Sleep Apnea and Life Insurance

[Uncle_Bob]

I am about to start shopping around for a $700,000 15 year term life insurance policy.

Does anyone know if having Severe Sleep Apnea puts me in a higher (more expensive) risk category?

[Wulfman]

I am about to start shopping around for a $700,000 15 year term life insurance policy.

Does anyone know if having Severe Sleep Apnea puts me in a higher (more expensive) risk category?

If you ADMIT to having it, they will probably reject you altogether.

In my opinion, having successful treatment (better than the "average" of < 5.0 AHI), is actually better than knowing you have it and being untreated.......but then, I don't write the rules for the insurance companies.

If it was me, I wouldn't admit to it.

Den

[Linus]

It will affect your insurance. I would not advise skipping that question or giving false information. Giving false information will make it appear on their databases for 7 years. They will get it from your medical provider anyway.

. Let them know you have a CPAP. For me I have to Prove that I use it with a follow up sleep study in a year.

[tattooyu]

What if you already have life insurance? What do you suggest?

[Wulfman]

What if you already have life insurance? What do you suggest?

I was wondering if Linus already had his life insurance, too.

Everybody that I've ever seen post about APPLYING for life insurance indicated that there's no option to tell them that they're using CPAP. They just get dropped like a hot rock.

Rhetorically speaking.....if there was a question on a life insurance application about whether you had high blood pressure.....and if you're taking blood pressure medications for high blood pressure.....do you still have high blood pressure?

This is my argument with answering the question about sleep apnea. If your sleeping with a CPAP machine at night brings your AHI to less than 5.0 (normal)......do you still have Sleep Apnea? The way I understand it (although I've never seen an application for life insurance in the last 25 years), there are no qualifiers......it's just pretty much "Have you ever been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea?".....or..... "Do you have Sleep Apnea?"
If the insurance should happen to find out, somehow, then I think a person could argue that they're doing better than millions of other people who have not been diagnosed with it.


Den

[Gale Hawkins]

Now with the Stimulus Bill pasted unless you self treat in time all your medical records will be in the federal medical records database anyway to cut out any lying and to insure your every health test and decision is recorded and stored for future research. Well as long as Big Bro is watching over us from DC all will be cool.

[Linus]

Yes. I have life insurance and I applied for it after I was diagnosed with OSA. My company kept adjusting the price every year, so I locked in for the next 25 years with USAA. I explained that I have a mild case of OSA and that I sought after treatment proactively. All other health factors are normal for me. It was not an issue.

[Linus]

If you already have life insurance and you are current with your payments, I see no issue. But before you apply for insurance and you have existing conditions, disclose them.

Like I said earlier, those who provide false information on applications have the most to lose. If you falsify information about a medical problem and it is later found that you passed away due to an issue that they find out that you failed to disclose it, they can refuse to pay out the proceeds. It is NEVER a good idea to give false information no matter how you may want to interpret it.

High blood pressure, OSA, etc. If you are being treated, for whatever condition that is also considered in the quote for insurance (it will keep the rates down if you show that your are keeping up with the treatment). Just remember you still have the condition -- treated or not...

Certain cases treatment for a condition still will not get you out of a high risk category. Those include Aggressive Cancer, Certain types of Hepatitis, and or substance abuse.

[Nekalbustriusis]

I told my insurance company that I have sleep apnea and gave them the name of my sleep specialist. I was approved and the company said they were happy that I am being treated and am compliant. My quoted rate didn't increase. If you don't tell the insurance company about existing health problems, you risk having the the company not pay out if something happens to you. I've studied life insurance.
If one company drops you like a hot potato, find another one. It's better than having your family dropped like hot potatoes after you're gone.

[moresleep]

Best to be upfront about medical conditions when applying for insurance, and find an insurance company with some sense. However, I recall reading somewhere that, when it comes to life insurance, many states have laws making fraud irrelevant after a certain number of years, to encourage people to buy life insurance without fear that the insurance company will, after their death, find some reason to refuse to pay their family. The article said insurance companies had acquired such a bad reputation for doing this they could no longer sell life insurance, so were actually in favor of the law. I suppose it would differ from state to state.

It's undiagnosed/untreated sleep apnea that shortens lives, not properly treated OSA. Life insurance companies could probably save loads of money by contacting existing policy holders, and offering to lower premiums in return for the customer going out and getting tested for OSA at the insurance company's expense. Seriously.

[Hose_Head]

It will affect your insurance. I would not advise skipping that question or giving false information. Giving false information will make it appear on their databases for 7 years. They will get it from your medical provider anyway.

. Let them know you have a CPAP. For me I have to Prove that I use it with a follow up sleep study in a year.

How does a follow-up sleep study prove compliance? It's my guess that few of us are compliant during a sleep study (i.e. more than 4 hours of theraputic sleep). Would it not mean more to the insurance company for them to have the compliance data from your xpap.