by adappen » Fri Dec 18, 2009 04:23 pm
I am new and have a question about the ability to obtain Life insurance policies after diagnosis of illness. My husband who is currently 42 has been diaganosed with ALS (lou Gehrig's disease). The condition is only in his arms at this time. At this time he seems to be a very slow progressor and we are still looking at the small possiblity that he may have a rare version of the disease that stops in the arms and fizzles out. The symptons seemed to have started about 2-3 years ago with an official diagnosis about 1 1/2 years ago. For as quickly has his arms progressed initially, the disease has not traveled to any other body parts which is unusual. Now that he has received the diagnosis, is he able to obtain life insurance. Prior to this he had only cholesterol issues that developed in his later 30's. He is a non smoker, 6'2", 195 lbs, white male. I am 39 and we have to chldren 7 and 9. Any advice would be appreciated. My husband some coverage through work and a smaller policy taken when starting college by his parents, MI Economizer policy, to cover funeral type expenses etc.
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:42 pm Post Subject:
Life insurance underwriting is often rarely flexible to unusual or "minor" incidences of a disease. That being said some agents can put a huge amount of research into a situation and make a claim that sometimes results in an approval. It all depends on how badly the agent wants to place the case.
Be careful about submitting an application right off the bat, a decline from one company can increase the likelihood of a decline at another. There's no hard and fast rule, just an observation.
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 04:06 am Post Subject:
I would be very surprised if any underwritten company offered coverage. ALS is a known fatal disease. You would need a very, very good agent and very detailed information from a physician that demonstrates that the disease shows no sign of advancement. Even if an offer was made, would you be willing to pay the high premiums?
He might be able to get a guaranteed-issue policy with a graded death benefit (i.e. death in the first two years only gets a return of premiums paid plus interest), but would likely be limited to a $25-50,000 death benefit with very high premiums. I wish you luck, but as BNTRS noted, don't submit an application without knowing the likely results first. Once a person has been declined, any other applications will ask about it and you will have to explain - doesn't look good to the company you are applying with.
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 02:42 pm Post Subject:
He can absolutely get a $50,000 graded death benefit policy like dgoldenz is describing. He'll get turned down for anything with underwriting.
We are healthy until the day that we aren't. It appears as if you made a mistake with not getting enough coverage on your husband. If you died TODAY, would your family be ok financially? If not, go and buy insurance TODAY.
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 09:27 pm Post Subject: i might have ALS
I have had MRI's and an EMG. have not been diagnosed with anything but its looking like ALS. If increase my life insurance is there a chance my family will not be paid?
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 12:26 am Post Subject: Life insurance with ALS
Hello. Martha here, independent agency owner, and agent. As some of the other posters have mentioned, he could easily still obtain a guaranteed issue life insurance policy. It would have reduced benefits for the first two years, after which the full benefit would be available. It's unlikely that he would be able to get any substantial amount going through underwriting, though. Most companies aren't exactly favorable toward rare cases of a known major illness. It would likely take a very dogged agent, and a very thorough medical determination to pass through underwriting. My suggestion might be, if he has a decent life expectancy, to put that money toward something like an indexed annuity with a premium bonus and decent guaranteed return. In the long run, you'll probably come out further ahead this way.
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