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 Aplastic Anemia or Bone Marrow Aplasia.

Questions that will be addressed will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance if I have been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I have been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia?
• What “kind” of insurance 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 if I have been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia?

Unfortunately, aplastic anemia is one of those “kinds” of pre-existing medical conditions, which will trigger an “automatic” decline once a life insurance underwriter learns that you have been diagnosed with this condition. This means that it doesn’t matter whether you decide to apply for a traditional term life insurance policy or a Term Life Insurance Policy without a Medical Exam.

Instead…

What you’re going to want to do is look for a life insurance policy that is not going to take one’s current health into consideration when determining who they will and won’t insure.

Why do life insurance companies care if I have been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia?

The main reason a life insurance company is going to “care” if you have been diagnosed with aplastic anemia is because aplastic anemia primarily develops as a direct result of bone marrow damage.

Damage that can be caused by a wide variety of conditions, including:

• A variety of infectious diseases such as hepatitis, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), etc…
• Exposure to ionizing ration,
• Exposure to toxic chemicals,

Or it could be caused by some “unknown” factor as well.

As a result…

Patients will oftentimes experience a wide variety of symptoms, including:

• Fatigue and shortness of breath,
• Irregular heartbeat and/or tachycardia,
• Frequent bruising,
• Nosebleeds and/or gum bleeds,
• Prolonged bleeding from cuts or injuries,
• Etc, etc…

Which can only be…

Treated by the use of certain medications typically combined with blood transfusions and or stem-cell transplants, which is yet another reason why most (if not all) life insurance companies are going to choose not to approve an individual with aplastic anemia for coverage.

Which leads us to our next topic which is…

What “kind” of insurance can I qualify for?

Because most (if not all) life insurance companies are going to “automatically” decline someone who has been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, individuals who have been diagnosed with this pre-existing medical condition are going to need to seek out “alternative” products should they wish to be able to purchase insurance for their loved ones.

These “alternative” products…

Are going to need to be ones that won’t require one to have to answer any medical questions or take a medical exam. Or in other words, these “alternative” products would need to be ones that would not require you to have to be able to “medically” qualify.

This good news is…

There are two types of products out there; the bad news is that neither one of them is perfect. 

Options that may be available to those who have been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia:

Options #1. A Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Policy.

Guaranteed issue life insurance policies (AKA Final Expense Policy)can be a great option for someone who is simply looking to purchase a relatively small amount of life insurance coverage (think $25,000 or less) because they will not require someone to have to be able to “medically” qualify for coverage.

In fact…

There really are only three requirements one must meet to be able to qualify for a guaranteed issue life insurance policy which are:

• One must be a US citizen.
• One must reside in a state where these “types” of life insurance policies are offered.
• And one must meet the minimum age requirements, which usually means that an applicant must be at least 50 years of age (sometimes younger) and not older than 85.

“Which is great!”

But…

Before you get too excited, we should point out that these “types” of life insurance policies do have some pretty significant disadvantages. The first is that they will only provide around $25,000 dollars in coverage, so if you’re looking for more, this might not be the right fit for you.

The second major disadvantage…

With guaranteed issue life insurance policies is that these “types” of life insurance policies are going to contain a Graded Death Benefit. Now the problem with that is, a Graded Death Benefit is a “clause” written into the life insurance policy, which states that it will not begin to provide true life insurance coverage to an individual until a certain “waiting period” has expired.

The problem is…

That this “waiting period” usually lasts 2 or 3 years, which can be a pretty long time for someone who is suffering from a serious illness. Now during this time, the guaranteed issue life insurance policy will provide coverage to someone who may die from an “accidental” cause of death like a:

• Motor vehicle accident,
• Slip and fall accident,
• Natural disaster,
• Victim of crime,
• Etc…

But will not provide coverage for a “natural” cause of death like the one which might be associated with having aplastic anemia! Now at this point, you may be thinking…

“What a ripoff!”

But you need to remember that because the life insurance company didn’t require you to answer any medical questions and didn’t require you to take a medical exam, this is the only way they are able to protect themselves from insuring someone who may be really, really sick and just hours away from dying!

The last issue…

We feel that we should mention about guaranteed issue life insurance policies is the price. Now, with this “disadvantage”, we don’t want to give you the impression that guaranteed issue life insurance policies are super expensive, it’s just that “dollar for dollar” these types of life insurance policies tend to cost more than a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.

Options #1. An Accidental Death Policy.

Accidental death policies can also be a potential way for an individual to be to provide some coverage for their family; however it’s very important to understand that these “types” of policies are NOT true life insurance policies. They are only “accident policies”, which means that they will never provide coverage if you die from a natural cause of death!

Now the good news…

Is that these “types” of policies will allow you to purchase more than 25,000 dollars in coverage and that they are relatively inexpensive; however, if you die from:

• A heart attack,
• A stroke,
• Diabetes,

Or some symptom related to your Aplastic Anemia, these “types” of policies are not going to provide you with any death benefit.

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?

Probably the “best” thing that an individual can do to help ensure that they find the “best life insurance” for them is to be sure to take their time when initially shopping for insurance and to be sure that right from the beginning that they are completely honest with their life insurance agent!

This means that…

Before you just decide to apply for a life insurance policy, you should fully understand what your life insurance needs are. You should also have a good idea about what options may be available to you.

And you should…

Be sure that your agent is not only experienced with helping folks with a pre-existing medical condition like your find coverage, you should also be sure that he or she should also have access to a wide variety of different life insurance products so that they aren’t forced to apply a…

“one size fits all approach”

To your needs.

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