Life Insurance after Stage III diagnosis

I've had a term policy for years and my insurance agent keeps trying to get me to go to whole life insurance.  She did some preliminary research before my 5 year NED and said she had no luck.  Good luck in your search and keep us posted!

Bugs, did you get the insurance AFTER your diagnosis?  I had a very lucrative policy, that I lapsed on and was in the process of getting re-instated when I was diagnosed. When I left the hospital, this is what I was sobbing over-I felt as if I had screwed my whole family over by not taking care of myself and not taking care of important things like this. Even though this is true,  I have since learned that what is done is done. We have a lot of debt, student loans, etc...and young children. I take some comfort in the fact that there are rather large college scholarships from Komen for children who have lost a parent to breast cancer.  I have since gotten a spouse policy through my husbands work. It is 50,000.  That will have to be ok.  I hope to get term insurance in two years.  I will be able to answer the have you been in treatment for cancer the last three years with a no by this time. I thought I only had one more year, but I think the Herceptin does count as treatment for BC.  I feel unsafe posting this to be honest.  I don't feel it is secure enough on here to discuss life insurance. I have posted about it before and then deleted it. Other than term life insurance (and maybe even not this), I don't think there will ever be any way a stage III person can get Whole Life Insurance unless there is a specific rider which would eliminate a pay out if a person were to die from their breast cancer in the future.  I think our treatment alone will be seen as a risk for other cancers, heart problems, etc.... I hope you get more responses as I am also very interested in this topic.

I was able to get life insurance and long term disability insurance after my diagnosis through work. I've heard of other women getting a small life insurance policy($10,000 was the sum, I believe) through AARP after diagnosis.

shelly - difference is kind of implied in the name.  Term insurance is usually what one buys when younger while young and in good health.  It is cheap and you buy and pay for a "term" you will keep it in effect which is the number of years you pay into it (such as for a 20 year or 30 years) term.  Many buy this b/c its so cheap and by the time 20 or 30 years have passed, you are closer to retirement, your children are usually grown, you hopefully have savings to fall back on, etc.

Whole life - is just that.  But whole life is very expensive and comes with a lot of fees and most financial planners and all the experts out there (think the CNBC types) say it is also pushed by agents cuz it gives them a huge commission.  There are situations where whole life makes sense but for the average person (well maybe except for all of us on here now) whole life is just so expensive and doesn't make as much sense.  A good reason for whole life might be that someone owns a business which must carry on, you need money later in life due to having a special needs child that forever needs care, etc. Whole life also has pretty poor cash out if you decide you want to cancel it - any monies put into it over the years are usually eaten up by high fees.  

The above is kinda the "cliff note" version.  Hope that helps.

I am wondering about this too, now that I've been given two months notice at work. I used to have a whole life policy on my own many years ago, but cashed that in to finance a move. Now, all I have is the term from my employer which will go away when I'm off the payroll.



There was something in the paperwork about converting it to self-pay, which might be a smart thing to do if it's affordable. As long as it's not as expensive as the COBRA health insurance I just might do that.



I know I've seen ads for places that will sell you a small-coverage policy, no questions asked. It's supposed to be enough to cover your burial expenses, about $10,000. Maybe you can pick up a couple of those?

I got a LTC policy through AARP this past year, I was 4 years out and NED at the time, course now I am trying to figure out if my last mamo was good or not....not sure this year if they would have approved me but at the time, it was not an issue

This may be tough since it's at stage III. Have you tried looking with the help of a sympathetic, seasoned agent? As long as your prognosis is good and your health records show an improvement, I think you may stand a chance. If there's a coupling of other conditions or diseases, a recurrence of cancer or metastasis involved, the chance of finding coverage dramatically reduces. You may be able to qualify for Guaranteed/Simplified Issue life insurance or a graded death benefit life insurance policy that will pay out graded portions of the death benefit the longer you live. These options will obviously mean a lower death benefit, but something is better than nothing. Being covered under group life insurance through an employer is also an option, either through your own workplace or through a spouse's coverage, like bugs mentioned.

Pat Cassidy
Disclaimer: I work for AccuQuote and this is my personal opinion.

I highly recommend looking into the Guaranteed Trust Life Insurance Company - Graded Death Benefit Plan. Also, the Fidelity Life - Graded Death Benefit Plan - might also be an option. These plans are expensive and you have to wait a few years until the are worth the full value, but I found them to be a good option for myself.

Good luck!  

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