How Does COPD Impact Your Life Insurance Rating?

Contact us to find the life insurance companies with the lowest rates if you have been diagnosed with COPD.

If you are wondering how COPD impacts your life insurance rating, then you’ve come to the right place.

We know how difficult it is to find affordable life insurance with COPD, and we can explain how people who have this condition are rated by insurers.

Yes, it is possible to buy life insurance with COPD.

What is COPD?

COPD is an acronym for “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.”

It is a disease for which there is currently no known cure. COPD can be a progressive disease which means that could often get increasingly worse over time.

One of the primary causes of this disease occurs as a direct result of smoking. Other causes of this medical condition can stem from a long term exposure to a variety of lung irritants including chemical fumes, pollutants or even dust or other environmental irritants.

The most common symptoms of COPD include:

• Excess production of mucus
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Tightness in your chest
• Other forms of symptoms

In your lung, your smaller bronchial tubes or bronchioles end in tiny groups of very small and round air sacs called alveoli. These alveoli transmit oxygen and exchange carbon dioxide to and from small blood vessels called capillaries.

Your airway and these air sacs are capable of stretching naturally, and they expand and contract.

When you have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease both your airways and air sacs begin to lose their elasticity. Additionally, the walls which exist between these air sacs can not only be destroyed but can also become thicker or even inflamed.

The effect is to produce more mucus in your airways which can become clogged and making it more difficult to breathe.

In the U.S. there are two main classifications of COPD which include:
• Chronic Bronchitis
• Emphysema

Of the two conditions, emphysema is the more serious form of this disease because there is much greater degree of actual physical damage to the air sacs. With chronic bronchitis, the linings of your airways are perpetually in a state of irritation and inflammation.

The condition is mainly found in middle aged adults, and is the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. However, there is treatment which can slow the progression of the disease and this often has to be coupled with lifestyle changes such as ceasing to smoke, and removal of environmental irritants.

COPD Life Insurance Rating Factors

How you will be rated if you’ve been diagnosed with COPD will primarily depend of the severity of the disease and your current overall health.

If you have just been diagnosed with the disease in its early stages, have made any appropriate lifestyle changes, and are following your medical regime the best possible rating you might expect would be a “Standard” rating.

Those individuals who have a greater degree of disability will receive a higher rating which means you will be paying more for you premiums.

How you will be rated will be determined by your PFT (Pulmonary Function Tests). The examiner will test both your FEV and FEV1% which means Forced Expiratory Volume per second. An average healthy person has a range between 80% – 120%.

Typically, people who have COPD have a FEV1% less than 80% and the lower the percentage – the more serious the condition. If less than 50%, your situation is not insurable with a fully underwritten policy.  However, we always have a guaranteed issue policy as an option for you.

Your smoking habits, both past and current will also be taken into account by both the medical examiner and the underwriter.

Information Required By Life Insurers To Rate COPD

The following information will be used by our medical examiners to help determine your health classification rating for COPD:

• Current and previous smoking habits

If you have COPD, let us do the comparison shopping for you as we work for you and not the life insurance companies.

• Date diagnosed with COPD and details
• Serial chest CT or x-ray findings
• Results of any PFT tests and your FVC and FVC1 results
• Establish if you have been hospitalized due to respiratory complaints and applicable details
• Current medications

Finding Affordable Life Insurance With COPD

You can find affordable life insurance approval with COPD especially if go through an independent insurance agent who can perform the comparison shopping for you.

At Abrams Insurance Solutions, we have access to over 70 life insurance companies so we know which ones are the best life insurance companies that are the most lenient when it comes to issuing a policy for someone with COPD and other health related conditions.

Why You Should Use Abrams Insurance Solutions

We work with an underwriting advisor who is familiar with how each life insurance company prices a policy if you have COPD. After learning the specifics of your condition, we will use the knowledge of our underwriting advisor to apply with the insurance company that is most likely to approve you for the lowest rate on your policy.

There is no charge for this service and our goal is to find you the best and lowest cost life insurance policy if you have COPD or any other medical conditions – such as sleep apnea or asthma.

If you have any questions, concerns, or need advice during the process of finding life insurance approval with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), or any other health related concerns, then call us at 858-703-6178 today.