Life insurance?

[hope32]

For those of you who applied for life insurance after getting your MS diagnosis, did it affect your rating?

I remember reading in the past it affects life expectancy on average by about 2 years, and what I read this morning at NMSS.org said we have on average 95% normal life expectancy because of "a few" patients with more severe disease dying of complications from things like pneumonia. To me that doesn't seem like it would be quite enough to bump you down a rating, but I just got a letter from our life ins company that said I was rated at a higher risk category b/c of my history of MS. That was disappointing because (a) the same co rejected my DH for life ins even though initially they had said--with full knowledge of his own medical issues--that he should qualify for the second-highest rating and (b) we got their rejection letter for him a month ago so I didn't even realize mine was still in the underwriting process.

Anyhow, forgive the vent at the end. Just curious if it's common for life insurance companies to consider us higher risk even though it seems like it's rare for MS to actually shorten someone's life. (I was told I had "probable MS" back in 2001 and "definite MS" when I had another attack in 2007, no attacks since then, "light lesion load" so I know overall mine is a mild case, I've worked hard to lose weight and eat healthy and exercise and am overall in good health other than the silly lesions. )

[Jules A]

Whether or not MS has the ability to shorten our lives significantly is a point that is still debated but in any event life insurance will likely be near impossible to get (aka afford) unless you qualify for a group plan like through your employer.

[SNOOPY]

Hi hope32,

I have 2 (private) life insurance policies. Both are whole life policies. One is an individual (myself) and one is a survivorship policy (myself and husband).

The survivorship policy pays out when both myself and husband have passed on. It benefits our children. This policy is to help cover any cost to our children from inheritance taxes/costs and funeral costs, if any.

I had been diagnosed with MS for almost 5 years when I was approved for these policies.

We were advised NOT to look for life insurance on our own. If you are declined it will go on a main computer for which is used by companies that sell life insurance and you WILL NOT be able to get life insurance once that happens.

We were already working with a financial planner who also did life insurance. She was able to look for a company(s) who would insure me without my name being put out.

At the time we did this she could only find one life insurance company who would insure me.

Usually when applying for private life insurance you would have to agree/submit to a physical and blood work. I did not have to (my husband did).

What the insurance company required from me was a signed release of my medical records from my Neurologist to the insurance company. I agreed. This was full disclosure from the beginning without my name being used or being declined.

Good Luck!

[hope32]

Wow, this is interesting. It seems strange to me since I haven't seen anything that says that MS shortens the average patient's life span by more than 2 years so to me it seems unreasonable and unfair that it would affect your life insurance "insurability" and premiums/classification much, if at all.

I haven't found out yet how much lower I was rated. They *did* offer me a policy; just not at the rating classification/premium they had initially estimated for me. I am still waiting for details. They declined my husband, who has coronary artery disease. (He is 45 and otherwise healthy; he had no risk factors and his Dx was a shock.) I have been assured by several friends who are life insurance agents that him being declined by one life ins co will not affect other companies' decisions; our agent is working with other companies to find him another policy and will probably go ahead and get quotes for me from other companies as well.

[hope32]

Oh and yes, we did have the physical and blood work.
The company is Northwestern Mutual Life. We are working with an agent/financial planner there.

[Thinkimjob]

I think the average life expectancy figures are "artificially" lower, because quite a few people kill themselves.

Or that's what I was told by my first neurologist, who was big on "healing journeys".