Life Insurance with Stent Surgery History – What you Need to Know

What is a Stent?

A stent is a tiny tube that is inserted inside blood vessels or tubes to open a blocked passage or to keep it open for a considerable amount of time. The stent restores the flow of blood and other essential fluids depending upon its location. Stents usually comprise of high-grade plastic. Larger stents are known as ‘stent graft’ which surgeons use for larger arteries and use unique materials. Stents also have the provision to be medicated to prevent further blockage. They are even used to avoid an aneurysm from rupturing in the aorta and brain.

Why do I need a Stent?

Stents are usually needed when plaque (cholesterol) blocks a particular part of the blood vessel. Stents are also used in emergency procedures when the coronary artery gets blocked. People diagnosed with a 70% blockage in the heart have to go through a stent surgery. Other than the heart, a stent can open any obstruction in the bile duct, bronchi, and urethra. These tubes can also get blocked or damaged like a blood vessel.

 Life Insurance with Stent or Not?

The answer is yes.You can get life insurance after stent surgery.

The rule to get life insurance for stent patients is to know which life insurance company to apply for and avoid some of the superior national insurance brokers who are always unwilling to write higher risk life insurance applications.

Trying for life insurance with a stent in place usually means that the possibleconclusion you can consider to be approved as a standard risk. The problem is if insurancecompaniestake a dim view of life expectancy after stent implant and assume that a person who has gone through stent surgery will automatically be deemed as a substandard or high risk. A life insurance company may approve the case immediately at a substandard case which may however be quite costly.

The initial criteria to get life insurance at standard rate after stent surgery is that you should have only one stent in place and no occurrence of a heart attack or stroke should have lead to the placement.

Questions asked by insurance companies after stent surgery:

Here are a few questions you may be asked:

1. How many stents do you have in place?
2. Duration of the stents and time of installation?
3. What was the need of the stents (such as stroke or heart condition)?
4. What medication are you presently using?
5. The result of the last stress test and the date when conducted?
6. What are the changes you have made in your lifestyle after stent surgery?
7. Have you quit smoking and are you exercising regularly?
8. Did you experience any complication after the surgery?
9. What is the current injection fraction?

If you are not aware how to answer these questions,or are in doubt whether your answers may raise the eyebrows of the underwriters, please consult your insurance agent who will help you in framing your answers so that there will be no impact on the rates for setting the premiums for life insurance after stent surgery.

What determines the standard rates and the possibility?

Every life insurance company in the market is going to have a set of guidelines for providing life insuranceafter stent surgery that they follow when it comes to approving an application for life insurance. The guidelines for life insurance for people with heart problems are designed not only to ascertain whom the insurance company will insure and whom to reject, but the strategy helps determine the rate and the class in which it hopefully falls.

While one life insurance company may use a set of rules that consider someone with a stent a high risk for life insurance, another life insurance company may be more concerned about the applicant’s current health before they tag them as high-risk.

Now with 600,000 stents a year,insurance companies have to loosen up their underwriting guidelines to accommodate at least few. So, you have to wait and watch how your condition fetches fruitful results. This is the reason why a few insurance companies have carved out a niche for themselves to gain a competitive advantage to obtain clients.

The efficacy of stents to prevent heart attacks or death in patients with stable heart disease may be a point of debate in the medical field; what we can generally consider is that once such a state is recognized, stent patients will uncharacteristically be much more conscious of their existing health status. As a result, they will usually be in much better health after receiving their stent then they were six months before their stent.

How to search for an affordable policy

The search for an insurance policy will take you to all possible routes. There are three things you have to be very confident and clear about:

1. Life Insurance Agent: Having only a small number of insurance companies to choose from may not be adequate for your application when it comes to getting life insurance for stent patients. Your life insurance agent knows the tips and tricks of the trade and they will know the best possible way to get your policy approved or try to get you the best possible deal out there. 

2. Be quick but don’t hurry for the medical exam: Take your own time to shop for the best possible plan that suit your budget and requirements. Let the insurance company define your health status. If done incorrectly or in a hurry,unexpected clauses may pop up in your medical report which will jack up your premium.

3. Maintain Yourself: The biggest concern of insurance companies is the unpredictability of the stents. Some people have issues, but most of them can lead a healthy life. The best chance of approval comes when you show the changes that you have adopted. This process will build the confidence of the insurance company to approve your case.

How much Insurance do you need?

Calculate your needs before you apply for life insurance in the event that anything happens to you. Not having enough life insurance is the biggest mistake you can make for your loved ones. Make sure that your insurance can cover the mortgage, debts and any other burden which your family might face if anything happens to you. If the sole bread earner is you, then your life insurance should be large enough to replace your paycheck.

Your health your choice

Stent surgery is a wakeup call for an individual to change their lifestyle to live better. Whatever leads to the stent in first place is very likely to repeat itself. Talk to your doctor and cardiologist and get back into the peak of your health. Then, contact your life insurance agent to get you a good deal on a life insurance policy.