life insurance questions
 

how do yall.

Question about life ins policies, if they dont ask me directly if I got MS, do I have to tell them? what are the legal beagles about this anyone know? I am looking for a cheaper policy outside my work cause they are raking me over the coals and know i am in a corner, the little #%@$^$%^%%@#^&,

I called select quote and a few others not happy so far, me thinks that work knows i am stuck with their insurance policy

any advice, LINKS or ideas would be truly appreciated


gratsie

Every policy that I have looked at outside of work has asked either directly or in the general question: Are you now or have you ever been treated for any condition that may _______. The insurance company can go through your medical files too. You agree to that when you sign the application.

I'm stuck with mine through my employer. It's better than nothing.

My strongest advice to anyone who thinks they may have MS is to get their insurances in order before you go to that last appointment where all your tests are back and the doc says the words. It's not MS until all the tests are back, and while you know something's wrong, you are not a doc and until they say you have it and the tests say you have it, it ain't so.

( i found case law on this one before I signed up for my STD/LTD through work...:D...The policy started two days before my doc said: Your LP results came back and it's definitely MS.)

Life Insurance Companies will look into your medical records.

Since this is always the case, just respond accurately to the questions they have. Otherwise, it is very likely that the beneficiary of your policy will get nothing when you pass away. The insurance company will just claim that you knowingly omitted medical information and they will win in court.

With MS, life insurance can take a bite out of your rear, but in my opinion it is worth it.

Each of my policies cost about 1K per year and provide 1m coverage.

I have an IDS American Express Life Insurance (term policy) and Met Life policy.

-Vic

Thanks RW and Vic I wondered about that, they take my cash and then drop that on deb after the fact, was a concern, its looking like I am gonna be stuck with the one from work, least i got good one 250 plus 75000 more if its accidental

Frank...all your medical records goes to Atlanta. Insurance companies contact the MIB to find out if you have disclosed all the information. I lost several commissions on life insurance policies because people didn't tell me all the facts. The premiums came back different that what I quoted.

I just had my life insurance premium double on a reinstatement because of the MS. If I keep the premiums paid it can not increase again, but it sure was a big jump from what I was paying...oh well, it was a do we eat, pay the mtg or insurance? Guess which one won?

sorry about that momma, thanks for the info, thats something I didnt know about. thank you

I couldn't get ordinary life insurance - that is if I died a natural death - apparently insurance companies believe we are not long for this world - did get a policy for accidental death - go figure - the gentleman who was CEO at the time used to be our insurance agent and his mother had MS - I know he made an exception - but that was years ago and perhaps times have changed a bit - maybe you can get accidental death now - I know you can't get long-term care - I tried - I mean - after all we might actually need it !!!!

There are some insurance companies out there that will grant life insurance to those with MS if the person is taking DMDs and has been stable for two years. Of course, premium is high and haven't found one yet around here that will take a person newly Dx'd. :(

I lucked out and got mine prior to being Dx'd. I still pay a higher premium 'cuz I'm a smoker. (I know, bad girl) But nothing like I would have if I had been Dx'd at the time.

Good morning Frank.

Life insurance, independent from work, was one of the first things I addressed when I was told I had MS. Back in the "paper" days and before the CRAB's, an MS dx was not necessary or desireable. So I asked the doc not to put it in writing, and he didn't. And then we moved 1500 miles away to a place where I didn't have MS...

I get mine thru the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. It's cheap - 1/6th the cost of what I pay thru work. I got 360K on myself and 150K on my wife. We both have policies thru work too. I increased mine 60K in May 2003, kinda sneaky - I had an MRI a few weeks later and got a positive dx of MS, for the first time, here in Houston. Our now paperless society probably won't let ya hide it just by moving.

Policy rates haven't changed due to MS or anything else. The subject doesn't come up. I can't get it increased any more - open heart surgery in 2004 and aneurysm repairs this year - but what the hey, with all the bank stocks our government's buying for us at depressed values we're gonna be rich! Sorry......

As far as life insurance thru work goes - I was working for Toledo Edison when first dx'ed. Went to work for Florida Power & Light within weeks of being told MS. Went on to work for a couple engineering firms in Miami, then moved to Houston and worked for another couple engineering firms before accepting the job at NASA. I have never had a problem with insurance, at all, because of MS. Life or health. MS since 1988. Of course, I don't tell...

I did tell my boss recently. We were palling around the NASA campus looking at storm damage together - we were the only 2 people in the group to show up right after Ike - and I asked her if she knew if I had MS. I've known her for 8 years - she was a client of mine for 6, and my boss for 2. I really didn't know whether or not I told her before. I guess I didn't. She asked the appropriate boss question - if I needed accommodations at work. I looked at her and laughed - We had walked thru 3 miles of utility tunnels, up and down ladders, been up on the roofs of 4 buildings, and walked thru some pretty heavy damaged areas. She said the only thing she knew about MS was the labor day telethon and Jerry. Wrong disease, girl...

Tom

You have to disclose your illness because if something happened to you and you didn't and they find out your family gets nothing. This almost happened with my step dad. He died of cancer two years ago and they raked my mom over the coals about his illness and suggested he had lung cancer well before they took out the policy. They dug deep into his medical records and found he didn't have it. They had a two year clause as well and he just met it. They got paid but it took a long time.

So, bottom line is you do have to disclose. Jim cannot get anything anywhere. Sometimes it's because he has ms, other times it's because he takes too many meds. Just the other day I was trying to get mortgage insurance in case we died and they said if he was in the first stage ms (rrms) and not secondary (spms) they would have insured him. I gave them a pep talk about spms and they understood but still said no. Many also do a medical exams for certain amounts. We've always had to do one with Jim.

Good luck on this. Jim transferred his 50g military insurance to Allstate and they took it because they have a contract with them. BUT, they will not let us increase the policy. State Farm who we've been with for over 25 years say no. Metlife, no. AARP, no. Uncle Bob's everyone is covered, no. The list goes on and on. There is one guy who advertises in the PVA mag we get who works hard to get you insured but the cost is so high we can't afford it and don't really trust them. :-(

We've tried for years. I can get insured even though my health tests come out worse than Jim's! If you find one let us know. :hug: