Buying life insurance with renal disease?

[rfranzi]

Hi all. I lost my life insurance when I lost my job in 09. Wish I had done this sooner, but while fighting for my disability I was completely broke. I started looking into getting a small amount of life insurance and these brokers are heartless! I just got off the phone with a woman who tried to sell me "accidental only" insurance and she actually said, "you are most likely to die in an accident." I didn't really want to banter with her about how I was most likely to die. I could think of was, how does she think she knows how I will die? I'd say I have a better chance of dying from cardiac arrest from this disease than an accident, since I don't go anywhere.

So, long story short, does anyone know where to get overpriced, undervalued life insurance without the hassle of these insensitive brokers? Thanks....

[MooseMom]

Was the person you spoke to an actual broker, or was it an underwriter or just a salesperson?

[Deanne]

I haven't heard of such a thing. I know when I was a child, my dad tried several times to get life insurance for me. I was always rejected. It sounds like you're single. Do you really need life insurance? I think of life insurance more as a way to care for your dependents if you pass away. It sounds like your son is grown and on his own, and you don't have other dependents. If that's true, maybe you just need to stash away enough money for your burial instead.

[cariad]

rfranzi, I'm sorry to say that if you are in ESRD in the US, you will not get life insurance until you get a transplant. I went through a broker and applied with 2 companies, both of them rejected me on medical grounds, my gp told me I must be "on crack" if I thought I could get insured pre-transplant, and I asked about this on a transplant forum and a very nice member who was also an insurance broker told me that you need to be post-transplant at least 1-2 years and stable in order to get life insurance. Many others on the forum chimed in with their stories of being rejected for life insurance, even people who had a 'money is no object' philosophy.

I don't know if transplant is an option for you, but if it is, I would pour my energies into staying as healthy as possible, putting what you might have paid in premiums into a CD for your family, and waiting for the call/live donor to come by. It was a huge waste of my time to pursue this pre-transplant. My GP told me not to take it personally and I told him that I take it exceedingly personally and we canceled our policy for my husband with the company that rejected us. When my one year anniversary comes up I plan on giving this another go.

Sorry. If there is a company out there willing to take a chance on ESRD patients, I certainly never found it.

[MooseMom]

I'm sorry to agree with cariad, but it is true...at this stage, you are pretty much uninsurable.  Even if you did find a company that would underwrite your risk, your premium would be sky high.  Theoretically, you may be able to find "accident only" insurance.  Underwriters can write any kind of policy they want.   

[Rerun]

I love it because when these life insurance places call me and want to sell me something all I have to say is "I'm on dialysis"..... click.

Works for me.

[cariad]

I love it because when these life insurance places call me and want to sell me something all I have to say is "I'm on dialysis"..... click.

Works for me.

That's the spirit, Rerun! Always looking on the bright side!

[rfranzi]

Was the person you spoke to an actual broker, or was it an underwriter or just a salesperson?

They said they were a broker....

[MooseMom]

I'm sorry if I'm sounding stupid, but I just want to get this straight.  Would I be correct in assuming that you phoned an insurance broker, told her that you had renal disease but that you still wanted to try to buy life insurance?  Is that right?

[Jean]

I could not even get mortgage insurance, once they found my BP was thru the roof.

[lola]

Even after Otto had a transplant, GREAT labs and a letter from ALL his Dr's we still could not get him life ins!!!! Also when we went to get the kids each a small policy they denied both the girls since at that time they both carried Alports. Thank GOD Otto was able to get some through his work or else he and the kids would have NONE, that is why he has said if he no longer can work he's done with D as he wants to make sure we have his benefits....

[jbeany]

I have a $5000 life insurance policy that my parents put on me when I was a kid, long before I was diagnosed with diabetes.  It's enough to take care of cremation costs and not much more.  I don't have kids, though, so I'm not really worried about supporting anyone after I'm gone.  My insurance agent told me that getting any more is an incredibly long shot.

If burial costs are all you are worried about, you can pay into a funeral home at a set amount, and it will cover the burial costs regardless of a rise in prices over the years. 

Otherwise, just start setting money aside in an account.  I'd say CD, too, but given the interest rates these days, that's hardly worth the effort!

[Rerun]

Seriously folks...........  would you insure YOU?  Would you put up a million dollars against our odds?  NOooooooo.

They are in the business of saying I bet you will live to be 100 and pay into the account every month until then.  AND they look at us and don't take the bet.  They're not stupid.

                   

[cariad]

Any insurance agency that passes on me is losing out on a great deal of money. I would insure myself, yes. I wanted a term life policy. Had they granted my request, I would be making my fifth payment this month. 

They didn't need to bet that I will live to be 100. They bet that I will die in the next 15 and I say that they are suckers who passed on making an easy $25,000. (This was West Coast Life. I should probably call them in 2025 and laugh uproariously, then hang up.)

[Rerun]

Well, you are probably right.  I started dialysis when I was 24 and will turn 50 in July.  They would have made money on me too.

[Desert Dancer]

Hi, rfranzi, sorry to say but everything cariad said is dead-on balls accurate. I had an agent burst into laughter right in my face when I tried to buy life insurance and told her about my ESRD. (Needless to say, I'm not with that company any more.)  I got really lucky and was offered the opportunity to convert a group policy from a job I had back in 1994; I jumped on that so fast it made their heads spin. The company no longer exists but the policy does, and I've been auto-paying my quarterly premiums for 13 years now. I have to hold on to it because I know it's all I'll ever get, especially since I have no particular plans for a transplant any time soon.

[rfranzi]

Thank you, all. I have stopped trying to find any life insurance. Lesson learned.

[cariad]

everything cariad said is dead-on balls accurate.

OK, I write for a living, and I wrote for theatre for years in my previous life, not to mention my years in academia as a student. I have read and heard thousands of comments about my writing, both positive and negative....

and this is my absolute favorite!!!

If only I were still in theatre - that would go straight onto the poster.

[okarol]

 

[Sax-O-Trix]

I was denied life insurance thirteen years ago when my creatinine was 1.1.  That blood test was the one that started the ball rolling with finding out that I had kidney disease.  Had they insured me for the ten year policy, they would have won:) 

[GraphicBass]

I have an $80,000 life insurance policy through the professional association I belong to (not that much much, but it will pay buy the wife time to adjust in the event/likelihood of my death), in addition to great health insurance, also through the association.

It's expensive, but worth it, considering my meds, doctor visits, and five hospitalizations in 2010.

In 2011 we are adding Medicare as secondary due to me going on dialysis, which will pay what the primary private insurance doesn't pay. The dialysis center loves me for my private insurance!

I would encourage you to look for these types of associations to join if you can. The larger the member base, the better. (Mine is the Printing Industries Association of Georgia, which participates in the Printing Industries Benefit Trust.) There are many such associations in the U.S., and most of them offer some sort of benefits plan you can buy into, but some are better than others.

g

[rfranzi]

Thanks for all the comments, and ouch to those of you who laughed. I don't think it's funny, maybe it's just a fresh wound. I did get life insurance, btw...an expensive policy for $20k, but it's something. So don't poo poo so quickly.....it takes two years to get to the full 20k benefit but I plan to be around that long.

[malaka]

Plan B is for one of those TV specials where the elderly are guilted into buying expensive burial insurance in small increments (capped at probably $10K) to "not be a burden on their loved ones."  Are you between 55 and 80?  You qualify. Your premiums cannot be increased (but your benefits can decline, so watch out)  Small print says limited benefits for first two years, too, so the #)$(*%* insurance industry has you both ways.

There's something called, rather morbidly, the "death spiral" in the insurance industry where the plan is to keep jacking up premiums or limiting benefits so than more and more of the pool drop out before claiims can be filed.  Yes, its a numbers-only industry despite the b.s. feel good ads used to peddle product.  Used for non-group health plans and, as I understand, with quasi life insurance like "burial" insurance.  If everybody kept their policies, the premiums would skyrocket since one thing is certain:  everybody dies sooner or later.

[wj13us]

My advice would to be to take the amount of money every month you thought you would spend on insurance and put it into a separate account. At least there will be something to help with expenses if needed.

Bill

[rsudock]

Contact the National Kidney foundation...they may have some info on this. The last walk I did in June there were people from Prudential, I believe, telling us renal folks "we will insure you, when no one else will" It may be something to look into...I will double check as well.

xo,
R