In this article, we wanted to take a moment and try and answer some of the most common questions we get from folks applying for life insurance after they have been prescribed Lexapro or its generic form Escitalopram to treat their symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.

Questions that will be directly addressed will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance after I’ve been prescribed Lexapro?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been prescribed Lexapro?
• 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 insure 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 Lexapro?

For the most part, what you’re going to find is that if you have been prescribed Lexapro, you should still be considered eligible for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.  Heck, you may even be able to qualify for a Preferred rate!  Which if this true begs the question….

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

Life insurance companies care that you’ve been prescribed Lexapro, because Lexapro is used to help those who have been diagnosed with either depression or some kind of anxiety condition.  Two medical conditions which can vary widely from one individual to the next.  After all, according to the American Psychological Association, nearly 12.5% of the U.S population over the age of 12 has taken an antidepressant medication like Lexapro within the past month!

The good news…

Is that the vast majority of these individual are not suffering from debilitating mental illness, rather they are simply using these “types” of medications to make life more comfortable for themselves.  The hard part for the insurance companies is trying to determine what “kind” of pre-existing medical condition you suffer from and the severity of it!

This is why…

Insurance companies are interested in the fact that an individual has been prescribed Lexapro because it signals to them that they are going to want to ask you some additional questions about any kind of symptoms of depression or anxiety that you may be suffering from prior to making any kind of decision about your life insurance application.

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

Once it has been determined that you have been prescribed Lexapro in the past or that you are currently taking Lexapro now, what you’re going to find is that most (if not all) life insurance companies are going to want to ask you a series of questions that will look something like this:

• Why have you been prescribed Lexapro? Is it to treat symptoms of Depression?  Anxiety? Or both?
• Who prescribed your Lexapro? A primary care physician or a psychiatrist?
• When were you first prescribed Lexapro?
• Are you currently taking any other medications or participating in any other treatment programs for your condition?
• Have you been given a specific diagnosis?
• In the past 12 months has your Lexapro prescription changed at all?
• Have you ever been hospitalized for you condition?
• Do you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse?
• 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?

Once the insurance underwriters have the answers to these questions in hand, most underwriters (if not all) will have a pretty good idea what “kind” of life insurance policy you’ll be able to qualify for in addition to whether or not they will need to order medical records from your doctor prior to being able to proceed with the underwriting of your life insurance application.

Now in most cases…

Where an individual may simply be using their prescription for Lexapro to help treat “minor” cases of anxiety and/or depression, what you will generally find is that most life insurance companies will not need to order your medical records and will be able to proceed with the application process based on what they “gleam” from your prescription medication history.

In cases like these…

What you’ll generally find is that these individuals should be able to qualify for a Standard or better rate and may even be able to qualify for a Preferred rate as well provided that they would otherwise be able to qualify for such a rate.  Because remember, there are a lot of factors that go into play when it comes time to determine what rate you may be able to qualify for, and while you may think that your depression or anxiety diagnosis is going to the be main determinate for what you may or may not be able to qualify for, the main determinant may be something totally different like your:

• Driving record,
• Family medical history,

Or even your occupation or travel plans!

Now for those…

Who aren’t necessarily suffering from a “mild” case of depression or anxiety and actually suffer from a more serious situation, their may still be hope that you can qualify for a traditional life insurance policy only now in cases like these, what you’re generally going to find is that most life insurance companies are going to want to have access to your medical records prior to moving forward with a decision.  In cases like these, the applicant may have a history of:

• Using multiple medications to treat their disorder.
• Being hospitalized in the past.
• Drug or alcohol abuse.
• Inability to hold down full-time employment.

These individuals may also have at time applied for or received some type of disability benefit as a result of their condition which is always a sign that their pre-existing medical condition was more serious than most.

The good news…

In cases like these is that while they certainly are not going to be able to qualify for a Preferred rate, there is still a chance that they may be able to qualify for coverage at a Standard or Substandard rate.  Which isn’t all that bad provided that you focus your search on “which” life insurance companies are the most competitive at these approval categories.

Which brings us to our next segment which is…

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

The first thing that you can do to help make sure that you’ve able to find the “best” life insurance policy that you can qualify for is to make sure that you’re working with a true life insurance professional who is working in an environment whereby the will be able to spend the time needed to make sure you needs are well taken care of (ie: not a high stress call center).

Second…

You’re going to want to make sure that the agent that you choose also has access to dozens of different life insurance companies so that they don’t have to rely on the underwriting decisions of just one or two different companies.

And lastly…

You want to make sure that you’re completely honest with your life insurance agent right from the beginning so that they can have the most complete and accurate understanding of your current health status which they can then use to try and determine “which” life insurance companies is going to provide you with the best opportunity for success!

So, what are you waiting for?  Give IBUSA a call today and see what we can do for you!