Life Insurance after an Organ Transplant

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 received an Organ Transplant.

Now it’s important to understand that there are a lot of “types” of Organ Transplants that one can receive which is why in this article, we wanted to focus on those that will generally all be viewed and/or
treated the same way by most of the top life insurance companies.

Different Organ transplants such as:

• Heart transplant,
• Lung transplant,
• Liver transplant, and
• Pancreas transplant.

For those who have received some other type of Organ Transplant such as a Cornea, Skin or Kidney, we would encourage you to either give us a call directly or simply take a look at our Pre-existing Medical Conditions page for more information.

Questions that will be directly addressed in this article will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance if I have received an Organ Transplant?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I have received an Organ Transplant?
• What kind of information will the insurance companies ask me or be interested in?
• What options might be available to me?
• What can I do to help ensure that I get the “best life insurance” for me?

Can I qualify for life insurance if I have received an Organ Transplant?

Unfortunately, when it comes to those who have had Organ Transplant like a heart, liver or lung, what you’re generally going to find is that most (if not all) life insurance companies are going to automatically decline anyone applying for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.

Which means that…

If you’ve received such an Organ Transplant, and you still want to purchase a life insurance policy, chances are you’re going to need to consider purchasing an alternative product that won’t require one to meet certain “health” requirements in order to be able to qualify for coverage.

Why do life insurance companies care if I have had an Organ Transplant?

The main reason why a life insurance company is going to “care” if you’ve needed to receive an Organ Transplant like a heart, liver or lung, chances are it’s because you suffer from a pretty serious medical condition, one that most life insurance companies probably won’t want to insure even if it didn’t progress to the point where you were suffering from organ failure.

And while…

It’s possible that you’re Organ Transplant has essentially “cured” you of this pre-existing medical condition, there now exists the possibility of any number of other complications, including transplant rejection, that an insurance company would have to consider.

And this is why it’s pretty much a given, regardless of how healthy you may now be since your transplant, that most, (if not all), life insurance companies are still going to automatically REJECT your application.

What kind of information will the insurance companies ask me or be interested in regarding my organ transplant?

What you’re generally going to find is that once a life insurance company determines that you have previously received an Organ Transplant (like a heart, lung or liver), there really isn’t a lot more they are going to need to know before denying your life insurance application.

After all, if you have had to receive an Organ Transplant like a heart, lung or liver the reasons behind “why” you needed to isn’t really going to matter all that much to a life insurance company.

This is mainly because…

Most life insurance agencies will usually be “geared” towards helping those who can qualify for a traditional term life insurance policy and won’t spend much time focusing on alternative insurance products.

The good news is…

That here at IBUSA, we spend an incredible amount of time creating relationships with dozens of different life insurance companies so that we can minimize the amount of times we have to apologize to a client that we just don’t have any options they can qualify for.

This is why…

Whereas other agencies may inform you that you just can’t qualify for a life insurance policy because of your transplant, we prefer to ask you three simple questions which could determine whether or not you might just be able to qualify for a Guaranteed Issue Life insurance policy.

Those three questions are:

• #1.  Are you a US Citizen?
• #2.  Are you between the ages of 40 and 85?
• #3.  What state do you live in?

What options might be available to me if I have Had An Organ Transplant?

Now at this point, don’t get too excited because, while it is true that some folks may be able to qualify for a Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance policy, or maybe even an Accidental Death Policy, it’s important to understand that just because you “can” qualify may not mean that you’ll “want” to qualify.

The reason for this…

Is because while these “types” of products may meet the needs for some, they are going to have some disadvantages that may be a “deal breaker” for others.

So after reading what we’re about to discuss, we would invite you to then give us a call or visit one of our other articles that will go into greater detail about these “alternative products” so that you’ll know exactly what you are getting should you decide to purchase one of these types of products.

Accidental Death and Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Policies Defined

Accidental Death Policies

Here at IBUSA, we tend to think that when explained properly, Accidental Death Policies tend to be a bit easier to understand than Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Policies, which is why we want to begin by discussing exactly what an Accidental Death Policy is.

The problem is…

That a lot of times, these types of products aren’t fully explained, or more commonly aren’t explained in a way that specifically points out what these types of policies won’t provide coverage for.

This is why we want to begin our discussion of an Accidental Death Policy by specifically stating that these types of policies are NOT TRUE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES.

More specifically, an accidental death insurance policy is not going to provide you with any coverage in the event that you die of a “natural” cause of death.

Now at this point…

You may be asking yourself…

“What do you mean by NATURAL CAUSE of death?”

When we use the term “natural cause of death” we’re referring to an “illness-based” death like you would experience as a result of:

• Heart disease,
• Cancer,
• Stroke,

Or from some kind of complication that one might experience as a result of complications due to receiving an Organ Transplant.

These types of products…

Are only going to provide a death benefit to your family in the event that you die from an accidental cause of death.

Examples that would typically qualify as an Accidental Cause of death would typically include:

• A motor vehicle accident,
• A slip and fall accident
• A natural disaster,
• Victim of crime

Which is nice…

But typically, this isn’t what someone is looking for after they have had an organ transplant.

On the plus side, an accidental death insurance product is generally pretty affordable and will allow someone to purchase a large amount of ACCIDENTAL death insurance for a relatively small amount of money.

Which brings us to our next possible option which is a…

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

A Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance policy on the other hand is A TRUE LIFE INSURANCE POLICY.

Which means they will ultimately provide an individual true-life insurance coverage.  Now we say “ultimately” because when you purchase a Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Policy, you’re purchasing a life insurance policy that has a “catch” to it. 

And…

In our experience here at IBUSA we’ve found that the best way to discuss these types of life insurance policies is by analyzing the three major disadvantages that these “types” of life insurance policies have aside from the fact that you generally have to be over the age of 50 and live in a state where these types of life insurance policies are available.

So, let’s dive right in…

Problem #1.

Guaranteed issue life insurance policies are only going to provide a limited amount of life insurance coverage and will usually “cap out” right around $25,000 dollars in coverage.

hich means that if you’re looking to purchase more than $25,000 dollars in coverage a guaranteed issue life insurance policy might not be right for you!

(Yes, individuals can purchase several different guaranteed issue life insurance policies from several different companies but as we will now discuss, this can get really expensive).

Problem #2.

Dollar for dollar, guaranteed issue life insurance policies aren’t always the most affordable when compared to other “types” of life insurance policies out there.

Now we don’t want to imply that these “types” of life insurance policies are going to cost a fortune, it’s just that if you can qualify for another “kind” of life insurance policy, that coverage will usually cost less dollar for dollar than a guaranteed issue life insurance policy will.

Problem #3.

Guaranteed issue life insurance policies contain a clause most commonly referred to as a Graded Death Benefit.

Graded Death Benefit Defined:

Graded Death Benefits are “clauses” written into most (if not all) guaranteed issue life insurance policies which state that a guaranteed issue life insurance policy won’t begin to cover an individual from “natural causes” of death until a certain waiting period has elapsed.

This “waiting period” will usually last 2 to 3 years and is designed to make sure that someone who knows that they are very close to death from being able to purchase these “types” of life insurance policies.

And while…

This may seem extremely unfair, it’s important to remember that a guaranteed issue life insurance policy isn’t going to require you to take a medical exam or answer any health-related questions.

So, at the end of the day, a graded death benefit really is the only thing that allows insurance company to be able to offer one of these “types” of life insurance policies.

The good news is…

That while you may have to wait 2 to 3 years for one a Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance policy to provide you true life insurance protection, these “types” of life insurance policies will provide immediate coverage for any “accidental causes” of death and may will also provide some kind of “return of premium” to the beneficiaries of insured applicants who do end up dying from natural causes prior to their Graded Death Benefit expiring.

So, it’s sort of like buying a small Accidental Death Policy that will ultimately “turn into” a true-life insurance policy after a 2-3 year “waiting” period

So, have we confused you yet?

If so, don’t fret we the purpose of this article wasn’t to try to make you an insurance expert, it was just to give you an idea of what questions you’ll want to pursue prior to making any decisions.

Which brings us to our last topic that we wanted to discuss here in this article which is…

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

In our experience, what we have found that works best for folks who have been diagnosed with a pre-existing medical condition where the “severity” of the condition is often “subjective” is for the applicant to make sure that they first find a true-life insurance professional who will work as an advocate for you.

Such an agent…

Will not only help guide you through the application process but also be perfectly “frank” with you about what options may or may not be possible for you.

From there…

You’ll also want to make sure that the very same agent you have chosen has access to dozens of different life insurance companies because after all, it really doesn’t matter how “great” of a life insurance agent you might have if they don’t have access to the “best” life insurance policy for you!

Now does it?

Lastly…

You’ll want to make sure that you’re completely honest with your life insurance agent prior to applying for coverage.  By doing so, you will be helping him or her narrow down what options might be the “best” for you, based on your specific circumstances.

So give us a call to see how we can help you find the best life insurance policy today.