simple withdraw an offer all together.
They will simply see your application as another request for coverage. And again, they are not in the business of paying for exams, medical records, overhead expense if they don’t see a good shot of you accepting an offer.
They look at it like “lets throw something against the wall and see if it sticks”.
Nope, that’s not how you get the best results.
Putting your agent to work
Experienced agents know what information carriers that specialize in underwriting life insurance after angioplasty want. Therefore, they can ask the right questions. Let’s look at some of those questions:
- Date of birth
- Current height/weight?
- When were you diagnosed with heart disease?
- When did you have the angioplasty?
- How many vessels were angioplasty?
- What type of angioplasty was used?
- What is your current ejection fraction? Do you have a defibrillator?
- Have you had a follow-up since the procedure?
- Have you had a recent treadmill test, results?
- Are you or have you ever been a tobacco user?
- Do you have a family history of heart disease?
- Do you have any other medical history such as diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, etc.?
- Any current prescription medications? If so, how long taken?
- Do you exercise regularly?
- Personal or Business protection
- Amount of coverage
Once your agent has the answers to these questions they can then go out into the marketplace and speak to the carries that specialize in underwriting life insurance after angioplasty.
Oftentimes your agent can provide you with a tentative offer from coverage from several carries. These tentative offers are usually based on the information provided by the questions answered along with any current medical records or lab tests.
Doesn’t this seem like a smart way to find out if coverage is available and what the rates would be before applying to numerous carriers?
What offers might be made for life insurance after angioplasty?
Okay, so we have discussed ways that you can use to find out what if any offer can be made for those seeking life insurance after angioplasty. But, what could those offers be?
It’s important to understand that each individual is underwritten differently, but let’s assume a few things to give you an idea of what might be available.
Let’s first look at how the rating system works for most life insurance carriers. When applying for life insurance coverage most individuals with no history of medical problems or slight history are placed in categories ranging from:
- Preferred Best
- Preferred
- Standard Plus
- Standard
But, someone with a bit of medical history depending on the severity of the history and the control of their disease can likely be placed into what is called a table rating classification.
Table ratings start after the standard risk class mentioned above. Most life insurance carriers use a system of Table A, Table B, Table C, Table D, etc. all the way up to a Table H. Anything rated higher than a Table H is typically a declination.
Each Table rating typically adds 25% to the premium cost above the standard risk class. So, for instance someone rated a Table B would have a 50% surcharge above the standard rate.
Case study number one of life insurance after angioplasty
Bob is a 60 year old male non-tobacco user with normal height/weight and good family history. Two years ago Bob had a one vessel angioplasty procedure performed.
He has remained symptom free and recently had a negative treadmill exam. His lab studies are good and he keeps an active exercise regime. He has no other major medical history.
Based on this information a reasonable offer from a carrier might be a Table B offer. If it had been more than 5 years since the angioplasty Bob could have been a standard risk.
Again, its important to keep in mind we are talking about offers from companies that specialize in underwriting life insurance after angioplasty.
Case study number two of life insurance after angioplasty
Joe is a 39 year old non-smoker user with normal height/weight. He does have a family history of early heart disease. He recently had angioplasty on two vessels. His treadmill EKG was negative and his labs are borderline. Due to the early need for angioplasty and the family history of heart disease, Joe is probably looking at a Table D rating. Table D would be a 100% rate above the standard rates.
Case study number three of life insurance after angioplasty
David is 55 year old non-tobacco user with normal height/weight and no family history of heart disease. David had a 3 vessel angioplasty 10 years ago. His condition has remained stable. He exercise regularly and his labs are normal along with a normal EKG.
David could qualify for standard rates. Although his angioplasty consisted of 3 vessels, it has been 10 years ago and he has had no ongoing problems and labs and follow-up are good.
Will I ever be a preferred risk?
Unfortunately, with those who are looking for life insurance after angioplasty preferred rates are probably not in the cards. Although you may have had your procedure years ago and had no ongoing problems since, the fact remains you still have a history of heart disease.
Based on current underwriting in the industry it would be hard to if not impossible to find a carrier willing to offer preferred rates for someone with a heart disease history.
Applying for coverage
As stated in the article it is best to speak to an experienced agent who can then present your case to the different underwriters. Make the underwriters bid for your business. Once you have a tentative offer for coverage that is acceptable, then and only then should you formally apply for protection.
Conclusion-
If you are looking for life insurance after angioplasty and would like a free consultation please contact us at 1-888-393-9003 or e-mail mike@specialriskterm.com
