Critical Illness Life Insurance
CRITICAL ILLNESS LIFE INSURANCE It used to be the case that cancer survivors were out of luck when it came to purchasing life insurance. This was devastating because life insurance is a vital component of any sound financial plan, especially for someone who is younger and still in his prime working years. The problem faced by critical illness life insurance underwriters was that actuarial calculation for assessing cancer survivors' risk was too inaccurate. There was too much variation from person to person and medical knowledge about what cancer survivors were more likely to live longer was not advanced enough. But now, new medical breakthroughs and greater information on how to minimize one's risk of getting a recurrence of cancer have made it much more likely that a cancer survivor will live on into old age. As a consequence, many critical illness life insurance companies now offer coverage to cancer survivors who have lived on for a certain number of years, usually five years, after their cancer went into remission. Some critical illness life insurance companies are becoming even more liberal. For instance, the Hartford Life Insurance Company began offering policies at standard rates for women age 40 or over who have had breast cancer without there being any waiting period. The underwriting standards are that the cancer had to have been a small, localized Stage 1 condition and doctors certify the woman has strong prognosis for survival. These women also need to have completed treatment and the first follow-up visit with no evidence of the disease found. Hartford is also offering standard rates to men who have survived prostate cancer who are age 60 or older, have been surgically treated in full, have a Gleason score of 6 or less, have a pre-treatment PSA of 10 or less, and have the cancer certified by doctors as being confined to the prostate. Of course, you must be prepared to pay higher premiums than you otherwise would in most instances. Remember that critical illness life insurance is priced based on your risk of forcing the company to pay out the death benefit in the near future. Cancer survivors are still seen as possessing greater risk factors for death than the average person, because statistically they in fact do. Your premiums will vary based on what kind of cancer you had (for instance, melanoma is seen as less risky than colon cancer), how advanced it got, how much treatment you needed, how long you had the cancer, how many years it's been since it went into remission, family history of cancer risk, whether or not you still take any cancer-prevention drugs, and so on. You can help yourself out to find coverage at affordable rates by going through an insurance broker to find critical illness life insurance companies who specialize in underwriting cancer survivors. Not only will that make them easier to find, it will make it far easier for you to compare prices and underwriting standards. The life insurance broker may be able to give you recommendations, too. But there are things you can do to lower your premiums and make it easier to get underwritten. You can get regular checkups to get continuous certification that you no longer have any symptoms of the disease, which will show you are responsible and pro-active. You can also adopt a lifestyle that medical professionals will attest helps to prevent cancer. You can quit smoking. You can get on a regular exercise program. You can change your diet to include more fresh fruits and vegetables and their juices and less refined sugar and Omega-6 fats. You can become a moderate drinker if you drink alcohol heavily. If you had melanoma you can stop trying to get a tan and use sunblock when you go outside. A critical illness life insurance company medical examination and doctor testimonials can prove that you are doing all these things and you'll be considered less of a risk as a cancer survivor as a result. The eLifePolicy.com website offers one of the quickest and most convenient ways to purchase term life insurance coverage. Their easy 3-step process can be completed from the privacy of your home or office without speaking to an agent or requiring you take a medical exam. Just answer a few health questions. If qualified, you can print your in-force life insurance policy in minutes!Click Here
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