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 receiving a Cardiac Bypass Surgery.

• Can I qualify for life insurance if I have received a Cardiac Bypass Surgery?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I have received a Cardiac Bypass Surgery?
• What kind of information will the insurance companies ask me or be interested in?
• What “rate” can I qualify for?
• How can I help ensure I get the “best life insurance” for me?

So, without further ado, let’s dive right in!

Can I qualify for life insurance if I have received a Cardiac Bypass Surgery?

Yes, individuals who have received a Cardiac Bypass Surgery can and often will be able to qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy. The only problem is that because Cardiac Bypass Surgery is such a “serious” procedure for one to go through, you can bet that most of the top-rated life insurance companies are going to want to know a lot about it before making any decisions about the outcome of your life insurance application.

It’s probably also…

It’s safe to assume that any of the many No-Medical-Exam Term Life Insurance Options out there probably won’t be a good option for you. These “types” of life insurance tend to be more difficult for someone to qualify for after they have been diagnosed with a serious pre-existing medical condition like yours, which would have warranted the need to require Cardiac Bypass Surgery.

Why do life insurance companies care if I have received a Cardiac Bypass Surgery?

Now, this may seem like an obvious question for a lot of folks; however, you would be surprised by how many people that we speak to who, after having received their Cardiac Bypass Surgery, state that they have never felt better in all of their lives!

So much so, they lose sight of the fact that even though their surgery certainly improved their overall health and may have saved their lives, it’s still something that makes a life insurance company nervous.

That said, however…

Stories like these are often based on truth, which is why most (if not all) life insurance companies will still consider someone “potentially” eligible for coverage provided the fact that they can demonstrate that their health has improved since they had their surgery and that they don’t seem to be suffering from any other potentially serious pre-existing medical conditions.

This explains why once a life insurance company has learned that you have received cardiac surgery in the past, most life insurance companies will want to ask you a long list of questions and obtain copies of your medical records.

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

If you have had cardiac bypass surgery, life insurance companies will be interested in several pieces of information regarding your medical history, including:

• When did you have your Cardiac Bypass Surgery performed?
• What “kind” of Bypass Surgery did you complete?
  • Single bypass? Was only one artery blocked?
  • Double bypass? Were two arteries blocked?
  • Triple bypass?
  • Quadruple bypass?
• What symptoms (if any) led to the discovery that you needed to have a Cardiac Bypass Surgery performed?
• Have you ever suffered from a heart attack or stroke?
• Have you been diagnosed with any “other” pre-existing medical conditions like hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc…?
• How often do you visit your primary care physician?
• When was the last time that you had an EKG performed?
• When was the last time you had a cardiac stress test performed?
• In the past two years, have you been admitted to a hospital for any reason?
• Do you currently suffer from any symptoms related to heart disease?
• What is your current height and weight?
• Are you currently taking any prescription medications?
• In the past 12 months, have you used any form of tobacco or nicotine products?
• Are you currently working now?
• In the past 12 months, have you applied for or received any form of disability benefits?

What “rate” can I qualify for?

As you can see, many potential variables can influence the determination of what kind of “rate” an individual might qualify for. These are just the ones related to your previous cardiac bypass surgery. In addition to these “factors,” we’ll still need to consider all of the other variables as well, such as ones:

• Family medical history,
• Driving record,
• Criminal background check,
• Future travel plans,
• Participation in certain hobbies,
• Etc…

This is why it’s pretty much impossible to know for sure what kind of “rate” you might be able to qualify for without first speaking with you directly.

The good news is…

Unlike many other pre-existing medical conditions that can preclude someone from qualifying for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy, having received cardiac bypass surgery (even quadruple bypass surgery) isn’t going to mean the end of the world for your chances at qualifying for the “type” of policy you’re looking for.

It just means that you’re going to need to be much more “selective” when choosing “which” life insurance company to apply with because chances are you’re not going to be able to qualify for a Standard or better rate, which are the “types” of rates most life insurance companies try to be the most “competitive” for.

Instead…

Because you’re likely only going to be able to qualify for a “high-risk” classification, you’re going to want to make sure that you focus your life insurance search on just “those” companies that tend to be more competitively priced for these “types” of applicants.

Fortunately, 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. We are committed to helping all of our clients find the “best” life insurance policy they can qualify for.  This brings us to the last topic that we wanted to take a moment and discuss, which is…

How can I help ensure I get the “best life insurance” for me?

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

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

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 help a more “challenging” case, they don’t have to rely on a…

“One size fits all approach!”

The good news is that this is precisely what you’ll find here at IBUSA!

Now, can we help out everyone who has previously received a bypass procedure?

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.

So, if you’re ready to explore your options, call us!