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Qualifying for Life Insurance after Lung Cancer

Researcher & Writer
August 31, 2017

If you or someone you know has ever been diagnosed with lung cancer, then you’re not alone. Lung cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer for both men and women in the United States today.

In fact…

There are more than 200,000 new cases each year, which is why we here at TermLife2Go have worked so hard to provide our clients with as many options as possible so that we can “hopefully” provide them with the greatest opportunity for success when it comes time to finding a life insurance policy that they will be able to qualify for.

 So…

If you’re currently looking to purchase a life insurance policy on you or a loved one that has been diagnosed with lung cancer either very recently or sometime in their past, you’ve come to the right place to get started.

Now let’s start with the basics…

Do Life Insurance Companies Insure Lung Cancer Survivors?

When a life insurance company is trying to decide whether or not they want to insure an individual, its ultimately going to “boil down” to:

What type of risk does this applicant pose to the insurance company?

And

Does this applicant have a higher chance of premature death than other people?

And to answer these two really important questions, they'll usually use a series of questions designed to determine what “type” of risk you may represent and compare that to massive amounts of statistical data relating to mortality rates in order to determine whether or not you’ll be eligible for a traditional term life insurance or whole life insurance policy.

So…

It really shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that if you’ve been diagnosed with lung cancer, insurance companies are going to consider this a MAJOR problem.  But that doesn’t mean that you’re automatically going to be disqualified from being able to purchase a life insurance policy.

It just means that…

It’s generally going to be more difficult and you’re probably going to want to “shop” multiple options before choosing to apply with any ONE individual insurance company.

That said…

It’s also important to understand that a lot of people who have been diagnosed with lung cancer simply won’t be eligible for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.  These folks may not be eligible “right now” or could be “permanently” ineligible for such coverage in which case it will be important to consider some “alternative” life insurance products that won’t require one to be able to “medically” qualify.

Now…

Let’s take a moment and discuss how most life insurance companies will differentiate between different “lung cancer” applicants and try to provide some insight on what this will mean for you and your search for a life insurance policy that you can qualify for.

Determining Your Life Insurance Eligibility After Lung Cancer.

Probably the most important factor that will come into play when determining what “Type” of life insurance policy you will be able to qualify for will be what “stage” your lung cancer was diagnosed at and what “stage” it was able to progress to.

Stage Zero Lung Cancer

This is when cancer cells can be detected, but there is either no tumor or it’s too small to check. At this stage, it is a lot easier to recover from cancer since it is the most nascent stage of all.

Stage 1 Lung Cancer

This is when cancer is in the lung tissue, but nowhere else.

Qualifying for Life Insurance after Stage Zero or Stage One Lung Cancer:

If you have survived stage zero or stage one lung cancer, then first of all, congratulations!  Beating cancer is something major to celebrate.

Now as far as your life insurance eligibility – yes you will be eligible for whole or term life as a stage zero or stage one cancer survivor.

When to Apply: Generally, you’ll want to wait 3-5 years after surviving stage zero or one lung cancer simply because this will usually be when most life insurance companies will begin considering you eligible for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.

Then once considered eligible, most stage zero or one applicants will “theoretically” be eligible for a standard or normal rate assuming that they would otherwise be eligible.

Stage 2 Lung Cancer.

Cancer is in the lungs and has spread either to lymph nodes or the chest wall.

Qualifying for Life Insurance after Stage 2 Lung Cancer.

Even if you have overcome stage 2 lung cancer, it becomes a little more difficult to get life insurance. Instead of waiting 3-5 years, you’re generally going to have to wait at least 5 years. Even then, your chances of qualifying for a standard rate will be lower as well.

Stage 3 Lung Cancer.

At this stage, the lung cancer has really started to move outside of the lungs and nearby regions. Because of this, your treatments and diagnosis will generally become much more complicated which will in turn make qualifying for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy more difficult.

That said however, after you become cancer free, insurance companies will consider applicants on a case by case basis but will not begin considering your application until you have been cancer free for a minimum of 5 years.

Even after that…

If you’ve been diagnosed with stage 3 or stage 4 lung cancer, the odds of you qualifying for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy will be slim.

What if I’m currently treating my cancer now?  Or have just been told I’m cancer free?

For individuals who are currently treating their cancer, or have been told that they can’t “currently” qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy, there are alternatives that one can consider.  Alternatives such as a guaranteed acceptance life insurance policy.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

If you have had Stage 3 or 4 lung cancer – or even if you currently have it – you can think about getting a guaranteed issue life insurance policy.  These are life insurance policies that won’t require you to “medically” qualify.

Meaning that regardless of your current health status, you should theoretically be able to qualify assuming that you are:

  • A US citizen,
  • You live in a state where guaranteed issue life insurance policies are offered,
  • And you meet the minimum age requirements.

But just becomes you can “qualify” for a guaranteed issue life insurance policy doesn’t mean that you should purchase a guaranteed issue life insurance policy.

You see…

Guaranteed issue life insurance policies will come with some pretty significant disadvantages.  Disadvantages such as:

  • Small policy limits.
  • Higher “dollar for dollar” costs compared to other traditional types of life insurance policies.
  • And a graded death benefit.

Graded Death Benefits.

Graded death benefits are “clauses” written into all guaranteed issue life insurance policies which will place LIMITATIONS on when your guaranteed issue life insurance policy will begin to cover you for natural causes of death.

That said however…

If these are the only “type” of life insurance policy that you can qualify for, sometimes they can be a really great option for the right client!

Finding the right life insurance company after lung cancer.

There are two things to consider when getting life insurance: the policy you’re going to get and the insurance company you’re going to get it from.

Unfortunately, we can’t just tell you which life insurance company is best for lung cancer survivors. The reason for this is because there are a lot of other factors that go into picking a life insurance company!

When you apply for term or whole life insurance after lung cancer, lung cancer isn’t going to be the only thing the life insurance company asks you about. They’ll want to know everything about your past and present health – and even your family’s. So, as a life insurance expert, we can only recommend the right life insurance company for you after we get to know these things.

Why not call TermLife2Go today for a free consultation? After that, we can make personalized life insurance recommendations for your life after lung cancer.

So, what are you waiting for?  Give us a call today or visit our Life Insurance Quotes page and see what we can do for you!

Written by
TermLife2Go
We are a team of life insurance experts with the simple mission of helping you find the best coverage for your unique situation. We research, review, and rank life insurance companies to make that process easier.