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 Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Questions that will be directly addressed will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance if I have been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome?
• What kind of information will the insurance companies ask me or be interested in?
• What rate (or price) 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 been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome?

Yes, individuals who have been previously diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome can and often will qualify for traditional term or whole life insurance. In fact, they may even be eligible for a term life insurance policy without a medical exam at a Preferred rate! The only problem is that most top-rated life insurance companies aren’t necessarily going to want to insure someone who is currently treating their Guillain-Barre Syndrome (and certainly won’t provide the best pricing while someone is currently treating their Guillain-Barre Syndrome)!

Why do life insurance companies care if I’ve been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome?

The main reason why a life insurance company is going to “care” if an individual has been previously diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome is that for those individuals who do “contract” this disorder, the relatively “short-term” consequences can be pretty devastating. And because there will be a small percentage of individuals who develop Guillain-Barre Syndrome who may have to live with the consequences of this disorder for an undetermined amount of time.

For this reason…

We wanted to take a moment to briefly describe Guillain-Barre Syndrome and highlight some of its most common symptoms so that as we move forward in our discussion, we’ll have a better idea of exactly what a life insurance underwriter will be looking for when making their decision about your application.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome Defined:

Guillain-Barre Syndrome is a rare autoimmune disorder in which the body begins to attack its nerves. As a result, individuals first start feeling weakness and/or tingling in their extremities, which usually progresses rapidly into total paralysis. Symptoms of Guillain-Barre Syndrome may include:

• The tingling sensation of one’s fingers or toes,
• Muscle weakness,
• Difficulty walking,
• Difficulty talking, chewing and swallowing,
• Breathing difficulty may lead to arrhythmia and/or tachycardia,
• Paralysis.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure available to those suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome. However, it’s important to note that in most cases, the damage created by Guillain-Barre Syndrome typically isn’t permanent and that there are two different treatments that an individual can try, including: 

• Plasmapheresis (plasma exchange) 
• and immunoglobulin therapy, 

Both of these can often speed up the recovery of this illness or reduce the severity of the symptoms an individual might suffer from.

Now…

Before anyone gets upset or begins complaining about the simplicity of the definitions, we want to understand that we here at IBUSA aren’t medical experts or doctors. We are a bunch of life insurance agents who are really good at helping folks with pre-existing medical conditions like Guillain-Barre Syndrome find and qualify for coverage.

Which means that…

Because we won’t be the ones “diagnosing” your condition, all we need to do is understand the differences between these different pre-existing medical conditions. Those differences will affect how a life insurance underwriter will consider you a potential “risk.” The good news is that despite how simple our definitions of these diseases may be, we have this down pat!

This is why, when we are approached by an individual diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, we’ll know right away what questions a life insurance underwriter will want to know the answers to before they decide about the outcome of your life insurance application.

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

Typical questions you’ll likely be asked may include:

• When were you first diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome?
• Who diagnosed your Guillain-Barre Syndrome? A general practitioner or a specialist?
• What symptoms led to your diagnosis?
• What was the full extent of the symptoms that you developed?
• What treatment options (if any) did you pursue?
• Are you still recovering from your Guillain-Barre Syndrome?
• Do you still have any “lingering” effects due to your disease?
• Have you been diagnosed with any other pre-existing medical conditions?
• Are you currently taking any prescription medications?
• In the past two years, have you been admitted to a 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?

As you can see, many factors can come into play when trying to determine what kind of “rate” you might be able to qualify for after you have been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. This is why it’s pretty much impossible to know what kind of “rate” you might be able to qualify for without first speaking with you directly. That said, however, there are a  few “assumptions” that we can make that will generally hold actual will hopefully give you a general idea about what kind of rate you might qualify for. 

For example…

Suppose you are someone who has suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome in the past and made a complete recovery from your disease. In that case, most life insurance companies aren’t going to use this previous diagnosis as a reason to discriminate against you.

Sure, they’re probably going to ask you a bunch of questions about your condition and probably request copies of your medical records, but so what? Once it has been determined that you still don’t suffer from any symptoms of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, most life insurance companies will still consider you someone who may qualify for a Preferred rate.

Now, as for those…

Suppose you are either currently suffering from your disease or haven’t yet made a full recovery. In that case, it’s still possible that you may be able to qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy. The only issue is that you probably won’t be able to qualify for any rate higher than a Standard or “normal” rate.

The good news is…

Regardless of your situation, we here at IBUSA can help because we have tons of experience helping folks with pre-existing medical conditions like yours. We are committed to helping all 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 find 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!”

Fortunately, this is precisely what you’ll find here at IBUSA!

Now, will we be able to help out everyone who has been previously diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome?

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 Final Expense Insurance Companies 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 they CAN qualify for.