Life Insurance with Ulcerative Colitis Over 50, a Quick Guide
Posted in Medical Issues last updated on July 22, 2019
Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) more than 900,000 Americans live with daily.
Men and women between 50 and 70 years old tend to be afflicted with Ulcerative Colitis even more frequently than many younger Americans.
Are you one of the people that unfortunately experience nausea, fatigue, bleeding, diarrhea, and belly pain associated with Ulcerative Colitis?
For this reason, are you worried that your Colitis will keep you from getting cheap life insurance for seniors?
Or are you simply wondering “can I still get life insurance at my age”?
I have answers for ALL of your life insurance questions!
In fact, I’ve put together this quick guide containing plenty of details about buying life insurance with Ulcerative Colitis …whether you are aged 50, 60, 70, 80, or older.
Now I know the thing you most want to know right now is what kind of life insurance rating will you get with UC?
Answer: the majority of applicants with Ulcerative Colitis receive a Substandard Table Rating 2 with a 50% rate up in premium.
No one likes to pay more than their peers for life insurance but not having a policy at all isn’t a good option either.
Imagine if you didn’t have a life insurance…what would your family do?
So be sure to focus on the good news here which is your chances of being declined altogether are pretty low.
Keep reading for more news about applying for over 50 life insurance with UC.
Overview: Insurance Ratings with Ulcerative Colitis
Take a look at the overview I put together below for applicants with Ulcerative Colitis.
- Impact on Application: Possibly Significant
- Best Rating: Standard (Average Premium)
- Common Rating: Substandard Table Ratings 1 3 (25% – 75% premium rate up)
- Main Factors: Severity, Diagnosis Date
Insurance companies won’t just be evaluating your UC. I can’t stress this enough….
Your life insurance rating will be based on your complete health history, as well as your personal habits and lifestyle choices.
What Are Life Insurance Ratings?
You aren’t the only one if you’re thinking: “what the heck is a life insurance rating anyway”?
Maybe you’re even wondering “why should I care about ratings”?
I’m here to tell you that life insurance ratings are at the heart of determining whether you will be offered a life insurance policy and the price you will be charged for that coverage.
So it’s worthwhile to review the below rating chart. This grid will show you the four different rating classes, the reasons an insurer will pick a certain rating, and how the rating affects your premium.
| Rating | Reason For Rating | Premium Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Preferred Plus | Healthiest, Lowest Risk Applicants | Best Pricing Possible |
| Preferred | Very Healthy, Low Risk | Better Than Average |
| Standard | Controlled Medical Condition | Average Pricing |
| Sub-Standard (aka Table Rating) | Chronic Illness (Moderate to Severe) | Below Average Pricing, about a 25% rate up per Table |
Quick Guide Tip 1: Each life insurer has slightly different guidelines for assigning ratings. As a result, Life Insurer A might give you a Standard Rating and Life Insurer B thinks a Substandard Table Rating 1 is best.
That’s why I want you to give me a call. This will give me a chance to point you in the direction of the top life insurance companies for people over 50, as well as the companies that have a history of being more lenient when it comes to Ulcerative Colitis.
Life Insurance Ratings for People with Ulcerative Colitis
Obviously, everyone knows Ulcerative Colitis is not a terminal or life-ending illness. So why would a life insurance carrier even care that you have such a condition?
Well, life insurers care about your pre-existing condition because it can evolve into other long-term health complications like colon cancer.
In this section, we’re going to dive into the generic criteria for rating individuals with UC.
Standard Rating
If it’s been ten years since you were originally diagnosed and it’s been at least 5 years since you last took regular prescription meds to treat your Ulcerative Colitis then you could get a Standard Rating.
Ulcerative Proctitis is a specific type of UC that only impacts the rectum and no other part of the colon. It’s considered a more mild version of Ulcerative Colitis and is generally easier to treat.
For this reason, life insurers often assign applicants with this type of UC a Standard Rating.
Also, if you had a total colectomy to relieve your UC symptoms, you will probably qualify for a Standard Rating too.
The key is you must not have any complications (such as weight loss or a repeat surgery) from the colectomy surgery.
If your colon surgery resulted in complications then you’ll be dropped down to a Substandard Table Rating.
Receiving a Standard Rating means you’ll pay the average premium for your life insurance policy.
Substandard Table Rating
Many of my clients with Ulcerative Colitis fall into the Table Rating category which is fine. They are always happy because they have the proper protection in place for their loved ones.
You might get a Substandard Table Rating too if….
You were diagnosed with UC over two years ago then you’ll probably get a Table Rating 2 with a 50% premium rate up.
You were diagnosed with UC anywhere from six months to two years ago then you’ll most likely receive either a Table Rating 2 (50% premium rate-up) or Table Rating 3 (75% premium rate-up).
If you’ve had two severe episodes of UC symptoms in the past 1 to 3 years then it’s possible you could get a Substandard Table Rating 6 which is a 150% premium rate-up.
In my experience, applicants that have recent intense flare-ups of their Ulcerative Colitis usually suffer from a more severe version of UC such as Proctosigmoiditis, Left-sided Colitis, or Pan-Ulcerative (total) Colitis.
Usually, these same applicants also will receive a Substandard Table Rating. Of course, the rating can vary significantly depending on the individual.
I’ve seen applicants with severe UC receive anything from a Table 2 (25% premium rate-up) to a Table 6 (150% premium rate-up).
In a few unique cases, an applicant with severe UC received a decline for traditional life insurance.
Of course, this just meant we ended-up getting their life coverage with a more flexible carrier and/or policy type.
Postponement
If you were diagnosed 6 months ago or less then the life insurer will probably postpone your application for another 6 months.
This is because the insurance company will want to give you time to get your condition under good control before assigning a rating.
Quick Guide Tip 3: To be clear, having your application postponed is not the same as being declined.
It simply means the carrier will put your application to the side and begin the application process again after some time has passed.
Case Study Examples
I know this is a lot to understand. So let’s go over some case study examples to put things in perspective.
Case Study #1
Five years ago, Jamie was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. It’s been three years since Jamie needed to take any medications or receive any special treatments. Mostly she keeps her symptoms away by following a strict diet. She doesn’t smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. Six months ago, Jamie had a colonoscopy which came back normal.
Jamie received a Standard Rating with average premiums.
Case Study #2
Joseph has a serious case of Proctosigmoiditis Ulcerative Colitis which was diagnosed more than 10 years ago. Joseph takes a prescription of Humira (adalimumab) to keep his symptoms under control. Joseph’s last colonoscopy result was benign (noncancerous) and showed very little inflammation.
Joseph received a Table Rating 3 with a 75% premium mark-up.
The Application: Ulcerative Colitis Questions
So how does the life insurance company figure out what rating to give you?
Well, they ask a lot of questions about your chronic condition.
To help prepare you, I put together the most commonly asked application questions about Ulcerative Colitis.
- What was the date of your initial Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis?
- How old were you when you were diagnosed?
- Which type of UC do you have?
- Have you ever been hospitalized because of your illness?
- Do you take any prescription drugs to treat your UC? If so, which medicine and what’s the dosage?
- Have you had any surgeries to treat your Ulcerative Colitis?
- If not, has your doctor recommended you have surgery to treat your UC?
- What was the date of your last colonoscopy? What were the results?
- How many episodes or flare-ups have you experienced in the past 6 months? 12 months? 24 months? 5 years?
- Did your doctor prescribe steroids for a flare-up? If so, which date did you take the last dose of steroids? What dosage size?
- What is your current treatment plan for your Ulcerative Colitis?
- Is it your current treatment plan the same since your diagnosis? If not, then please describe past treatment plans?
- When was your last visit with a specialist?
- Do you have a history of Hepatitis?
- Are you aware of certain triggers for your UC?
- Do you follow a special diet to manage symptoms?
- Have you ever had your liver function tested? If so, did your test results show an elevated liver function?
- Do you have a family history of Ulcerative Colitis?
The Advice Is Free
Being that there are nearly 1 million Americans living with different forms of Ulcerative Colitis, you can bet I’ve helped many of them secure affordable life insurance.
I can help you as well and the best part is my advice is FREE!
Remember, getting a great life insurance plan is really about caring for your family. It’s another way to provide for their financial future long after you are gone.
Don’t let your spouse, kids, or grandkids down! Give me a call today for free advice on the best life insurance for seniors or simply fill out the online quote.
