Life Insurance with Asthma

Asthma is one of those “types” of medical conditions. The severity of one’s condition can vary significantly from one patient to the next, leaving some wondering “why” certain life insurance companies may be so concerned about their diagnosis.

Now for those…

That do suffer from severe asthma attacks or know someone that does; this simply is not the case. Individuals like this understand full well why an insurance company might be concerned about this condition and understand how it might affect the outcome of their life insurance application.

This is why…

We wanted to take a moment and address some of the most common questions we receive from applicants applying for life insurance with asthma. As well as discuss what the application process might look like for them as well.

Questions that will be directly addressed will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance after I’ve been diagnosed with Asthma?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been diagnosed with Asthma?
• What kind of information will the insurance companies ask me or be interested in?
• What rate (or price) can I qualify for?
• What can I do to help ensure that I get the “best life insurance” for me?

So, let’ dive right in!

Can I qualify for life insurance after I’ve been diagnosed with Asthma?

Yes, individuals who have been diagnosed with Asthma can and often will be able to qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.  In fact, they may even be able to qualify for a No Medical Exam Life Insurance Policy at a Preferred rating!

The problem is…

That because having “asthma” can vary significantly from one individual to another, many of the best life insurance companies you’ve heard of will want to know a lot more about an individual’s “asthma” before making any decision about their life insurance application.

Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been diagnosed with Asthma?

For folks who know what it’s like to have suffered from a serious asthma attack, wondering “why” a life insurance company might be interested in the fact that an individual has been diagnosed with Asthma isn’t something they have to spend all that much time thinking about.

This is because…

For them, to understand the seriousness of this condition and understand how dangerous this condition can be when not managed properly.

After all, according to AsthmaMD.org, nearly 11 Americans die from Asthma each day, totalling over 4,000 each year. It’s also theorized that Asthma may play a contributing factor in the death of an additional 7000 Americans each year as well! Source.

Sadly…

Many of these deaths due to asthma complications could be avoided with proper care and treatment, which is why most life insurance companies will consider one eligible for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.

If they see evidence that you are one of those asthma patients who is proactively managing their condition, then your chances of being approved increase dramatically versus someone who is not being preventative.

This is why…

Before being approved for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy, you should expect to be asked a series of medical questions about your Asthma so that the life insurance underwriter can gain a better understanding about what “causes” you to suffer from Asthma and how “serious” your condition may be.

Asthma Defined:

Asthma is a pre-existing medical condition which is defined by the narrowing and/or swelling of one’s airways combined with the production of extra mucus which can be caused due to a variety of different factors which are typically used to define the “type” of Asthma one may suffer from including:

• Allergic Asthma,
• Asthma-COPD overlap,
• Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction (EIB),
• Nonallergic Asthma,
• Adult-Onset Asthma,
• Occupational Asthma.

What kind of information about your asthma will the insurance companies ask me or be interested in?

When applying for life insurance, insurance companies will typically ask for detailed information about your medical history, including any past or present health conditions.

If you have asthma, they will likely ask for information about your diagnosis and treatment history, including the severity of your asthma, the medications you take, and any hospitalizations or other medical procedures you have undergone.

They may also ask about any other health issues you have, as well as your lifestyle, including your diet, exercise habits, and any risky behaviors such as smoking or excessive alcohol consumption. These factors can impact your risk of respiratory issues and overall health.

Now at this point…

We do like to remind folks that we here at IBUSA are not medical doctors, nor do we claim to have any medical expertise whatsoever!

All we are is a bunch of life insurance agents who just happened to be good at helping folks with a wide variety of different pre-existing medical conditions find and qualify for the life insurance that they are looking for.

Which means that…

If you have any specific medical questions or are looking for any kind of medical advice, we would not be the ones that you would want to look to for answers.

In cases like these, you’ll want to contact a local medical professional and direct all your questions to him or her.

But…

If you’re just looking for help finding the “best” life insurance policy that you’ll be able to qualify for, the good news is you’ve come to the right place, because that is exactly what we are good at!

What Health Rating Can I Qualify for with Asthma?

Now, as you can see, there are a lot of variables that can come into play when determining what kind of “life insurance health rating” an individual might be able to qualify for. This is why it’s almost impossible to know for sure what kind of “rate” you might qualify for without first speaking with you for a few minutes. 

That said …

There are some “assumptions” one can make that will generally hold true and at least give you a general idea about how a life insurance underwriter is likely to view an individual’s application after they have been diagnosed with Asthma.

For example…

Generally, for an individual who has been diagnosed with Asthma to be able to qualify for a Preferred rate, he or she will need to be: 

• In excellent health, 
• Diagnosed with only a “mild” case of Asthma,
• That doesn’t require regular medication,
• And has never needed to visit a hospital due to an attack.

And while…

This may describe a lot of folks who suffer from Asthma, it’s undoubtedly going to exclude a bunch too. 

The good news is that these super strict guidelines will only apply to those who can qualify for a Preferred rating, which is a pretty difficult rate to qualify for even without having been diagnosed with Asthma in the past.

As for the rest…

Of those suffering from Asthma who may be taking one or two different medications to help them treat their condition or may have had to visit a hospital in the past, it’s still quite possible that you may still be able to qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy. 

Heck….!

You may still be able to qualify for a Standard or Standard Plus; you’re just going to need to know “which” life insurance company is the most likely to be the “best” for you!

This brings us to the last topic that we wanted to take a moment and discuss, which is…

What can I do to help ensure that I get the “best life insurance” for me?

There are three things that you can do to make sure that you increase your chances of being able to find the best life insurance policy that you can qualify for. 

The first thing…

that you can do is make sure that you choose to work with a life insurance agent that fully understands your condition and knows what a life insurance underwriter will be looking for when making their decision about your application.

The second thing…

That you’re going to want to do is make sure that the agent that you choose to work with has access to dozens of different life insurance companies. 

After all…

Even the best life insurance agent in the country isn’t going to be all that great for you if he or she doesn’t have access to the policies or companies that are going to be the most “lenient” towards individuals who have been diagnosed with Asthma… right?

And third…

You want to make sure that you choose a life insurance agent that is really good at explaining things. By explaining things, we mean that you want to make sure that your life insurance agent not only explains the “type” of life insurance options available to you but also why one life insurance company might be better for you than another.

This will include explaining things like:

• What “type” of life insurance policy you may be considering.
• How long the policy will stay in force.
• What will the price be, and will that price ever change?

As well as…

“What additional features one policy may have that another won’t”.

The reason why…

We like to stress this point here at IBUSA is because you would be amazed at how often folks will simply choose the least expensive option, not realizing that they are missing out on a lot of additional “features” that could become quite important to them later on.

This is particularly disheartening when the price difference may only be a few pennies a day!

But don’t fret…

Because now you know and should you decide to give us a call, you’re not going to have anything to worry about!

Now, will we be able to help out everyone who has been previously diagnosed with Asthma?

No, probably not.

But what we can tell you is that in addition to offering a wide variety of different term and whole life insurance policies, IBUSA has also worked very hard to establish relationships with many of the Top Rated Final Expense Insurance Companies as well, so that if someone isn’t able to qualify for a traditional life insurance policy, chances are there may be some other “type” of product that you CAN qualify for.

So, if you’re ready to see what options might be available to you, just give us a call today and experience the IBUSA difference.