Life Insurance

 I recently met with my financial planner and he told me that once a person has WLS companies will not insure them for life insurance!! He said we are liabliities just as if we had cancer!  Does any one know anything abot this?  

Thanks, 
Granny

As a matter of fact, I do. Many companies will insure you after 6 months without a significant "high risk" premium. You may need an independent agent so he/she can shop different companies. I will be meeting with my life ins. agent in a few weeks since I have passed the 6 month mark. I think I will have to have a letter from my doctor or something but it can absolutely be done.

What about the life insurance we already have?  Do we lose it?

I just recently got life insurance and they rated me higher for 2 years and then it will go down.

Incorrect 100% incorrect. You might pay a higher "tabled" rate for a couple of years, but it's the same as a person with high blood pressure, or previous cancer, heart disease, lung disease conditions as part of their medical history. I'm an insurance agent, been licensed and active in 2 different states, and have written very affordable and reliable life insurance policies for ALL weight loss surgery patients. I recommend waiting until you've lost weight so your starting weight is NOT taken into consideration, and ensure that your PCP and surgeon keeps records of your medical conditions, and dates that he deems them resolved if you have any.

All of this will contribute to your premium.

I am very interested in more and/or new life insurance. I REALLY appreciate this post.  I would have never guessed that a higher rate would apply for even a short period.

Would a higher rate be applied to a existing insurance carrier if I followed up with them for a revised plan?
How far out will the tabled rate apply...no matter how far out you are past your surgery or just the fact that you had surgery at all you get 2yrs of higher rates.?
Will my PCP records be enough or will my actual Mexico records have to come into play do you think?
How far out  or how much percentage of loss or lbs do you think one should wait before pursuing the life insurance issue again?
This is such a good topic. I hope more people think about this. You could really help alot of folks.
Hope to hear back from you.

It really varies by company. Most companies have a table for height/weight proportions that they "rate up" from. At 5'2" and 270lbs, I was actualy uninsurable with a lot of companies even though I had no co-morbidities.

Your PCP/PCM should keep annual weight check ups, and when you get down to a more "standard" rate you can ask for an underwriting review with a medical letter of explanation provided by your PCM/PCP to get re-rated.

Some companies do have exclusions on the time from actual surgery to the time they take on the risk. Some companies will decline coverage if it's been less than 1 year, others have a 2-3 year exclusion. It really will depend on the company, and those specific underwriting guidelines.

It's similar to say "smoker rates vs. non-smoker". For example, a smoker applies for a policy, has been a smoker for 10 years, then quits. After 12 months, the rate will be decreased to "preferred smoker" status, then 3 years out, decreased to the "standard" rate, and typically after 5 years with no other health issues documented, or noted by the attending physician statement (APS) the rate will then be dropped to the "Preferred" rate.

So, as we lose weight and become a more "preferred" risk, our rates drop. Underwriting is usually reviewed only at the policy owner's request, and usually is not considered more than once annually typically close to the policy annual renewal.  Same goes for patients with previous cancer treatment. A woman that had uterine cancer, with a complete hysterectomy, and 1 year of "remission" can still get life insurance, the rate will be "tabled" based on that companies underwriting guidelines, if she waits until she's in remission for 5 years, with no reoccurrence, her chances for a standard rate is much more likely.

In these cases, I recommended a universal life policy, or what some call a whole life policy. Term policies in my opinion are strictly renting your life insurance because the rate increases will happen with age, unlke with universal or whole life, the policy might be more expensive in the beginning, the policy rate will stay the same and the underwriting can be reviewed. Universal policies have several options for growth, and actually you can actually choose to have the death benefit split. Example: A $250,000 universal policy is pretty expensive because their are some cash benefits to it, but you can split the death benefit and get say $150,000 on the universal policy side, and then a 10 year term with a covertible option on the other $100,00. It will help with the premium initially, and that term can be converted to universal coverage later when you are in better health(for insurance purposes), and you automatically can change it to where the cash benefit on that 100k start building.

I'm a bit of an insurance geek and talk for hours on it so I apologize for the lengthy reply. There are a lot of options out there for us. It just takes finding the right broker, right company, and right underwriting guidelines. I do not recommend applying for several policies at once. Find a good broker that can investigate the underwriting guidelines with several companies before applying. You don't want to get 5-10 denials because the broker didn't do his/her homework on companies before submitting. Also, just to give a little insight, insurance agents get paid once your application is submitted, it's a "draw/charge back" system for most companies. If you get denied, they do have to pay a chargeback, but some agents/brokers like getting those numbers in, and it's very unethical in my opinion, but it happens. I know insurance agents are not the most well liked or well perceived professionals out there, but there are some really great agents that do not do it for just the "numbers", and they do work under strict ethical standards. I would recommend checking with your state insurance board and look for complaints on life insurance companies since all of it is public record. Look for companies that have been kicked out of the state, or been suspended for unethical business practices.

If you need anything, please feel free to contact me.

Super great of you to give such an educated response. I have a universal and a term. I just want to reduce the $$ cost of course after I am more reasonably insurable. I will just stick with what I have at this time and and keep good documentation at PCP and hope that in a couple of years I can evaluate that again.

 Why do they have exclusions on wls for so long?  Generally if a problem is going to happen, isn't it within the first couple of months after surgery  

Underwriting guidelines are not specific as to the "why". The applicant's weight/height, existing health issues (high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol etc etc) all go into consideration when reviewing an application. Just like if an applicant had gone through let's say a balloon procedure for a clogged artery in the heart, no heart attack, no stent placed, but that occurrence increase the risk for the insurer. Or, if a patient has just recently been diagnosed with say diabetes, but their numbers haven't been regulated for 6-12 months, the policy can be declined, or rated up based on the APS(attending physician statement). If you consider the long term risks with weight loss surgeries, immediate complications are directly related to the surgery, not the patient's overall health risk.

The easiest way for me to explain it is life/health insurance is similar to auto insurance when it comes to underwriting a risk. If a company has an applicant with 4 speeding tickets, 3 DUIs in the last 5 years, more than likely the premium will be astronomical or the driver won't be insured by that specific company. Same goes with health/life insurance. A company is not going to take on a risk when the "multiplier" indicates the risk is not a profitable one. Insurance companies are there to make money, it's how us agents survive.