Life Insurance After PCA?

I'm hoping one of the members works in the insurance field and can answer this. Don't know if I even want to have a conversation with the insurance company/agent until I know more.

My 30 year term life insurance has ended and the company has offered (via a letter) to continue me on annual renewals. Problem is the annual premium went from $630 to $1500 for 500,000 term coverage (I think, might be more coverage than that).

Kids are gone so I'm not sure I need the insurance anymore but how insurable am I? I'm undetectable 6 months post surgery but I'm thinking no other insurance company would touch me right now or if they did the premium would be much higher. Is that true?

I'm a 55 year old male (obviously), good health other than PCA. Never smoked, about 10 lbs overweight according to BMI scales. I'm not taking any medications and blood pressure is good. Colonoscopy was clear too.

Each person is different of course but If I didn't have PCA what should I expect to pay (ballpark) for 500,000 coverage at my age? And since I do, how much of bump up should I expect with PCA ?


Thanks - Jon

I'll be interested in reading the responses to this post as well. I have a term policy for $250K that renews every five years. I'm paying about $600yr. It'll go up again in a couple of years when I hit 60yrs old. But, they don't require a medical exam or questionnaire. I'm not inclined to rock the boat by shopping it around. Based on your coverage and premium I wouldn't suggest you do either. It looks pretty good as is.

I was declined from a long term care policy that I applied for with my wife. At the time they said it was because of the recurrence of cancer that I had requiring radiation. They said that I would not have been denied with successful surgery.

Thanks to all for the responses.

They can increase the rate each year because I'm past the end of my 30 year term with them. I'm guessing they could even deny coverage year to year if they so desire but I don't recall what the original contract/agreement was.

Just for the heck of it I got a current quote for a 10 year term with my current stats including PCA and it came back around $3800 / year. The $1500 quote is still way cheaper but it's for a single year so it's not a fair comparison. if my current insurance company gets wind of my shopping around and doesn't like it I will just let the policy lapse.

All companies wanted a 1 year period without detectable PSA after surgery, some wanted 2 years. If I need SRT it sounded like many would likely deny coverage or at least the cost would go way up.

I think I'm going to pop for the ~$1500 for a year or two and watch what happens with my PSA.

Jon

My Term Life insurance runs out in little over a year so I have been searching for a new 15 year coverage . My first application was accepted but the cost was ridiculous so I went to S Q, well they were ok with my prostate history but because I have two small thyroid nodules that were determined to being benign and actually just had an ultra sound last week and one actually shrunk.
Well they denied me .
What's my next move ?

I am a financial planner and do a good amount of life insurance work. What you are finding is that most cancers require three to five years post-treatment to start getting back to normal rates for life and long term care insurance.

Rather than going to generalists like SQ, you should seek out specialists in your area that are more adept with the challenging cases. The problem with applications is that if you are rated, denied, or don't accept one then it becomes a negative for the next attempt. Find a specialist that will take a trial application with a company that is well known for impaired risk underwriting. If it comes back not so good, the action is not disclosed to other companies as it was not a formal application.

Graytech,

With a T2c staging and a gleason 7 (4+3),
Age 55 no other health issues.
These are based on U.S. rates and companies.

Most likely you would receive a "standard" rate plus and additional expense called a flat extra...flat extras would typically add $600 - $750 per every $100,000 of coverage...they last 3-5 years and then drop off leaving the standard rate. Based on the 4+3, yours would probably last for 5 years.

$500,000 of 10 year term for age 55 is approximately $1600 + $3000 for the flat extra = $4600 per year for the first 5 years, $1600 per year for the last 5 years.

How Do I Know This about Prostate Cancer?
I specialize in high risk life insurance underwriting helping prostate cancer survivors.

Hope this helps.

(contact information removed - do not post personal contact information in open posts, and do not advertise - 142)

Post Edited By Moderator (142) : 9/17/2015 2:18:17 PM (GMT-6)

All of these insurance questions also make me question what happens to those who choose AS over treatment. I had never really considered that aspect before.

LOL!!! I can just see someone electing a specific treatment modality based on life insurance considerations.

Then again, there are situations where the txs. considerations balance each other out, so I guess insurance could end up being the determining factor.

If anyone really does that, please be 100% sure of the facts regarding such insurance!

Mel