Heart failure is the leading cause for hospitalization in individuals over the age of 65 and roughly 670,000 people per year are diagnosed with this condition. This complex disease is one of the toughest conditions to pass through underwriting when applying for life insurance.
Heart failure doesn’t mean the heart completely ceases beating; rather, it’s the pumping capacity that is weakened. A major complication with heart failure is how the kidneys respond to the heart’s decreasing ability to pump oxygen and nutrients through the body. This response can create a build-up of water and salt in the arms, legs, ankles, lungs, and other organs, therefore, congesting the body.
Life insurance for individuals with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) can be hard to obtain and sometimes impossible. Approval for any condition will always come down to the information you ask ahead of time for the underwriters, such as:
- When were you diagnosed?
- What medications are you currently taking?
- What kind of treatment are you on?
- Are you diabetic?
- Have you ever had a heart attack?
- Do you have Cardiomyopathy?
- Are you currently taking high blood pressure medicine?
- Have you had any issues with your kidneys in the past?
These are just a few of the many questions an underwriter might ask when you are applying for life insurance for a client with congestive heart failure. Conditions that can cause CHF include, but are not limited to, hypertension, heart attack, cardiomyopathy, diabetes, kidney disease, coronary artery disease, and many more. The presence of any of these contributing conditions is what makes qualifying for life insurance so difficult.
Clients can live with CHF under the proper treatment from their doctor. BINGO…This is why we need to make sure and understand how to properly fact find to give our clients the best chance for approval. Many times denials could have been avoided with proper fact finding.
If you are interested in quoting a client with heart disease or congestive heart failure, contact us today. You can reach me directly at drew@redbirdadvisors.com or call 866-547-8780 ext. 102.
