Benefit #1 Prostate Cancer Expertise
Life insurance for prostate cancer survivors is complicated. You will get declined or overpay because you ended up with the wrong agent, company, or both.
Your cancer stage, Gleason Score, PSA history, and type of treatment received are the main factors affecting your price and the company you should apply to.
Cancer Stage And Grade
Early detection is extremely important when it comes to cancer. The sooner the cancer is found and diagnosed, the easier it is to treat. In addition, early detection treatments tend to be more successful.
People that treated their prostate cancer while it was in stage one or two will receive the most favorable rate class and price. If your cancer was in stage three when it was detected, getting an approval becomes more challenging, but theres a chance that you may still qualify after a probationary period.
Unfortunately, if youre cancer was diagnosed as stage 4, we are unable to help you with purchasing a term life insurance policy however, you may be eligible for Guaranteed Issue life insurance depending on your age.
What Were Your Psa Levels Before During And After Treatment
Your prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, levels are an important factor in determining your prostate cancer risk.
The higher your PSA, the more difficult it will be to purchase traditional term or whole life insurance.
Normal PSA levels include:
- Age 0 49: 2.5 ng/ml or less
- Age 50 59: 3.5 ng/ml or less
- Age 60 69: 4.5 ng/ml or less
- Age 70+: 6.5 ng/ml or less
However, after cancer treatment, ideal PSA levels will often look different. Further, PSA levels will vary depending on the type of treatment you received.
Once you have successfully completed treatment, your physician will likely establish a baseline PSA for you that will continually be monitored.
Some medical groups have proposed that if the PSA rises more than 2 ng/mL above the lowest level it reached, further treatment should be considered. American Cancer Society
In other words, prepare to communicate the range of your PSA levels at different points: at diagnosis, while you were undergoing treatment, and at present.
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Keeping Health Insurance And Copies Of Your Medical Records
Even after treatment, its very important to keep health insurance. Tests and doctor visits cost a lot, and although no one wants to think of their cancer coming back, this could happen.
At some point after your cancer treatment, you might find yourself seeing a new doctor who doesnt know your medical history. Its important to keep copies of your medical records to give your new doctor the details of your diagnosis and treatment.
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*facts: Prostate Cancer Life Insurance Rates
- Preferred Plus rates may be available, for men age 50 and older at application with localized lower grade cancer after a prostatectomy with negative surgical margins, Gleason Score 6 and an undetectable PSA post surgery more than 1 year after surgery/treatment.
- Preferred rates are also available if you meet the above mentioned needs but would otherwise qualify for Preferred rates based on other factors.
- In addition, some carriers will offer Preferred rates but only after 10 years of successfully qualifying for Standard rates along with successful urological follow ups post op.
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What Is The Best Life Insurance For Cancer Patients
For patients currently undergoing treatment, a guaranteed issue life insurance policy will be the best bet. You can get this type of policy regardless of your health status, but it comes with higher premiums and lower coverage amounts. And some companies only make these policies available to people at least 45 years old. If youve been in remission for some time, youre better off looking for a company that can offer traditional or accelerated underwriting for better affordability and higher coverage.
You may also qualify for a simplified issue policy, which only requires you to answer a handful of health questionsits typically less expensive than a guaranteed acceptance policy but more expensive than a policy issue with traditional or accelerated underwriting.
Life Insurance For Cancer Survivors
4 min read
It’s not uncommon, as a cancer survivor, to consider your life insurance policies. One common concern is whether you’ll qualify for life insurance as a cancer survivor.
If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you may be wondering what it might be like trying to obtain life insurance after your diagnosis. Good news! Plenty of life insurance companies happily insure cancer patients and survivors. Premiums and coverage specifics differ from case to case. But you’ll be happy to hear that you can still get life insurance. Cancer won’t stop you from getting covered.
Based on your cancer history and the rest of your factors, you may have to pay a higher rate than if you hadn’t received a cancer diagnosis. After being in remission long enough to see your risk level drop, you could see your premiums go down with it. Then you may even get premiums down to baseline levels. Many factors go into insurance rates. The best way to figure out what you’ll have to pay is to ask questions.
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Nifty Life Insurance Calculator
Our Life Insurance Calculator can help give you a rough idea of how much coverage youll need to make sure your family is financially protected when you die.
So whats next? Call us at 800-442-9899 and lets chat about the types of coverage that may make the most sense for you.
Reach out to us anytime and youll speak to a real person! We can provide competitive life insurance quotes from the top-rated, brand-name insurance companies you know and trust. We take the stress out of shopping for life insurance. And we wont ask you to cough. Promise.
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Prostate Cancer Life Insurance Underwriting
In life insurance underwriting, prostate cancer is assessed by stage and grade.
Stage refers to the extent of cancer, the tumor size, and/or how much it has spread.
The Gleason System grades the aggressiveness of the tumor ranging from 2 to 10. The higher the Gleason score, the more likely a tumor will spread beyond the gland to other parts of the body. A Gleason score of 2 4 is considered non-aggressive, while a Gleason score of 8 10 is considered aggressive.
Cancer treatment often consists of prostate resection called a radical prostatectomy or radiation.
Hormonal treatment can be offered to older men for metastatic disease or men in poor health.
After diagnosis and treatment, PSA levels are monitored over time. A rising PSA suggests that a tumor is currently present, and a persistently low PSA suggests successful control.
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What About Health Insurance After Prostate Cancer
Finding health insurance after having prostate cancer if you didnt already have it might be tricky. Policies for pre-existing conditions could make finding a policy impossible or at the least finding an affordable policy. High survival rates may help your cause compared to other types of cancer.
References:
Life Insurance After Prostate Cancer
When youre applying for a term life insurance policy, you will need to provide your agent with some basic information about your prostate cancer history. Each life insurance company will need to evaluate:
- Age of your diagnosis
- Type of treatment received
- Stage and grade of the cancer
- Pre-treatment AND current PSA levels
Every insurance providers sets their own approval guidelines so some providers could be a better fit for your unique health profile. The best way to avoid overpaying for your coverage is working with an independent agent that will “shop the market” and compare quotes from multiple companies.
If you need help, our agency represents dozens of highly-rated companies, and we’re licensed in all 50 states. Our comparative shopping services are always free, and there is no cost to apply for life insurance.
Below is an in-depth description of each of the various factors that life insurance companies will consider for applicants who have survived prostate cancer.
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What Life Insurance Companies Look For In Prostate Cancer Survivors
- If the cancer is confined to the prostate, it is removed surgically, and the survivor has been cancer-free with a low Gleason score for at least one year.
- If the cancer is confined to the prostate, eliminated by radiation treatment successfully, and the survivor has been cancer-free with a low Gleason score for at least one year.
Do Certain Types Of Cancer Make It Harder To Get Life Insurance
Life insurance is an industry that doesnât focus much on what makes their customers unique. Adjusters look at complicated tables and make judgments based on data alone. Different types of cancer have different survival rates.
Life insurance companies will offer policies accordingly. When they consider cancer patients or survivors for life insurance policies, companies consult the National Cancer Instituteâs SEER database. SEER stands for âSurveillance, Epidemiology, and End Resultsâ.
The SEER Expected Survival Life Tables give companies an idea of life expectancy based on their diagnosis and stage. Life expectancy doesnât change much for some cancers that are detected early and treated. A stage 1 skin cancer survivor in remission will likely have similar premiums to a similar healthy individual. But less treatable forms of cancer like pancreatic can have significantly higher premiums for eligible patients.
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Best For Guaranteed Issue: Trustage
- AM Best Rating:AM Best is a credit rating agency that assigns insurance companies a letter grade from A++ to D. A companys grade indicates its ability to pay its claims and honor its financial obligations.A
- Accepts Credit Cards:Yes
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Online quote and application for all policies, including whole life
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No medical exam required for any policy
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Instant decision with coverage that may begin immediately
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No customization options
TruStage is another good option for guaranteed issue coverage, along with Mutual of Omaha, since you can purchase online and get same-day approval with some policies. However, the limit for guaranteed issue coverage is capped at $20,000 and premiums may be more expensive. TruStage also offers a simplified issue whole life policy with coverage up to $100,000. Its one of few companies to offer online quotes and applications for such a policy. However, if youve been treated or diagnosed with cancer in the past five years , you may need to purchase the guaranteed issue policy instead.
Its also important to keep in mind that TruStage doesnt offer living benefits with its policies, meaning you cant access the death benefit if you need care due to a chronic, critical, or terminal illness. That said, TruStage makes it quick and easy to buy a policy. And CMFG, the company that underwrites TruStage policies, has an A financial strength rating with AM Best and fewer complaints than expected with the NAIC over the past few years.
How Will Prostate Cancer Affect My Life Insurance
Typically, most high-risk life insurers will accept you for a policy provided you are in remission, or your cancer is being treated successfully, but you will likely be surcharged until such time that you are cancer free. In some cases, under ideal circumstances, you may even qualify for a standard rate.
Although most prostate cancer patients believe they are unacceptable for standard life insurance rates, many have found that because of new treatments that have shown considerable success, life insurance underwriters are somewhat more liberal and are issuing policies with a standard rating.
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Prostate Cancer And The Underwriting Process In Life Insurance
When applying for prostate cancer life insurance after a diagnosis the type of therapy, tumour stage, and tumour grade will determine if coverage is granted. The following characteristics will be considered by life insurance underwriters when establishing your eligibility for coverage:
- What was your age of diagnosis?
- Current PSA levels
The Gleason System assigns a score between 2 and 10 to the aggressiveness of a tumour. The higher the Gleason score, the greater the likelihood that a tumour may move beyond the gland to other organs. A Gleason score between 2 and 4 is deemed non-aggressive, but a Gleason score between 8 and 10 is deemed aggressive.
How Will Each Cancer Stage Affect My Eligibility for Life Insurance?
- If your diagnostics indicate stage 1 or 2, and your overall health is strong, you may qualify for preferred rates.
- In stage 3, you may still be eligible for life insurance, but you may have to wait longer following treatment.
- If you have stage 4 cancer, it will be difficult or impossible to obtain regular life insurance, and you may need to purchase a guaranteed issue life insurance policy from an insurance company.
What Age Were You When You Were Diagnosed?
Even if you overcome cancer, you may be obliged to wait longer before qualifying for standard coverage. If you are 50 or older, you may be required to wait one year. If you are younger than 50, you must wait five years.
What is the Gleason Score?
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I started Insurance Blog by Chris because I have a passion for insurance. Here at the blog, our job is to educate and inform people about the best insurance for them.Since then, we have grown into national brands with a large team of researchers helping people understand all forms of insurance. |
Written byChris HuntleyFounder of Huntley Wealth & Insurance Services |
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Rachael Brennan has been working in the insurance industry since 2006 when she began working as a licensed insurance representative for 21st Century Insurance, during which time she earned her Property and Casualty license in all 50 states.After several years she expanded her insurance expertise, earning her license in Health and AD& D insurance as well. She has worked for small health insu… |
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What Was Your Specific Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
A number of factors are evaluated to determine the grade and stage of prostate cancer.
Your pathology report likely included the following:
Base on your pathologists summary, a specific grade is provided.
Similar to other cancers, a lower grade for prostate cancer typically means a higher likelihood of a positive outcome:
- Grade 1 = tissue looks very similar to normal prostate cells
- Grade 2 4 = varying degrees appearance of cancerous prostate cells
- Grade 5 = cancer appears very abnormal
After your prostate cancer was diagnosed, you were assigned a particular stage:
- Stage I cancerous cells are confined to the prostate highly treatable
- Stage II cancerous cells are confined to the prostate, although cells may be more aggressive
- Stage III cancerous cells may have spread beyond the prostate
- Stage IV cancerous cells have almost always spread beyond the prostate, possibly to lymph nodes, other organs, or both
Bottom line Plan to provide your diagnosis because it helps the life insurance company understand how much risk you pose based on how advanced your prostate cancer was.
Can I Get Life Insurance After Ive Had Cancer
Depending on the nature and extent of the cancer its possible to get life insurance after surviving certain cancers, but there may be a period of time before you can get cover and you may face higher premiums when making a new application. You will need to tell your insurer about your medical history when you apply for cover, and your insurer will assess whether to offer you a life insurance policy not just on the basis of your cancer history, but your age, other medical information, and how much cover you wish to take out.
Please remember, life insurance is not a savings or investment product and has no cash value unless a valid claim is made.
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Will I Pay A Surcharge
Not necessarily.
Depending on your specific diagnosis and how much time has passed since your treatment, you may qualify for Standard pricing. This means you would pay the regular premium rates for your life insurance policy.
However, sometimes your policy will be Rated. Rated policies are typical if your prostate cancer was more advanced. Even so, there are still affordable life insurance policy options.