Can I Get Life Insurance If I Have Arthritis? YES! And, depending on the type and degree of your condition, along with your level of dedication to your treatment and control of your disease, your premium for life insurance with arthritis may be much lower than you would expect.
When life insurance underwriters are considering a client with arthritis, the first thing they are concerned about is which of the two main types of arthritis, osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid arthritis, do you have? If you have either disease, there are symptoms of joint pain, stiffness and inflammation. But the level of health risk presented by each is much different.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and affects only the joints and not internal organs as Rheumatoid arthritis does. It is often thought of as a “wear and tear” disease that comes naturally to most of us as we get older. Life Insurance companies will ask all about your osteoarthritis and the treatment you have received, as they do for any health condition thought to “impair” a client’s risk. But, if your condition is mild or moderate and no other risk impairments exist, you will have access to the best ratings offered.
Psoriatic arthritis – would it affect a life insurance application?
Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that develops in some people with the skin condition psoriasis. It typically causes affected joints to become inflamed (swollen), stiff and painful.
Like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis is a long-term condition that can get progressively worse. In severe cases, there’s a risk of the joints becoming permanently damaged or deformed, which may require surgical treatment. About 1 in 20 people with psoriasis will develop arthritis with the skin condition. In most cases, psoriasis comes before the arthritis. The cause of psoriatic arthritis is not known, but genes may play a role. In general, people who have psoriasis have a higher rate of arthritis than the general population.Symptoms can include swelling of the joints, Skin patches (psoriasis) and pitting in the nails, and tenderness.
Each Insurance Provider has their own underwriting guide and we contacted them all to find the best solution. Many of the providers were placing a 50% ‘loading’ ( premium increase) on the cost of the monthly premium however we were able to find one company who were willing to offer him insurance on standard rates. Doctors may prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) to reduce pain and inflammation of the joints. More severe arthritis needs to be treated with more powerful drugs called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), such as: Leflunomide, Methotrexate or Sulfasalazine.
Life insurers have to consider many things when it comes to rheumatoid arthritis. Not only do they need to consider the fact that an applicant’s lifespan may be reduced, but many prescriptions used to treat RA have significant side effects and with severe cases the disease may be causing other organs besides the joints to be declining.
A higher mortality risk for those diagnosed with RA is associated with a younger age at onset, a longer duration of disease, concurrent presence of other health problems, and characteristics of more severe and progressive disease, such as infection and GI bleeding.
The rating underwriters give an applicant with RA will depend upon the severity of the disease. It is possible for those with mild rheumatoid arthritis to not be table rated. A table rating is given when a life insurance underwriter deems an applicant too high of a risk to insure at a standard rate. The table rating means the applicant will have to pay a price increase on top of the standard premium price to offset the risk the company is taking by insuring that person. As an example, if the insurance company classifies you as Table D, also called Table 4 depending on the company, then this means you will pay the standard price plus 100%
