Life Insurance for Altace users.

In this article, we wanted to take a moment and answer some of the most common questions we get from folks applying for life insurance after they have been prescribed Altace (or its generic form Ramipril) to treat a variety of pre-existing medical conditions including:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure),
• Heart failure,
• And/or diabetic kidney disease.

Questions that will be directly addressed will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance after I’ve been prescribed Altace?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been prescribed Altace?
• 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, without further ado, let’s dive right in!

Can I qualify for life insurance after I’ve been prescribed Altace?

Altace is not of “those medications,” which will “automatically” cause someone to be denied a traditional term or whole life insurance policy, but it will undoubtedly cause most (if not all) life insurance underwriters to take a second look at your application.

Mainly because…

Altace can be used to treat a wide variety of different medical conditions as well as be used as a preventative medication for those who may be considered a “high risk” for one day developing cardiovascular disease later on in life.

This is also why…

You may want to consider avoiding applying for a no medical exam term life insurance policy and seeing how these policies tend to be more difficult to qualify for after someone has been diagnosed with a medical condition that may require you to take Altace.

Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been prescribed Altace?

Unlike some medications which have potential risk for abuse or possibly have some rather dangerous side effects, the only real reason why an insurance underwriter might take notice in the fact that you’ve been prescribed Altace is because this medication is primarily used to help folks who may be at risk of or are already suffering from some type of serious cardiovascular issues.

Which is why…

Before being able to “process” your life insurance application, most (if not all) life insurance underwriters are going to want to understand a little bit more about “why” you’ve been prescribed Altace so that they can determine whether or not they will want to provide you with an offer of coverage.

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

The first thing that an insurance company is going to want to know is…

“Why have you been prescribed Altace?”

Now, if it is because…

You have been diagnosed with heart failure or diabetic kidney disease. Well then, in our experiences here at Insurance and Estates, it’s pretty much going to be impossible for you to qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.

In cases like these…

We’ll typically like to recommend some “alternative” products such as a guaranteed issue life insurance policy or an accidental death policy, in which case an individual might still be able to qualify for some coverage without having to be able to “medically qualify” for it.

These “types” of cases…

Are pretty straight forward, it’s only when an individual is using their Altace to treat their hypertension or as a preventive tool from developing serious cardiovascular issues later on in life where things can get a bit more complicated.

This is because…

In cases like these, an individual may be able to qualify for coverage, they may even be able to qualify for a Preferred rate, it’s just going to come down to how well Altace is working to maintain one’s blood pressure levels and how well one is working at maintaining good cardiac health.

To determine this…

You’ll likely find that most (if not all) life insurance underwriters will want to ask you a series of questions that will sound something like this:

• Why have you been prescribed Altace?
• Who prescribed your Altace? A general practitioner or a cardiologist?
• Is Altace the only medication that you’re using right now?
• In the past 12 months, have any of your prescription medications changed in any way?
• How well is Altace helping you manage your current condition?
• Has any of your immediate family members (mother, father, brother, or sister) ever suffered from a heart attack or stroke? If so, how old were they when that occurred?
• What’s your current height and weight?
• Do you know what your blood pressure levels are now?
• How often do you see your doctor for a check-up?
• Have you ever used any tobacco or nicotine products?
• Do you suffer from or have you ever been diagnosed with any cardiac issues, including:
  • Heart attack?
  • Stroke?
  • Or blood clots?
• Have you ever been diagnosed with diabetes?
• Are you currently working now?
• In the past 12 months, have you applied for or received any form of disability benefits?

What rate (or price) can I qualify for?

As you can see, once an insurance underwriter learns that you’ve been prescribed Altace, he or she will want to know the answers to a whole bunch of questions. Some of these questions may ask you directly, while others will be able to sort out during the application process itself and through the lab results that they obtain from your medical exam.

The good news is…

That if you’re just using your Altace to either prevent future problems or to simply control your hypertension, in theory, you still ought to be able to qualify for a Preferred rate assuming that you would otherwise be able to qualify for such a rate.

That said, however…

We should point out that qualifying for a Preferred rate is never all that easy, even for individuals who haven’t been diagnosed with a pre-existing medical condition so, if it turns out that you’re only able to qualify for a Standard or “Normal” rate, this isn’t something you should get too upset about.

As for those…

Who are using their Altace to help treat more serious conditions such as heart failure or diabetic kidney disease, qualifying for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy is probably not going to happen. However, we here at IBUSA would be more than happy to review your case, and if it looks like you might have a chance at qualifying, we certainly give it a try!

This brings us to the last topic that we wanted to discuss here in this article today which is…

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

In our experience here at IBUSA, what we have found that works best for folks who have been diagnosed with a pre-existing medical condition where the “severity” of the condition is often “subjective” is for the applicant to make sure that they first find a true-life insurance professional who will work as an advocate for you.

Such an agent…

Will not only help guide you through the application process but also be perfectly “frank” with you about what options may or may not be possible for you.

From there…

You’ll also want to make sure that the very same agent you have chosen has access to dozens of different top-rated life insurance companies because after all, it doesn’t matter how “great” of a life insurance agent you might have if they don’t have access to the “best” life insurance policy for you! Now, does it?

Lastly…

You’ll want to make sure that you’re completely honest with your life insurance agent before applying for coverage. By doing so, you will be helping him or her narrow down what options might be the “best”.

Now, will we be able to help out everyone who has been prescribed Altace?

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 Best Final Expense Insurance Companies as well.

This way…

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!