Life insurance with heart issues;
A guide to getting great rates.
Who doesn’t have some form of heart disease these days?
- Hypertension
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Coronary artery disease
- Valvular heart disease
These are just a few heart issue that you may be familiar with and under treatment for and that is why we put together a guide to getting great rates.
It’s easy to get a policy if you’re young and healthy but if you have a medical history…you need a guide.
I know, when my father in law was looking for a policy and he felt the same way. We had to look at a few options but found what he needed.
We’re your guide, and great rates are still attainable!
Hypertension: What you need to know
Hypertension is defined as 140/90 and severe hypertension as 180/120.
Of course there can be many factors to consider but typically if you have been diagnosed with hypertension, the insurance companies want to make sure your numbers are under good control.
A stable BP is defined as 120/80.
Typically, we start the process by specifically seeking out those life insurance companies that we know offer the best rates for our clients with hypertension.
Some examples:
- Prudential
- Transamerica
- Lincoln National
When you apply for life insurance often times a medical exam is performed as part of the application process.
An exam is not always required, but often for the best rates it’s recommended.
The medical exam is done at your convenience, either at your home or office and is simple and often takes less than 45 min.
A medical professional, usually a nurse or medical assistant performs the exam.
During the medical exam, along with height and weight, you will have your blood pressure checked- often several times for an average.
Something to remember is that the life insurance company will ask for your medical records. This will also help paint a picture as to your overall health and to help show your hypertension is well managed.
Don’t be too concerned about the BP reading during your medical exam- often if high it can be repeated later in the exam and typically comes back much better.
Some common hypertensive medicaitons:
- Lisinopril
- Benicar, Diovan, Losartan
- Hydrocholorothiazide
- Coreg/carvedolol
- Toprol/Metoprolol
- Norvasc/amlodipine
- Clonidine
Atrial Fibrillation: What you need to know
First, atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm that often runs fast. It becomes more common the older you get and typically can present after age 50.
Hypertension and valvular heart disease are some of the risk factors for atrial fibrillation.
Secondly, atrial fibrillation is not a deadly heart rhythm but if untreated can often lead to cardiomyopathy or a weak heart. You can live with afib your whole life and is generally a long term condition.
Afib can also increase your risk for stroke and therefore many of our clients are on aspirin or blood thinners to prevent this.
Some clients are on rate control medications such as: Toprol, Cardizem, Digoxin.
Other times they may be on antiarrhythmic medications: Sotalol, Flecainide, Tikosyn, Amiodarone.
Have you had to a cardioversion? Very common.
If atrial fibrillation is hard to control with medications we come across clients who have had ablations and sometimes even needed pacemakers.
Finally, we have see it all and are here to help guide you to the right company and rates.
Life insurance companies still offer great rates. What they will look for is if your atrial fibrillation is controlled. This can either be with medications or with procedures.
Your medical records will help determine the stability of your condition.
Coronary Artery Disease: What you need to know
Looking at coronary artery disease and life insurance generally starts with basic questions:
- Have you had a heart attack?
- Do you have blockages and if so, were they fixed with stents or open heart surgery?
- Is your heart weakened as a result of the coronary artery disease, or in other words do you have cardiomyopathy.
Another way to ask this is, what is your EF or ejection fraction?
A normal EF is 55%
- What medications do you take for your coronary artery disease?
Do you have afib?
LETS GET STARTED
Typical medications:
- Coreg/carvedolol
- Toprol/ Metoprolol
- LIsinopril
- Losartan
- Lasix or a water pill
- Lipitor, Crestor or a cholesterol pill
- Aspirin
- Imdur
- Spironolactone/aldactone
The life insurance companies will want answers to these typical questions. They will then look over and decide your overall risk to cover you and then offer you a certain rate class:
Preferred plus
Preferred
Standard
Table Rated
To be honest, you will pay higher premiums than someone with out this medical history but don’t despair- that’s why you need a guide.
Our job is to find the life insurance companies that will offer outstanding coverage but at the most cost effective rates.
We do it all the time – let us be your friendly guide.
Valvular Heart Disease: What you need to know
Simply put, sometimes our clients have dealt with bad heart valves. This may include “leaky valves” or sometimes even a bad infection can result in heart valve problems.
Some common conditions we deal with:
- Aortic stenosis
- Aortic Regurgitation
- Rheumatic heart disease that often affects the mitral valve
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Mitral regurgitation
- Mitral stenosis
Some common treatments for valvular heart issues:
- bioprosthetic (tissue valve)or prosthetic valve (titanium valve) replacement.
- TAVR- transcatheter aortic valve replacement
- valve repair- not replacement
Anticoagulation or blood thinners are commonly used especially if you have a mechanical valve replacement.
Typically these clients are on Coumadin or Warfarin.
Making sure your doctor is monitoring the condition of your heart valve is what’s most important. The insurance companies will want to make sure you are having routine echocardiograms and are on the appropriate medications.
Take home message:
Heart disease and life insurance can go together – we know all the best tips to guide you.
Conditions affecting the heart can be serious, fortunately we live in a time where treatment options are available and amazing. You can still live forever with heart disease-or close to it!
Make sure your medical condition is well controlled; if you have hypertension that means keeping your BP at goal- 120/80 range.
Those that have atrial fibrillation the important point is that you are managing your heart rate and covering your risk for stoke if indicated.
Finally, if you have had a heart attack and have stents or have had bypass (open heart surgery); are you on all the right medications and is your condition stable.
This can be an overwhelming task, trying to get the right life insurance coverage for you needs.
It’s easy to get coverage when you have no medical issues and are < 55. Lots of on-line companies offer this without even a medical exam – we do too.
Our job is to help those clients that do have medical conditions find the best coverage- you need a guide and we can help make it easy.
Don’t stop yet.. this is where we excel! We help high income earners like you all the time. We know you’re busy and we handle all the leg work.
Let us help you protect what you love most!
