If your doctor has diagnosed you with asthma, you’re probably concerned about how it could affect your current life insurance policy or your ability to obtain one. While pre-existing conditions do affect the type of life insurance a person can acquire, you don’t have to fight an uphill battle to find an insurance provider with an adequate policy.
While more severe asthma cases may not qualify for traditional life insurance policies, you have other available options that are a click away. You can still get life insurance with asthma, no matter how severe your case may be!
In this article
What Is Asthma?
In medical terms, asthma is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the respiratory system. Some of the symptoms associated with asthma include:
- Coughing
- Difficulty breathing
- A tight feeling in the chest
- Shortness of breath
While asthma isn’t typically deadly, it doesn’t have a cure and symptoms’ severity can range from mild to acute. People who struggle with asthma must manage their symptoms following their doctors’ advice.
An asthma diagnosis might affect your options for life insurance, especially depending on the severity of the condition and a few other important health factors. Use the information you’ll find here to navigate your options.
The Cost of Life Insurance with Asthma
While asthma is a fairly common condition, insurance providers will often consider an applicant at high risk for having it.
A high-risk applicant is someone with a pre-existing condition, lifestyle, or occupation that could result in the applicant’s premature death. This means that you may not qualify for certain providers or policies. You may also pay higher rates in order to obtain life insurance with asthma. But that doesn’t mean that you lack options or won’t find an affordable policy.
The overall life insurance cost also depends on:
- The severity of your condition
- How well you manage it
- The type of policy you select
For example, some insurance providers won’t charge you more than the standard rate if you have a mild case of asthma. Others can charge up to 150% for mild cases.
Moderate to severe cases may see increases between 150% to 250%. If an insurance provider quotes you at 200%, you will pay twice what someone with no medical history of asthma would.
If you have a severe case of asthma, some insurance providers may reject your application. Comparing all options available to you will ensure you get the best coverage within your budget.
What Insurance Companies Consider from Applicants with Asthma
How does an insurance provider decide whether to accept your application and what rate you will pay? It may feel like you’re at the mercy of several unknowns, but the breakdown of their decisions is simple.
An insurance provider will look at a variety of factors and how they affect your health now and in the future. The list of questions below will relieve some of the guesswork for you.
- What is your current age? Providers will consider whether you are approaching age-related conditions that could complicate your asthma.
- Is your asthma seasonal? Is it affected by certain changes in the weather or atmosphere? If so, providers may consider your condition more treatable and easier to manage.
- Are your asthma attacks frequent or intense? The more frequent or severe your attacks are, the higher the likelihood of passing away prematurely.
- Do you have any other pre-existing conditions? If so, these will also affect your rate.
- Has asthma caused you to miss school or work? Your insurance provider may consider your case as severe if it affects your ability to function on a daily basis.
- Do you stay up to date with your prescriptions, treatment recommendations, and doctor visits? If you do, your provider may not consider you a high-risk applicant.
- Do you smoke or use other substances that could negatively impact your health? Using tobacco products or other unhealthy substances will increase the likelihood that your condition worsens, making your case more high risk.
- Have you ever been hospitalized because of your asthma? Hospitalization suggests a more severe case that is difficult to manage.
- Does your asthma interfere with any other daily activities? The more a condition prevents someone from daily functioning, the more likely their rate will increase. Insurance providers will consider someone with occasional attacks less high risk.
While this list is fairly comprehensive, there are other elements that a provider will use to gauge the type of policy for which you qualify. Even if you aren’t feeling confident about your answers to some of these questions, you can still get life insurance with asthma by comparing quotes from several Canadian life insurance providers to find the most competitive offer.
Choosing Life Insurance with Asthma
You can choose between two different policies regardless of the severity of your asthma. The two most common policy types available include tradition and no medical.
The cost of these policies depends on the listed factors above and the type of policy you want. You can explore the differences between a no medical and a traditional policy below.
What Is a Traditional Policy?
Also called an underwritten policy, a traditional policy requires a doctor to perform a medical evaluation on you.
If you have a mild to moderate case of asthma, an underwritten policy can be more cost-effective in the long run. You could get a rate that is equal to or only slightly more than someone without a chronic condition. It also provides more coverage and the ability to select other policies that offer a wider variety of benefits.
If your condition isn’t severe and you want to save money or upgrade your choices, you want a traditional or underwritten policy.
What Is a No-Medical Policy?
If you want to avoid a medical exam altogether, a no medical policy is the best choice. People with more severe cases of asthma may benefit from this option. The majority of Canadian insurance providers will offer no medical policies, including:
- Simplified life insurance: Has no medical exam but does have a medical questionnaire.
- Guaranteed life insurance: Has no medical exam or questions, but comes with some of the most expensive premiums and often lower payouts.
No medical policies offer a restricted amount of coverage, have fewer available features, and come with more expensive premiums. However, your family can still receive a payout of up to $500,000.
Compare Both Guaranteed and Simplified Life Insurance Quotes Online
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Tips for Getting Life Insurance If You Have Asthma
If you already have an asthma diagnosis, follow these best practices to find the best life insurance policy, whether it’s a traditional policy or a no-medical.
- Always weigh all of your options regardless of your health conditions. Different providers define high risk candidates in different ways. When you look at all choices available, you are more likely to find what you want.
- Stay up to date on health management. When you handle your condition consistently, more options for life insurance will be available to you.
- Stay educated on your options by using all available tools to pick the right provider with the best policy. This improves the outcome for you and your family during unexpected events.
If You Are Diagnosed After You Purchase Life Insurance
If you currently hold a life insurance policy and recently received an asthma diagnosis, you may have some concerns about how this will affect your policy now and in the future.
Fortunately, insurance providers in Canada can’t make changes to a policy already in effect. They also can’t retract it from the policyholder. You can rest assured that your current policy is still safe, regardless of your recent diagnosis.
FAQs About Life Insurance with Asthma
Many people have similar questions about the process of obtaining life insurance with asthma. If you have other questions not previously covered, you may find the answers below.
Otherwise, Alliance Income Services Corporation is happy to answer your questions and provide further resources for finding the policy that fits your needs and budget.
You Can Still Get Insured
Alongside asthma, you can secure a life insurance policy with other pre-existing conditions.
Life Insurance Options Are One Click Away
At Alliance Income, we will guide you to the best choices for life insurance with asthma by taking your needs and budget into account. Our services empower you to consider the most important thing in life: your family’s peace of mind. Whether you have asthma or a different health condition, shopping for life insurance shouldn’t be such a chore. Discover a variety of life insurance options that work for you and compare quotes from top Canadian insurance providers. Fill out our quote form to access qualifying quotes so you can get back to life with the people you love the most. It’s time to take your life insurance into your own hands.
