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Almost half of adults under the age of 65 have a pre-existing medical condition. These range from asthma, to diabetes, or heart disease. The question is can you buy life insurance after you receive a serious diagnosis?

Fortunately for many, the answer is yes. It is possible to get life insurance with many serious pre-existing conditions. However, the details do matter. Your results will depend on your answers to specific health situations.

It’s never a surprise to imagine that age and your health are the two key factors life insurance companies will examine to determine if you are insurable. It’s usually at a cost. For young physically fit people, who are statistically less likely to die in a specific frame such as months or years compared to an older less physically fit or healthy individual, they will receive a better rate. Not only is that common sense, but it’s also proven by actuarial professionals who use mathematics and statistics to measure and assess risk for insurance companies.

Health classifications can vary from insurer to insurer, however remember that no life insurance company will expect every customer to be in perfect health. Different types of policies are issued frequently to people with serious health conditions. Some of these conditions can include:

  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • HIV
  • Obesity
  • Covid
  • Heart disease

Because life insurance applications require answers about your personal health, you must give the insurer permission to access all medical records they may need to confirm your information and state of health. Of course, a medical exam will be required as part of the underwriting process which will include blood or urine tests that can indicate any underlying medical condition.

There are other important questions to consider. In many situations, life insurance benefits are paid out after the insured dies when a claim and a certified copy of the death certificate have been filed with the insurance company. If your illness becomes terminal, you may qualify for accelerated death benefits. In these cases, payment of accelerated benefits typically reserved for policyholders who have become terminally ill, or who have been diagnosed with a long-term illness and require them to be provided full time care in a nursing home may be eligible for 25% to 100% of their death benefit to be paid out early to help care for them.

A death benefit loan is another option to help provide care or financial support. This can take the shape of a low interest loan that the policyholder borrows against the cash value of their life insurance policy. The policyholder then can repay the loan at a manageable rate, or, in alternately the loan plus interest is deducted from the death benefit after the policyholder dies and before the beneficiaries receive any cash left over.

To learn more about life insurance benefits for those with serious illness contact your professional insurance agent. They will have all the information you need to be able to make a confident decision.