Life Insurance with COPD Diagnosis: It can be difficult, when you’re diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), to find affordable life insurance. To start, who are the top rated life insurance companies for COPD? What will it cost?
These are usually the 1st questions we receive for any high risk life insurance condition– It’s difficult but it is not impossible.
Life Insurance with COPD Diagnosis
Getting approved for a life insurance policy with COPD is possible. You just need to work with a reputable life insurance broker who can help you find the right life insurance policy that will meet your needs with your condition.
Is It Possible To Attain Life Insurance With A COPD Diagnosis?
Yes, you can still get life insurance even with this diagnosis.
There are several things the carrier will need to know:
- Age of diagnosis
- Reason for COPD (asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis)
- Medications currently prescribed
- Tobacco use
- Electrocardiographic findings
- Any hospitalizations for the condition
How You Can Get Life Insurance With A COPD Diagnosis
Getting affordable life insurance with a preexisting condition can be tricky.
If you’re diagnosed with severe COPD, or you’re still using tobacco, nicotine products, you may want a burial life insurance policy. This kind of policy includes no health questions or medical exam.
COPD Severity is a Major Life Insurance Factor
Life insurance companies will look at the severity of your disease in determining coverage.
It doesn’t mean, however, you can’t get coverage. After all, there are several degrees of COPD, and if your COPD degree is low, it’s possible to attain a highly-affordable life insurance coverage.
- Mild COPD – With this level, you can attain a standard rating for life insurance. It means your condition doesn’t affect your overall life but can cause a cough and shortness of breath after you participate in sports or exercise. You also don’t need to use medication.
- Moderate COPD – This means more prevalent shortness of breath and coughing, which is addressed with medication. A moderate level of COPD starts to affect life insurance policy applications. Therefore, it would be best to find companies that specialize in COPD patients, but don’t be surprised if your premiums are higher with the coverage.
- Severe COPD – A person with severe COPD has a lung capacity of 50 percent or less. A person with an extreme case of COPD has a lung capacity of 40 percent or less. A minute fraction of life insurance companies offer coverage to people with these forms of COPD, and those that do, will charge extremely high premiums. People with extreme COPD will only be offered graded coverage that doesn’t pay death benefits for the first couple of years of the policy.
Additional Risk Factors
Just like with other life insurance risks, your chances of securing an affordable rate will depend on any additional factors with your COPD.
If your COPD is managed properly and you do not have any other significant health issues- your chances of securing coverage is much higher.
If you have other risk factors such as high blood pressure, overweight, or heart attack– your chances of getting a lower premium is much more difficult.
How Much Is Life Insurance with COPD?
COPD is seen as high-risk life insurance. Life insurance companies have 16 different rate classes, which can affect how much you pay for your life insurance coverage.
Average rates are typically based off of “Standard” health class rates. For people that are healthier than average, they can qualify for “Preferred” rates. “Substandard” rates are for people that are riskier than average or “Standard”.
The majority of clients with COPD will qualify for Substandard class ratings. These ratings are below the average.
A person with well-controlled COPD who don’t use tobacco and hasn’t had any hospital visits in recent days or doesn’t use medication can get good coverage.
A person with a moderate level of COPD could be declined or permitted to have a substandard rate class. However, if you’ve been declined or have either severe or extreme COPD, it would be best to go with the guaranteed issue life insurance policy that involves no health questions or medical exams.
What Kind Of Process Could You Expect To Go Through For Coverage?
If you want a fully underwritten life insurance policy, you’ll need to go through and pass a life insurance medical exam.
What can you expect?
- The carrier will send an examiner to your home, take a urine and blood sample and get your weight and height. The lab will process your results.
- The carrier will ask for your medical records and physician statements.
- They will also carry out a prescription database check to see what prescriptions you’re currently using or have taken previously.
From all this information, the carrier will do a risk analysis to determine your rate class.
Your agent will then be notified what the carrier’s decision is.
Your personal Life Insurance Blog agent can handle the entire process for you. Your assigned agent will update you throughout the process.
After all, not all life insurance companies charge the same for COPD. This is another important reason to use an independent agent and why you should have someone on your side to help you find affordable life insurance coverage.
At Life Insurance Blog, we’ll help you through the entire process. You simply wait for the life insurance company to make the final decision and we’ll make sure that you’re getting the best rate- even after your approval.
Find A Specialized High-Risk Agent To Help
No matter what COPD level you are, you need an insurance agent that works with insurance companies that provide policies to people with COPD and other life-altering conditions.
One of the main advantages of using an independent agent is that they find the “niche” life insurance companies that are strong with a particular health risk. Life insurance companies operate just like other industries where competition effects cost. Your agent will research the best companies that will provide you the best chance at affordable life insurance.
As a life insurance shopper, you should work with an agent that has access to multiple life insurance companies. By working directly with a carrier or an agent that has access to only 1 company, you’re running a significant risk in getting the wrong policy at a higher price.
What Exactly is COPD?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a lung disease that hinders how much air flows from and to them. There are two types of COPD:
- Chronic bronchitis – Long-term mucus type of cough
- Emphysema – long-term destruction of the lungs
The condition is believed to be the result of exposure to cigarette smoking or asbestos, causing the lungs to swell and degenerate. COPD, which millions of Americans have been diagnosed with, is one of the biggest causes of death. While some medications can manage or control the symptoms, there is no current cure for it.
That’s why it can be difficult to get approved life insurance with a COPD diagnosis.
So, if you’ve been diagnosed with it, there are three questions you may need to have answered:
- Is it possible to attain life insurance even though you have COPD?
- What kind of costs could you be looking at?
- What will the life insurance process entail?
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When you work with us, you’re getting access to insurance experts that can shop your case to dozens of top rated life insurance companies. You’ll get assigned a personal agent that will work with you from start to finish. You won’t have to speak to a new representative every time you need information or have a question like you would with the big call centers or direct to a company.
Thank you for reading our guide, Life Insurance with COPD Diagnosis. Please leave a comment or question below.
