How Does a Cancer Diagnosis Affect Life Insurance
Cancer stands as a dire health issue, capable of wreaking havoc on lives in unparalleled ways. The treatments available can prove to be extremely challenging. The prognosis and survival rates vary greatly, influenced by the cancer’s stage and variety.
This means many cancer patients want to figure out a way to be financially stable in case they pass away. It can be incredibly difficult to find a company that will take on the risk cancer patients present to them. These people often can’t even find a policy at all.
Life insurance for cancer patients depends on a variety of factors. These can range from the age of the patient all the way to the lifestyle choices the patient is making while they are undergoing their treatment. The amount of time since diagnosis is also one of the strongest factors in getting an affordable life insurance policy.
We’ll talk about all of these things along with the best tips for managing your money if you can’t get life insurance after a cancer diagnosis. How can you provide for yourself and your family in this unimaginable circumstance? Let’s discuss and put your mind at ease.
The Type of Cancer Matters
The first thing a life insurance company is going to look at is whether you are currently undergoing treatment or are in remission. If you are still sick, it is nearly impossible to get a life insurance policy. You will pose too much of a risk to their company, especially if you are in the later stages of diagnosis.
If you are in remission, you’re going to have a better chance of getting life insurance depending on what type of cancer you had and whether it ever traveled outside of the area it was originally located in.
This means a skin cancer like melanoma that remained at the original site and never traveled to other places in the body isn’t as likely to come back in a different place. If the cancer traveled to the lymph nodes and other body parts, your mortality rate is much worse and you pose a large risk to a life insurance company.
Breast cancer has a much better rate of survival than pancreatic cancer. Testicular cancer is another highly curable cancer. Talk to your life insurance company about the type of cancer you recovered from and the five-year survival rates for the cancer. This will go a long way in convincing them of your merits as a customer.
One way around this is to apply for a life insurance policy in which you don’t receive a medical exam before getting insurance. This way you don’t have to disclose your medical issues and can get a basic insurance policy.
The downside to this is that the life insurance policies in which there is no evaluation are much higher in price to offset the added risk companies are taking on with their customers. You may be spending so much money on a life insurance policy in which there was no exam that your family won’t have any left after you potentially pass away.
Weigh these risks and rewards carefully before moving forward with getting life insurance with no medical exam.
Ways to Stay Healthy and Positive
If you want life insurance after recovering from cancer, one of the most important ways to survive and live a fruitful life is to stay healthy during and after treatment. This means taking care of your mental and physical health.
Cancer survivors need to talk to their doctors about the exercise they should be doing and the self-care for their minds that will encourage them to keep living every day with purpose. Cancer is a mentally draining experience just as much as a physically exhausting one. Overcoming trauma is a long process, so don’t feel bad if it doesn’t occur right away.
Finding out what makes you happy will make you live longer and healthier. Being emotionally secure will lead to increased motivation to take care of yourself after your cancer. If you keep up with your physical health, a life insurance company will be more likely to take you on as a customer after your recovery.
Sometimes returning to an old activity you used to enjoy will bring you happiness. Other times you can buy a dog or another pet. Mental health experts have used animals as a means to bring emotional stability to people who struggle with diseases for decades now. It all depends on what makes you feel like life is worth living after undergoing cancer treatment.
Ways to Provide for Your Family Without Life Insurance
It’s easy to see how cancer can make it nearly impossible to get a life insurance policy. If you are unable to get life insurance, there are other ways to get creative and still provide for your family in the potential face of death.
Start making a savings account specifically for your family in case you are unable to provide in the future for them. Take just a few dollars every day, perhaps the amount you would have spent on life insurance if it was granted to you. Put the cash in the bank for safekeeping. See if you can get budget auto insurance, or at least a cheaper premium plan.
Remember not to do anything that will hurt you in the present, though. If the savings account is taking away too much money from the money you use for typical expenses, maybe think of another way you can raise money.
Fundraisers and community events are always decently successful avenues for making money when you are sick. GoFundMe accounts and charity organizations can crowdsource the money for you and your family. Tell your story online and let the world know about your unique situation. People may just be willing to listen and help.
Ask other family members and friends if they are willing to put some money away in a savings account for you in case you do not make it after your cancer diagnosis. Pride can be a big issue with this strategy, but don’t let that get in the way of protecting your family when they need it.
The bottom line when it comes to the topic of cancer is that you can only control so much. Disease is one of the worst things that can happen to people in their lives. Think about staying positive and making the best of a horrible situation.
Shawn Laib writes and researches for the life insurance comparison site, QuickQuote.com. He wants to help people stay happy and healthy in the face of adversity.
