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Is There a Life Insurance for Cancer Patients?

Traditional life insurance is not available for cancer patients, but there are life insurance plans specifically for cancer patients, which can be purchased depending on certain factors.

  1. Type of Cancer

    • Your life insurance policy rate and coverage will depend on the type of cancer you have in the curability rate. For example, certain types of skin cancer is considered low risk and may not have any affect on your premium or coverage. Other common and treatable forms of breast and prostate cancer might also be eligible for a "standard" policy.

    Factors Involved

    • The factors involved when an insurance company considers your life insurance request are the type of cancer, stage and grade of the cancer, and your treatment plan. Surcharges might be involved if you are undergoing cancer treatment. In most cases you must be in remission or cured, be at least three months past the date of your last treatment, or in some cases as long as five years, be in general good health and be between ages 21 and 90.

    Strategies to Take

    • To ensure that you obtain the best possible life insurance policy, you need to have your strategy in order before you apply. Gather all of your medical records, follow your doctor's treatment plan, obtain prices from more than one insurance company, research group plans (if you can't afford a plan on your own), and lastly, consider a "graded" policy (one with increasing death benefit as you get older).

    Types of Life Insurance

    • The types of life insurance are term life (insured for a particular amount of time), universal life (non-cancelable insurance with a permanent premium), whole life (set premium but with a cash value) and guaranteed issue whole life (for people with severe problems and usually only a benefit of up to $25,000).

    Do You Need It?

    • No, not everyone needs life insurance, but some factors to consider in whether you should get it or not are how old your children are, will your spouse need financial support, are you supporting a dependent, and your mortgage or other financial obligations.

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