Life Insurance after a heart attack?
You may or may not be aware but a third of all deaths in the U.S. are directly related to cardiovascular disease – heart attack. If you know someone who has gone through this frightening experience or have experienced it yourself, you certainly understand how life-changing a cardiovascular event can be
And, believe it or not, one of the first calls that are made after leaving the ICU and heading home is to a life insurance agent. Most people with heart issues want to confirm that their insurance policy is in force and whether they have enough coverage in the first place.
The good news is that there is no reason to panic about your life insurance coverage because even if you are uninsured and freaking out over the situation, having a heart event is not necessarily going to be an automatic decline for affordable life insurance.
The answer to this very common question is an emphatic yes! Well, as long as you’re are still among the living.
In today’s life insurance marketplace, having any type of heart event is concerning to insurance underwriters but as long as they have the information needed to properly evaluate your risk, a life insurance policy can be issued to you.
Just don’t plan on paying the same rates as other applicants in much better health.
Ejection fraction is one of many tests that a cardiologist will use to determine how well your heart is working.
The formula for the test is a method to measure the percentage of blood leaving the heart each time it contracts.
Simply put, after your heart beats, it relaxes. The beat happens when the heart contracts and then forces your blood from the ventricles. After the beat, when your heart relaxes, your ventricles fill back up with blood again.
It doesn’t matter how hard or forceful a contraction is since your heart can never pump every drop of blood out the ventricle.
So, the ejection fraction is a measurement of what percent of blood that’s pumped out of a ventricle filled with blood each time your heartbeats.
According to the folks at the American Heart Association, a normal ejection fraction is when 50% to 75% of the blood in the ventricle is pumped out after each heartbeat.
When that percentage of blood becomes borderline or worse, serious things can go wrong and lead to a serious heart event.
Depending on the severity of your heart event and the prognosis provided by your cardiologist, you will likely still be eligible to purchase most types of life insurance but the rate you pay will depend upon several factors including as well as the physician’s statement.
Additionally, there may be other medical issues and lifestyle choices that will impact your health class and the eventual rate you’ll be charged for your life insurance policy.
If you apply for life insurance coverage after a heart attack be prepared to deal with the following:
The life insurance policies that you will likely qualify for are:
Although Term Life Insurance will be the cheapest type of life insurance for you to purchase, don’t assume you’ll qualify for those cheap TV rates you hear about (if you can qualify at all).
Depending on the severity of your heart event, you should expect to pay more for a term policy than a healthy person would and you may even be table rated or declined.
Purchasing Universal Life Insurance may be a better option because when properly funded, the coverage lasts a lifetime and most companies offer valuable riders that will allow you to access a portion of the death benefit that should have more severe health events in the future.
Plus, with Universal Life Insurance you will build cash value in the policy over time that can easily be accessed for any reason, especially to pay medical expenses.
Whole Life Insurance may another good option if you are willing to pay higher rates than you’d pay for Universal Life. Many individuals find Whole Life an attractive option because of the benefits and guarantees that come with every policy.
A Guaranteed Issue Whole Life policy will save the day when you cannot medically qualify for any other type of life insurance,
Companies that offer Guaranteed Issue Whole Life will not consider your medical history, which means there are no medical exam requirements and no medical questions on the application.
Virtually any person who is between 50 and 85-years old and is alive can buy a guaranteed issue life insurance policy.
Since there is no medical underwriting, the rates will be significantly higher than other policies and the insurer will not pay the full death benefit if you die from natural causes during the first two years.
Most insurance companies will however pay your beneficiary 110% of the premiums that you’ve paid if you die in the first 24 months after your policy is issued
Life insurance rates are predicated on the health (rate) class you qualify for when you apply for a life insurance policy.
Certainly, any applicant that has had and recovered from a heart event will be at a disadvantage coming out of the gate.
The severity of your heart attack, your prognosis, and the lifestyle changes you are committed to can help you qualify for a rate that is more affordable than you may have anticipated.
Here are the typical rate classes that most insurance companies will offer and the qualifications needed to achieve each rating:
Rate Class Who Qualifies?
Preferred Plus This class is generally awarded to applicants in exceptional health and presents minimal risk to the company.
Preferred This class is reserved for applicants in above-average health but may have one minor health issue such as slightly elevated blood pressure or cholesterol.
Standard Plus Applicants who qualify for standard plus are typically in good health and present a lower than average risk even if they have several non-severe health issues like high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Standard A standard rate is given to those applicants who are in average health.
Preferred Smoker Smokers who are in good health can qualify for the preferred-smoker rate class, especially if their habit is one or two cigars a week.
Smoker This is class is designated for applicants who regularly smoke and have one or more minor health issues.
Substandard This category is reserved for high-risk applicants and generally comes with much higher rates.
In many cases, when an insurance underwriter is notified about health issues like a heart attack, stroke, or cancer, they will require a supplemental application that is used to drill-down into the episode or episodes you are presenting,
For example, once a heart event is mentioned, your underwriter will typically request the following information in detail:
Increasing your chances of qualifying for a better rate class is up to you. Taking your physician seriously is the first step in healing and becoming more healthy and thus qualifying for a rate class that will deliver affordable rates.
Quite frankly, it’s not that difficult to better your chances of being approved for an affordably priced life insurance policy.
There are hundreds of insurance companies vying for your business. Some may shy away from applicants reporting heart events, but others are considered “heart attack friendly.”
As an experienced and reputable independent insurance brokerage, our team is keenly aware of which companies are more likely to offer very competitive rates over and above the rest of the pack.
For applicants who present with a history of heart attack we generally rely on a shortlist of life insurance companies that do not shy away from applicants with a history of heart attack:
It’s certainly possible that you may be unable to medically qualify for traditional life insurance after having a heart attack. Take a breath, this is not the end of the story. There are several life insurance companies available that offer guaranteed issue (guaranteed acceptance) life insurance.
When you choose this option, heart attack, stroke, cancer, or Hepatitis C simply doesn’t come into play. In fact, there are no medical questions on the application and as long as you are in the eligible age group (50 – 85) your policy will be issued.
Since the insurance company has agreed to accept an unknown health risk, they offset the risk by charging higher rates and applying a two-year waiting period for death from natural causes.
During the waiting period, if you die from natural causes, your beneficiary will typically receive 110% of all premiums paid into the policy rather than the full death benefit.
If your death is the result of a covered accident, your beneficiary will receive the full death benefit from day one of the policy.
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