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 Lunesta or its generic form Eszopiclone to treat assist them fall asleep.

Questions that will be directly addressed will include:

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

Having been prescribed Lunesta on its own shouldn’t prevent you from being able to qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.  It also shouldn’t preclude you from even being able to qualify for a Preferred rate assuming that you would otherwise be eligible.  However, there are cases where one’s usage combined with other factors could potentially cause someone to either have to pay more for their coverage than they would otherwise have to pay or could even cause them to be denied coverage entirely.

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

Because Lunesta isn’t a prescription medication that is used to treat any kind of “life-threatening” medical condition, one might automatically assume that it’s not going to be something a life insurance underwriter will be concerned about.

The problem is that…

Lunesta is considered a sedative and is considered a Schedule IV controlled substance under the controlled Substance act.  And while Lunesta is often accepted as a safe “sleep aid”, most doctors acknowledge the potential “addictive nature” of Lunesta and will typically only prescribe it for short-term acute cases of insomnia.

Which is why…

What you’re generally going to find is that prior to “automatically” approving your life insurance application, most (if not all) life insurance underwriters are going to want to know more about your Lunesta use 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?

• When where you first prescribed Lunesta?
• How often to you take Lunesta?
• How often to you take your Lunesta?
• Is this the only medication that you use to help treat your insomnia?
• Has your Lunesta prescription changed in the past 12 months?
• Do you have any history of drug or alcohol abuse?
• Do you have any issues with your driving record? Issues such as having a suspended license, multiple moving violations or a DUI(s)?
• Are you currently working?
• 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 we state in the beginning, assuming that there is any evidence that you may be “abusing” your Lunesta prescription chances are having been prescribed Lunesta in the past or present shouldn’t necessarily have any affect on your life insurance application whatsoever.

That said however…

If it looks like you’ve been taking your Lunesta for a prolonged period of time or that there appears to be evidence of abuse chances are your life insurance application will either be postponed until an insurance underwriter can learn more information about your usage (ie: order complete medical records) or you life insurance application will simply be denied out of an abundance of care.

It’s also possible…

That an insurance company might consider you a “high risk” applicant because of your Lunesta prescription/usage and “theoretically” charge you a higher premium, however in our experiences here at IBUSA, what we have found is that in cases like these, most life insurance companies will simply choose to avoid what they would consider an “unnecessary” risk and simply deny the application all together.

Now this is not…

To suggest that you are unhealthy right now or that you are an “addict” it’s just that the primary goal of any life insurance company is to eliminate “unacceptable risks” and given the fact that a life insurance company is agreeing to insure someone for 10, 20 or 30 years, they will often tend to “error on the side of caution” rather than take a risk on an applicant that may show signs of possible future abuse.

Which leads us to the next segment of our article which is…

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

Basically the best thing that you can do to ensure that you find the “best” life insurance policy that you can qualify for is to first find an agent that is familiar with helping folks with a pre-existing medical condition qualify for coverage, and who simultaneously has access to dozens of different life insurance companies.

This way…

Your agent won’t simply have to rely on the “whim” of just one or two different life insurance underwriters.  Instead they can shop multiple different insurance companies thereby increasing your chances at success.

Lastly…

You’re going to want to make sure that right from the start you’re completely honest with your life insurance agent.  This way he or she can become a true advocate for you during the underwriting process and isn’t caught off guard when something “pops up” that could have easily been explained had then known before applying!

The good news is…

That here at IBUSA, we have plenty of experience helping folks like yourself qualify for coverage and we have access to dozens of the top life insurance carriers!  So, what are you waiting for?  Give us a call today and see what we can do for you!