Some medical conditions are on-going and may cause denial of life insurance cover. When applying for this cover, applicants may need to answer medical questions that go into great detail and extend back many years. Applicants are expected to be honest about their previous and on-going medical problems including heart conditions.
Advanced treatments and technologies enable people with heart issues to live longer and healthier lives than past generations did. Some life insurance providers specialize in cover for people with heart issues.
Help with Finding Cover
Insurance professionals may focus on individuals with heart disease and other heart conditions, helping them find life insurance. These experts know which providers to approach for life cover when the applicant has a heart issue. Acceptable cover is not guaranteed but these professionals will find relevant policies and present them to applicants.
In some cases, they may find multiple providers and will then help individuals identify which is the best value from cover and premium standpoints. An insurance expert may assist with document completion and serve as the primary contact throughout the application process.
Traditionally, the life insurance sector avoided providing cover to people with heart-related medical issues. Recently, some companies have started to offer policies for individuals whose high blood pressure is controlled or whose angina is stable.
People who have heart arrhythmia without additional complications may be eligible for life cover at rates that are near normal for their age group. This is possible even when they have co-existing conditions such as diabetes.
Life Cover for Heart Surgery and Heart Attack Patients
Though a heart attack is a serious medical situation, it may not automatically prevent someone from qualifying for life cover, especially if there are no complications and the event took place six or more months before completing the life insurance application.
If the heart attack sufferer smokes, life premiums will be at least two times those offered to non-smokers of the same age. Cover may still be offered if an individual has additional medical issues or has experienced multiple heart attacks but the premium will be higher than the premium available to people who are not in these categories.
Heart surgery patients may be approved for life cover. Individuals who have had a successful angioplasty procedure and stenting or an aorta graft surgery due to a swollen aorta may qualify for cover six months after the procedure. Cover is available one year after heart valve replacement, bypass surgery, or a stroke as long as there are no resulting complications.
Guidelines for Purchasing Life Insurance
Life insurance underwriters consider many factors when determining applicant risk. If a website that provides online life quotes requires visitors to answer just a few questions and the premiums returned seem low, expect to answer additional questions, some related to heart issues, on the official application.
Unless they require completion of a comprehensive application, websites and agents provide only preliminary quotes based on the short medical history supplied and their knowledge of the market. Individuals with heart conditions should use agents or websites representing multiple providers to increase the chance of a positive response.
When completing a life insurance application, a person who has a rateable heart condition should provide a recent letter from his or her physician. This letter should include the medical history of the applicant, health outlook, and list of medications currently taken.
The agent and policy underwriter will use this to gain an accurate understanding of the medical status of the applicant. An underwriter is particularly concerned with whether the medical condition has stabilized, is getting worse, or is improving and whether the applicant is following the recommendations of the treating doctor.