In a recent press release that garnered little mainstream press, one major life insurer has turned what has been a difficult insurability situation for many breast cancer survivors into a non issue going forward. To date, no other life insurance carriers have announced they are following suit.
In the past, if you had been treated for breast cancer, it could be as long as two to five years from the date of surgery, with no recurrence, before you would be eligible to be considered for private life insurance coverage industry wide.
Even if you were approved and given an offer of coverage, you could generally expect to pay a higher or rated premium over the policy lifetime for the privilege of securing additional life insurance.
Your only other option during this already stressful time frame could have been the guaranteed issue group coverage at your employer for minimal amounts of coverage amounting to usually less than $50,000 per person, if it was even available.
The advances in early detection, successful breast cancer treatment protocols, plus the resulting excellent survival rates for many forms of the disease have changed the life insurance availability options for women of all ages with that little distributed press release.
Now, the majority of these women will be able to apply for life insurance coverage at one highly rated company, and receive it at Standard rates with no ratings or premium increases. When can they apply? In as little as two months after surgery depending on the diagnosis and pathology reports, a fraction of the prior waiting period.
Simply put, the diagnosis of the disease is no longer the instant life insurance disqualifier it was only a few short months ago. Unfortunately, the vast majority of women this will benefit today don't know anything about the opportunity before them and they go on assuming they have to continue waiting for up to five years to be considered insurable once again.
If you are a breast cancer survivor, or you know one who purchased any type of life insurance coverage in the past that had ratings imposed with corresponding higher rated premiums due to the disease, you should be comparing what you have in force with the new product pricing at standard rates. You may be pleasantly surprised at the difference in costs. I would encourage you to apply for coverage without delay before you turn one insurance year older to determine if this change in pricing is a viable option for your needs.
Even if you are a little, or a lot older than when you secured the current in force rated policy, in many cases, even with the increase in your age, you will find substantial premium savings. Another bonus is the ability to lock in new long term premium guarantees when the ratings disappear.
In a recent press release that garnered little mainstream press, one major life insurer has turned what has been a difficult insurability situation for many breast cancer survivors into a non issue going forward. To date, no other life insurance carriers have announced they are following suit.
