Cancer Insurance Questions & Answers

How do life insurance underwriters view individuals with cancer?

Life insurance for people with cancer presents a higher risk to insurance companies because of the nature of the disease. The amount of risk which a life insurance underwriter will assume can vary significantly because not all cancers are treated the same as some are more treatable than other cancers.

Another aspect of assessing risk for an individual with cancer is the type or stage of cancer, when it was last treated, how it was treated and how long since the treatment was concluded.

Most insurers will not insure a person who recently been diagnosed with cancer or is still currently being treated. The reason for this is most insurers consider the risk too high to assume because of the uncertainty of whether the cancer will be successfully treated, or become a more aggressive cancer where the survival of the person is in doubt.

Some cancers can be treated with a great deal of success such as skin cancer, prostate and breast cancer for example. The success rate for other types such as pancreatic or lung is considered significantly lower and a higher risk. These various factors affect how life insurance for people with cancer is evaluated.

What are the types of cancer?

There are virtually hundreds of different types of cancer that affect a person in just about any location throughout the body and are too numerous too list.

For a brief overview, cancer is generally described in 2 ways which includes 1) Histological type which refers to the type of tissue afflicted, or 2) Primary type which refers to a specific location in the body such as skin cancer or lung cancer for example.

The histological type of cancer has 6 categories which include:

• Carcinoma
• Sarcoma
• Myeloma
• Leukemia
• Lymphoma
• Mixed Types

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Most cancers are also classed as stages known as the TNM system which refers to tumor, lymph nodes, or metastasis (cancer has spread to other tissues or organs).

The staging classification includes

• Stage0 (the carcinoma is in situ – remains on the site where found).
• Stage I, Stage II, and Stage II – which means that the cancer has become more extensive and could mean an increase in the size of the tumor, or that the cancer has spread from its place of origin to the adjacent tissues or organ.
• Stage IV – The cancer has spread to distant tissues or other organs

Some cancers have staging classifications independent of the one described above.

Finding life Insurance with cancer

Finding life insurance for people with cancer can vary quite significantly in how the life insurance will rate a person, or approve or decline a policy. Regardless of whether the cancer has been successfully treated, each insurance company uses criteria which can fluctuate quite dramatically from company to company.

Some cancers may be declined altogether by one company yet be approved by another company. Most insurers require a waiting period which varies according to the type of cancer but also between the individual companies.

Some types of cancer might or might not result in a flat fee being added to the premium. The amount of time and the cost of the flat fee surcharge can also be significantly different amongst insurers.