Having cancer affects your ability to apply for a new life insurance policy, but generally speaking, if you answered all questions on your individual policy application truthfully, your existing policy will remain in effect if you’re diagnosed with cancer.
Our team has reviewed the federal life-insurance guide, the federal guide to insurance applications and underwriting, the federal critical-illness insurance guide, the federal public-service plan’s conversion and living-benefit example. We’ve distilled the process and put it into language that’s easy to understand.
Can You Get Life Insurance If You Have Cancer?
Unfortunately, the fact of a cancer diagnosis complicates the situation. Some people are able to get life insurance at standard rates. Others will be charged a higher base premium and/or temporary extra premiums. Others will be asked to wait until more follow-up information is available before the insurer makes a decision, and some will be turned down.
Guaranteed-issue policies can be obtained without answering health-related questions, but the benefit amount, price and early-claim terms can be restrictive.
There are no blanket waiting periods associated with particular cancers. Nor can one apply rules-of-thumb such as one-, two- or five-year waiting periods. Each case will be evaluated according to the diagnosis, pathology, stage, grade, treatments, treatment dates, response to treatment, follow-up regimens and evidence of recurrence of the cancer.
Start With Your Current Situation
| Situation | Likely priority | What to do now |
|---|---|---|
| Individual policy issued before diagnosis | After a cancer diagnosis, keep valid coverage in force. | Continue paying premiums after cancer diagnosis, look into riders on current policy before making changes and always talk to insurer before making changes or replacing life insurance policy after cancer diagnosis. |
| Workplace group coverage | Protect any right of conversion or portability. | Carefully review the certificate. Ask the plan administrator for the deadline and application form before employment or eligibility ends. |
| Active testing or treatment | Avoid incomplete or premature applications. | Find out from your licensed broker which insurers will consider your file, and what medical records or other information they require. |
| Treatment completed, recent follow-up | Document the medical timeline. | Gather pathology reports, a treatment summary, surveillance reports and specialists’ notes. |
| Long-term survivor | Compare fully underwritten and simplified insurance options after a cancer diagnosis. | Ask if a rating can be reviewed in the future. Ask if the premium is guaranteed for the duration of the term. |
What If You Already Have Life Insurance?
If you have an individual policy, a later diagnosis does not normally allow the insurer to re-underwrite an in-force policy. Your premium should not increase if it is guaranteed. However, check your policy. Depending on the circumstances, the insurer can try to challenge coverage based on contract provisions such as exclusions, contestability, fraud, etc. Errors or omissions on the original application may also come into play.
Do not cancel a policy until a new one is accepted, issued, and carefully examined. Higher costs may result because of your changed health, or you may not be able to purchase insurance because of your age or health.
Some employer group life insurance allows an eligible member to convert some of the group life insurance to individual policies without providing new medical evidence. Read your group life insurance contract. Conversion privileges vary widely in terms of the amount of insurance, the type of insurance, premium, deadline to act, etc., from one group policy to another. For example, the federal public-service plan has its own conversion provision with a short deadline. Do not assume that applies to other plans. Call to find out what applies in your situation.
What Insurers Assess On A New Application
Type And Stage Of Cancer
To determine severity and the risk of the cancer recurring, the insurer will consider the stage and other pathology findings. The location of cancer alone isn’t enough information, as two applicants with cancer of the same organ could get different underwriting decisions depending on the subtype, grade, how far it’s spread, what treatment was given, how it responded and many other factors.
Time Since Diagnosis Or Remission
An insurer will want to know when you were first diagnosed, when treatment ended, and the date of each follow-up since then.
How is remission documented? How has remission been defined in your records? Having solid, stable, consistent follow-ups can help your overall evidence. Time alone won’t win you an approval or lower rate.
Medical Records And History
If you’ve been diagnosed or treated for cancer, gather oncology-related medical records such as pathology reports, including stage, grade, tumor characteristics, etc. Also gather information about your treatment, such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, etc. including dates. Describe your response to treatment, current symptoms, surveillance results, follow-up plan, medication, metastasis, recurrence, etc.
Answer every application question completely. Insurance applications include questions about your general health history. Be prepared to provide information about your family medical history, smoking, other health conditions, etc. Your insurer may also be able to obtain records or an attending physician statement about your current condition. This requires your consent. If you’re in the process of undergoing medical exams or tests, let the insurer know. Don’t guess at the results.
Read More: See How an Attending Physician Statement Supports Underwriting
Possible Underwriting Decisions
| Decision | What it means | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Acceptance at regular rates for the risk class. | Are the premium and coverage amount guaranteed for the duration of the term I choose? |
| Rated | The policy may be offered at a higher premium. | Is the rating permanent or reviewable, and what proof would reconsideration require? |
| Temporary extra | Policy issued with a surcharge for a specified period of time. | When does the temporary extra end? Is the reduction automatic? |
| Postponed | The decision is postponed until a future date or medical milestone. | What additional reports will affect possible life insurance underwriting decisions? How soon should they be repeated? Has treatment been completed? |
| Declined | The insurer will not offer the requested coverage at this time. | Can another product or insurer assess the facts differently? Different insurers use different underwriting criteria. |
| Guaranteed issue | There is no medical underwriting based on a specific life insurance product’s rules. | What is the maximum amount of benefits allowed? How much will the premium be? Are there any restrictions on death occurring too soon? |
Read More: Review Possible Life Insurance Underwriting Outcomes
Does Life Insurance Cover Cancer?
Ordinary life insurance policies will not normally cover treatment costs on diagnosis of cancer. These policies pay a benefit on the death of the insured person if policy conditions have been met.
Read More: Explore No-Medical Life Insurance Options
Some life insurance policies include living benefits that make an accelerated payment on diagnosis of a terminal illness if certain conditions have been met. For a living benefit, medical, timing and consent criteria must be met. This usually reduces the eventual death benefit.
Critical illness insurance is a different kind of policy. Some critical illness policies pay out a lump-sum benefit on diagnosis of a qualifying critical illness, as long as certain criteria have been met, including how long you live after diagnosis. Just because cancer is named in a diagnosis does not always mean it meets the specific definition of cancer in a policy.
How To Apply Without Creating New Problems
- Keep any group or individual insurance in force until you’ve obtained replacements.
- Find out what kind of application you’ll be completing: guaranteed issue, simplified issue, fully underwritten, etc.
- Have a summary of your medical history with dates. Authorize insurers to obtain additional information as soon as possible.
- Keep a complete copy of the application, as well as any changes.
- Compare the decision, not just the quoted premium. Consider the amount of coverage, its term and renewal schedule, what’s excluded, the terms and conditions pertaining to early claims.
- If an application is deferred or declined, find out what date or what information is needed for reconsideration.
Read More: See What to Do if a Life Insurance Application Is Declined