Life Insurance with an Ulcer.

In this article, we wanted to take a moment to answer some of the most common questions we get from folks applying for life insurance after being diagnosed with a Peptic Ulcer.

Questions that will be directly addressed will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance if I have been diagnosed with a Peptic Ulcer?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been diagnosed with a Peptic Ulcer?
• 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’ dive right in!

Can I qualify for life insurance if I have been diagnosed with a Peptic Ulcer?

Yes, individuals who have been diagnosed with either a Peptic Ulcer 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 exam life insurance policy at a Preferred rate.

Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been diagnosed with a Peptic Ulcer?

The main reason why a life insurance company is going to “care” if you have been diagnosed with an Ulcer is that, there are a variety of reasons “why” an individual might develop an Ulcer, some of which may affect the outcome of one’s life insurance application.

Additionally…

Not all individuals will experience the same symptoms as a result of the Ulcer (s) that they are suffering from. For this reason, most (if not all) of the best life insurance companies (in our opinion) are going to want to ask a series of medical questions about an individual’s “ulcer” before making any definitive decisions about the outcome of one’s life insurance application.

Fortunately…

Most life insurance companies are going to treat all three of these “types” of Ulcers the same during the underwriting process, which will make discussing all three types in this article much more manageable. 

However…

Just so that we’re all on the same page when discussing these different kinds of pre-existing medical conditions, we did want to take a moment and briefly define each of these “types” of Ulcers so that there won’t be any kind of misunderstanding of what we’re discussing.

Peptic Ulcer Defined:

Peptic ulcers are open sores that develop along the inside lining of one’s stomach and or small intestine.

Types of Peptic Ulcers:

• Gastric Ulcer: A peptic ulcer located in the stomach.
• Duodenal Ulcer: A peptic ulcer that is located in the duodenum (small intestine).
• Esophageal Ulcer: A peptic ulcer that is located in the lower part of one’s esophagus.

Common causes:

The most common causes of a Peptic Ulcer are infections caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylor (H. pylori) or prolonged exposure to aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSIDs). It should be noted that the long-held belief that “Ulcers” are commonly caused by stress or spicy food simply isn’t true.

Symptoms may include:

• Dull pain at the location of the Ulcer,
• Weight loss,
• Avoidance of eating due to pain,
• Acid reflux,
• Heartburn,
• Nausea,
• Vomiting,
• Etc…

The good news…

Is that because most Ulcers are going to either be caused by an infection being caused by the H. pylori bacteria or an exposure to certain medications, treating Ulcers most Ulcers can usually be achieved by simply administering antibiotics to kill the H pylori causing the infection or making adjustments to the medications being used.

Now…

Before anyone gets too upset or beings complaining about the simplicity of our definitions that we’re using here, it’s important to understand that we here at IBUSA aren’t medical experts of doctors. All we are is a bunch of life insurance agents who just happen to be really good at helping folks with pre-existing medical conditions like the ones described above find and qualify for coverage.

Which means that…

Because we’re not going to be the one “diagnosing” your condition, all we need to do is understand that there are differences between these different pre-existing medical conditions and those differences are going to affect how a life insurance underwriter is going to consider you as a potential “risk”. The good news is that despite how simply our definitions of these diseases may be, this is something that we actually have down pat!

Which is why…

When we are approached by an individual who has been diagnosed with any of these “kinds” of conditions, we’re going to know right away what questions a life insurance underwriter is going to want to know the answers too before he or she will be willing to make any kind of decision about the outcome of your life insurance application.

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

Common questions you’ll likely be asked may include:

• When were you first diagnosed with an Ulcer?
• What “kind” of Ulcer have you been diagnosed with?
  • Gastric?
  • Duodenal?
  • Esophageal?
• Who diagnosed your Ulcer? A general practitioner or a specialist?
• What symptoms (if any) led to your diagnosis?
• Do you know what has caused you to develop an Ulcer?
• Have you been diagnosed with any other pre-existing medical conditions?
• What treatment options are you pursuing?
• Are you currently taking any prescription medications?
• What are your current height and weight?
• In the past two years, have you been admitted into the hospital for any reason?
• 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?

When it comes time to helping someone who has been diagnosed with an Ulcer qualify or a traditional term or whole life insurance policy, folks will typically fall into one of two different categories. First will have those who have developed their Ulcer as a direct result of suffering from a H. pylori infection and then will have those who have developed their Ulcer due to prolonged exposure to aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSIDs).

For those…

Who can attribute their Ulcers due to a H. pylori infection, what you’re going to find is that most life insurance companies aren’t going to be too concerned about your condition provided that you have had your condition taken care of responsibly!

Meaning that…

Once you began feeling symptoms, you went to your primary care physician and had your condition properly treated right away and didn’t allow significant damage to occur. Individuals like these will likely find that their previous Ulcer diagnosis is not going to play a significant role in the outcome of one’s life insurance application, which is why folks like these will generally still considered eligible for a Preferred rate provided that they would otherwise be able to qualify.

As for the rest…

Who has developed their Ulcer as a result of a prolonged exposure to aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSIDs) medications, what you’re generally going to find is that the underlying pre-existing medical which warranted the use of these medications will be the primary factor determining the outcome of your life insurance application. And not the Ulcers which have developed as a result of these treatments. 

In cases like these, we would recommend that you check out our Pre-Existing Medical Conditions page and see if we have an article focusing on the “other” pre-existing medical condition which is causing the development of your Ulcers.

The good news is…

That regardless of your situation, we here at IBUSA can help because we have tons of experience helping folks with all sorts of pre-existing medical conditions like yours and are committed to helping all of our clients find the “best” life insurance policy that they can qualify for. 

Which 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?

In our experience here at IBUSA, what we have found that usually, the folks who seem to find the “best” life insurance policy for them are those that:

• Take their time reviewing their options.
• Ask a lot of questions.

And seek out those life insurance agents who not only have experience working with individuals who have been diagnosed with a wide variety of pre-existing medical conditions but also have access to dozens of different life insurance companies so that when it comes time to helping a more “challenging” case, they don’t have to rely on a…

“One size fits all approach!”

The good news is that this is exactly what you’re going to find here at IBUSA!

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

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 Burial Life 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.