Cancer Makes It Harder To Insure One's Life

By Author: Marcus Stalder
Total Articles: 491
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Confronting cancer as a health problem is a challenge that unfortunately not so many people can withstand these days. Of course, there are effective treatment forms for most types of cancer but this doesn't make it easier to overcome this problem both psychologically and physically. And even after getting rid of cancer, most cancer survivors confront with another battle to be one - getting their life insured despite their medical history.

We all know that insurance rates strongly depend on medical history when it comes to insuring one's life. And it's evident that having a cancer entry in your record is nothing to be optimistic about in terms of insurance. But don't get pessimistic right away, as it strongly depends on the actual type of cancer you've been diagnosed with, the treatment plan and recovery process. Common treatable types of skin cancer won't significantly affect your premiums as well as the chances of getting life insurance. Other common forms of cancer like prostate or breast cancer can give you a slight raise in premiums. However, more complicated forms of cancer such as leukemia or colon cancer will automatically ...
... put you into the high risk category, even if treated successfully. And no provider will be willing to insure a customer with a cancer that reached the metastasis stage.

The insurance companies have come a long way to addressing cancer patients like they are doing it these days. Today each case of cancer is studied and analyzed individually in order to asses the actual health risks implicated, rather than automatically including everyone to the same risk group just for having cancer. There are different grades of risk involved with each type and even case of cancer, that's why insurers are rather picky when someone with a history of cancer wants to get life insurance quotes.

However, you should be aware that this all applies to those who have successfully undergone a cancer treatment. If you've been diagnosed with cancer and are currently undergoing treatment most insurers will reject your application for a policy no matter how positive your estimates are. Insurance companies simply do not want to take the risk of insuring someone who hasn't been successfully treated and undergone the recovery period.

In order to get the best life insurance quotes after surviving cancer you should take some measures during the application stage:

First, make sure that you have all the relevant documents describing the diagnosis, treatment course and recovery measures in detail. The more evidence of your successful treatment your provide while applying for insurance, the higher are your chances of being accepted and getting competitive rates with your policy.

Second, if it's possible, try to get your insurance through a club or an organization that provides discounts to its members. This way you can minimize the impact of cancer history over your insurance rates and get a policy for a fair price.

Third, if you're still denied insurance by certain providers, you may try your luck with specialized high risk providers. There are companies that specialize in high risk life insurance and offer a chance of getting a good policy for nearly all applicants. The rates may be higher with such providers, but it's still a better option than having no insurance at all.