Yes, but only with a skilled agent willing to do the work
Life insurance can be written for clients who have cancer. At Ascend Financial Group, we’ve successfully handled several such cases in the span of just a week. The cases are challenging, but well worth the experience.
In the United States, the overall cancer death rate has declined since the early 1990s. The most recent SEER Cancer Statistics Review, released in April 2018, shows that cancer death rates decreased by:
- 1.8% per year among men from 2006 to 2015
- 1.4% per year among women from 2006 to 2015
- 1.4% per year among children ages 0–19 from 2011 to 2015
Although death rates for many individual cancer types have also declined, rates for a few cancers have stabilized or even increased. As the overall cancer death rate has declined, the number of cancer survivors has increased.
As these numbers continue to improve, life insurance companies have adjusted actuarial tables to reflect better survival rates. No longer is an incident of cancer an automatic decline, as it tended to be 20 or so years ago.
How Ascend Financial Group Gets Policies Approved
First, these policies can take months to go through underwriting, and our team is willing to invest in doing what is in our clients’ best interests. We gather as much data from the insured as possible during the initial fact-finding interviews; doctors and surgeon’s names, details about the stage of cancer, length of time, surgical info, current prognosis, and much more.
We take that data back to various carriers (since we work with 15 companies) and have positive conversations with the underwriters who know the quality of work we bring to the table. I’ve spent hours on the phone with risk assessment underwriters, reviewing the initial data before the application is ever taken. I may start with 4-5 life insurance companies, but will only go back to the client with the two I’m most comfortable with.
We prepare the client for how the process works and how long it may take. And we review with them before we take the application how the policy may be rated (which can vary dramatically case-by-case). The client has to be prepared to take a para-med exam or even a full physical by the cancer specialist to provide the insurance company. The MIB report and an APS (attending physician statement) will be collected, and most likely the client will need to participate in a telephone interview.
We may apply with two or more companies to see which offers the best option. One may rate it permanently, where another may have a flat rate for 2-3 years until the insured has hit the five-year or ten-year mark. Another may decline it. The most important aspect is consistent communication with the life insurance company and the client throughout the process.
The most exciting part is the day the policy is approved and you have the privilege of calling your client to schedule the policy delivery. These are some of the best customers we’ve ever worked with. Building the relationship makes them clients for life, and we thoroughly enjoy the personal interaction that comes with such cases.
If you’re struggling to find coverage, or know someone who is, reach out to us!