In this article, we wanted to take a moment to answer some of the most common questions we get from individuals who are applying for life insurance after they have been diagnosed with Herpes.

Questions that will be addressed will include:

• Can I qualify for life insurance if I have been diagnosed with Herpes?
• Why do life insurance companies care if I have been diagnosed with Herpes?
• 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’s dive right in!

Can I qualify for life insurance if I have been diagnosed with Herpes?

Yes, individuals who have been diagnosed with Herpes can and often will be able to qualify for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy. In fact, some may even be able to qualify for a no medical exam life insurance policy at a Preferred Plus rate!

This is because…

For the most part, Herpes isn’t something that is going to cause someone to suffer from any symptoms or “complications” that would necessarily cause a life insurance underwriter to become all that worried about the long term health of an individual.

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

To be completely honest with you, most of the best life insurance companies aren’t going to care all that much about whether or not an individual has been diagnosed with Herpes.  

After all…

If you have been diagnosed with Herpes and, it’s not causing you to suffer from any serious complications, then it’s not something a typical life insurance company is going to really care all that much about.

But if…

You have been diagnosed with Herpes, and it is causing you to suffer from a “serious” medical condition, most life insurance applications will have specific questions “screening” for those “kinds” of issues. 

Which will make having to specifically ask someone if they have been diagnosed with Herpes irrelevant.

That said however…

Since you will be asked some “general” questions, which may inform a life insurance underwriter that you have been diagnosed with Herpes, it makes sense for us to define what Herpes is briefly. As well as highlight some of the most common symptoms you may experience as a result of your infection.

Herpes Defined:

Genital Herpes is a common sexually-transmitted disease caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). It is believed that nearly 16% of all Americans between the ages of 14 and 49 are infected with this disease.

Common symptoms may include:

• Pain or itching,
• Small red bumps or tiny white blisters covering the affected area(s),
• Ulcers,
• Scabbing.

Complications of genital Herpes may include:

• Increased risk for contracting other more serious sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS,
• Bladder infections and or complications,
• Meningitis.

Which is why, even though you may not be asked a direct question about whether or not you have been diagnosed with Herpes, most insurance companies will use a variety of different methods including:

• a prescription database check, 
• and an application questionnaire, 

In an effort to “weed out” those whom they would consider as ineligible for coverage.

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

Now because you’re not going to be directly asked if you have been diagnosed with Herpes, you’re simply going to be asked the standard questions that are asked of all life insurance applicants. But if you look closely, you will see that many of the questions asked can be used to determine that an individual has been diagnosed with Herpes. A few should be able to determine whether an individual has developed any other serious medical conditions resulting from their original Herpes diagnosis.

So, let’s now…

Take a look at some of the most common questions you’ll likely be asked:

• How old are you?
• What are your current height and weight?
• Have you been diagnosed with any serious pre-existing medical conditions (think meningitis, which is a serious complication of Herpes)?
• Have you ever been diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or depression?
• Have you ever suffered from a heart attack or a stroke?
• Have any of your immediate family members (mother, father, brother, or sister) ever been diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, or diabetes?
• Have any of your immediate family members (mother, father, brother, or sister) suffered from a heart attack or stroke?
• Are you currently taking any prescription medications (think antiviral medications for herpes treatment)?
• In the past two years, have you been hospitalized for any reason?
• In the past 12 months, have you used any tobacco or nicotine products?
• Do you have any set plan to travel outside of the United States in the next year or so?
• Do you actively participate or plan on participating in any dangerous hobbies or activities?
• 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, there are many factors that can come into play when trying to determine what kind of “rate” an individual will be able to qualify for regardless of whether or not they have been previously diagnosed with Herpes. This is why it’s almost impossible to know what “kind” of rate you might qualify for without first speaking with you first!

That said however…

There are a few “assumptions” that we can make about someone who has previously been diagnosed with Herpes and is currently applying for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy. For example, if you are someone who has been diagnosed with Herpes but doesn’t suffer from any other pre-existing medical conditions and are in good health, it is reasonable to assume that your previous Herpes diagnosis isn’t going to affect the outcome of your life insurance application.

Or, in other words…

Whatever “rate” that you may have been able to qualify for PRIOR to being diagnosed with Herpes should be the same “rate” that you would be able to qualify for AFTER having been diagnosed with Herpes.

“Which is great!”

Now for those…

Who may not be in perfect health or may have also been diagnosed with a potentially serious medical condition directly related to your Herpes infection, chances are that “condition” will be what ultimately determines what “kind” of rate you will or won’t be able to qualify for. In cases like these, we would recommend that you check out our Pre-Existing Medical Conditions page for more information about this “other” condition.

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 Herpes?

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 as well so that in the event that 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.