Friday, April 16, 2010
How Will Life Insurance Companies Treat Me After I Have Had Prostate Cancer?
Some companies are not good at underwriting any cancer history. So, let's throw them out and look at how a company with experienced underwriters will consider an application for a person with a history of treated prostatic adenocarcinoma.
When a person is diagnosed with prostate cancer one of the results of the pre-treatment testing should be a Gleason Score. The Gleason system predicts the aggressiveness of a tumor with a score of 2 to 10. A low Gleason score is non aggressive while a high Gleason score is aggressive and more likely to spread to other sites. So, the underwriter will need to know what your Gleason score was prior to treatment. Another measure of the prostate that the underwriter will want to know is your pretreatment PSA level. Next we look at three scenarios.
The first is a best case scenario for man who has been treated by radical prostatetectomy. Presently underwriters are comfortable with this treatment because they have had a lot of experience with it over the years. This is not to say that you won't have better overall results with an alternative treatment. In this scenario the Gleason score was under 6 and the pretreatment PSA was under 20. One year after treatment PSA is undetectable. The problem is considered resolved and no rating is applied.
The next best case scenario involves a man who elected an alternative therapy to destroy the tumor(s). In this case the Gleason score was under 6 and the pretreatment PSA level was under 10. Two years after treatment the current PSA level is less than 0.5 with no rise in PSA since treatment. The cancer is considered resolved and no extra rating is applied.
Now let's consider a person who had a Gleason scale of 7 and, a pretreatment PSA of less than 20. One year after prostatetectomy the PSA is undetectable.
Because of the higher Gleason score the underwriter is going to view this as a higher risk that the cancer will appear in another location for six years after treatment. That's fine if six years has gone by since your treatment but what only one year has passed? Should you consider paying extra to get the insurance now? The answer is yes for two reasons. First, since you had a higher Gleason score your chance of having a cancer at another site is elevated and so is your need for life insurance. Second, we have found that we can get the insurance companies to place the extra charge on the policy as a temporary flat extra. What this means is that after the sixth year you can ask to have the extra charge removed as long as no further cancers have occurred. After they have been removed the premium for your policy is the same as if you had bought the policy with no extra rating. If you wait several years to buy your life insurance, the premium will be higher than a policy with the extra charge removed as you are applying at an older age.
The bottom line is that you can get Life Insurance after being treated for prostate cancer. In some cases there is no extra rating, other times the extra charge can be temporary. Each case is unique so you really need an experienced agent who is willing to take the time to discuss you case with a number of underwriters.
Labels: companies treat, insurance companies treat, life insurance companies, prostate cancer
Friday, April 9, 2010
Life Insurance Rate Quote - There's More to Choosing a Life Insurance Company and Policy
Most of us are primarily concerned with the bottom line, when we go and look for life insurance quotes. What will the policy cost us out of pocket and how much will it pay out once it's time for the family to collect? These are two very important questions. However, there are a few others that you should not make the mistake of leaving out.
1) What type of policy is right for me? Your age, health, financial situation, etc. are all factors to consider when deciding what type of policy to go with. You can choose from term life insurance to whole and universal. Each has it's positives and negatives so make sure to understand them and their differences well.
2) Does the insurance company that you are thinking of opening a policy with, pay out easily? Believe it or not, there are many insurance companies that are known for putting up a fight when it comes time to pay on a life insurance policy. There are many legal loopholes and fine print that can be up for interpretation and some companies routinely take advantage of this fact. Find out what your potential company's litigious record is.
3) Will the company still be in business when it's time to collect? This may seem like a silly question but insurance companies go out of business all the time. Find out how strong your potential company is before opening a policy with them. The stronger they are, and the longer they've been around, the better the chances are of them being around for a long time to come are.
Buying life insurance can be a confusing and frustrating process. The
Affordable Insurance Options Online Directory is a free informational resource that can help you find the lowest life
insurance quote you qualify for.
Labels: choosing life insurance company, insurance rate quote, life insurance rate
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
A Guide to Affordable Health Insurance Life for Everyone
Many people feel that health insurance is a misuse of money. These people are often quite healthy and have no need to see their physician beyond yearly check-ups while some others are not aware about affordable health insurance life. However, health insurance is extremely important because it not only offers you protection from harmful illnesses or diseases and creates a better quality of life, but it can also protect you from financial devastation in the case of an emergency.
Having a middle class background or being fraught with many responsibilities in life can be a financial downside to say the least. Or it may happen that you may be dependent on someone else to cover your daily expenses such as a place to live and food to eat. Health insurance is something that everyone needs and not enough people have it because of these other financial burdens. Any emergency such as a car accident or broken bone will require adequate medical assistance. What do you do when you don't have insurance and can't afford expensive medical bills?
One of the most serious reasons for having health insurance is to cover the expenses of medical bills - urgent situation or non-emergency. Without health insurance, you may be tempted not to see a doctor about medical issues you have, or you may assume that they are not serious. Both of these options are harmful and unwise as medical issues will often progress and worsen over time.
If you find yourself financially helpless at any time in your life, you are probably without health insurance. This can be a nightmare whether you have a family or not because medical expenses can put you into debt quickly. Luckily, there are ways of finding affordable coverage providers that can keep your health, as well as your finances, safe. A simple visit to the doctor can cost you significantly more money than it would with insurance.
With so many health insurance plans and restrictions out there, it can be difficult finding the best health insurance for you. However, this process is quite possible to do with a little research. There are a few items to look for when deciding on health insurance plans, and by considering them all you can make a good decision for yourself and your family about health insurance. These include coverage like physician visits and fees and hospital expenses such as room and board in case you are kept overnight or longer for observation or treatment. Lastly, consider price. After researching different coverage plans or international health insurance plan and physician requirements, compare deductibles and monthly premiums to find the best deal. Often, you can get group rates through your employer, or you may find that artist organizations (for freelance artists) offer health care plans. By researching price, as well as other health insurance options, you can make the best choices for your family.
Sarika -
About the Author: India Classifieds offers free online ads posting for Health & Beauty international health insurance plan, affordable health insurance life, cheap group health insurance, compare group health insurance plan, health insurance plan comparison, nationwide health insurance, health & beauty, Products - Health & Beauty, health & beauty products & services, health, Services - Health & Beauty, Doctors Online & Fitness.
Labels: health insurance, insurance life for everyone, life insurance
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
How to Determine the Proper Amount of Term Life Insurance Coverage For You
We all know that we need life insurance in order to protect our families in the unexpected event of our untimely death. We all know that we need it, but how do we determine how much coverage we should have? A friend in the business once joked that, "you should have enough coverage to ensure that you family is protected, but not enough that you have to sleep with one eye open." That is a rather simplistic joke, but it let's us know what our goal is: making sure that our family doesn't have to struggle when we are gone.
The first step is to take a look at all of your debts. The very first step is to ensure that you have enough insurance coverage to pay off all of your debt. This is especially the case if your spouse is home with the children. It is bad enough to lose a spouse, but to immediately be forced into working and putting the children into child care is no way for your family to have to deal with their grief. As a starting point, we need to make sure that enough insurance is in place to cover all of your existing debts. This will give your family a clean slate to start with. However, this is not the only thing to consider.
Another consideration is any immediate needs your family will have for cash. Obviously, everyone should have some emergency savings in place, but sometimes it is difficult to build up the proper amount. Initially, your family will need to pay for your funeral, and they will also need enough money to get them through for a couple of months. Take the amount that they will need during this time, and subtract from this number the amount of liquid savings that you currently have. This will give you the amount of additional insurance that you will want to have in place.
There are two ways to figure the amount of coverage that you should have in order to meet the long term needs of your family.
The easy way is to simply take your annual salary and multiply this number by eight to ten. This will allow your family to invest the money into good growth mutual funds and live off of the growth without ever touching the principal. This will allow you to make sure that they are taken care of for the rest of their lives, and still be able to leave a legacy for your children.
The more complicated way to determine this is by basing it on your family expenses. This method is based on providing for your family's needs for a set number of years. To determine this, look at your family budget, and figure out how much your family needs in order to meet their needs in a typical month. Take this number and multiply it by twelve to determine the amount they will need in a single year, and then multiply this number by the years that you want to be able to provide support for.
Now let's look at some actual numbers. In our example, you have $50,000 in debt, $10,000 in emergency savings, and you earn $30,000 per year. You have also determined that your funeral expenses will amount to roughly $5,000, and your monthly expenses amount to $2,500. Using our above numbers, we would first need $50,000 in coverage to clear the family debt. Now for the initial expenses for the first couple of months, we would need $5,000 for living expenses and $7,000 for the funeral. Subtract your emergency fund of $10,000, and this leaves you with a need of $2,000 in extra insurance. You have a base insurance need of $52,000. In the first method for determining your income needs, all you would need to do is multiple your salary by ten, which would give you a coverage need of $300,000. Using the second method, let's assume that your family will need protection for fifteen years. In this method, they would need $450,000 ($2,500 times 12 times 15). So, in this example, your insurance needs will be either $352,000 or $502,000, depending on your calculation method.
Many different companies can offer you quotes on term life insurance, and it is very reasonable today.
Multiple companies can offer you quotes on a return of premium life insurance policies.
Labels: amount insurance, determine the proper amount, life insurance coverage
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Hello world
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