Can You Get Life Insurance after You Survived a Stroke?

Even though someone suffers a stroke, it does not yet disqualify her or him from acquiring life insurance.

A stroke is an anomaly of blood (or lack thereof) in the veins which bring your brain to life. Strokes can be slow, such as when small amounts of blood leak into the brain gradually. As the blood accumulates, it presses against the cerebral tissue in the vicinity. Strokes may also causing a burst vein to release a large amount of blood into the tissue. Another form of stroke comes as the result of arterial embolism or thrombosis, whereby a congested vein cannot deliver enough blood into the brain tissue which effectively causes the affected brain regions to die.

One way or another, the consequence of a stroke is the loss of one or more cognitive skills in the patient. In addition, a stroke survivor (whether one with minor or pronounced cognitive impact) is thought to be prone to suffering another stroke or to have a higher propensity to health troubles. Whereas in many cases the stroke patient is actually going to live his or her life and not suffer too many additional serious health issues, she or he often needs at least some amount of attention and care.

So does a stroke event in one's health record change one's ability to take out an insurance policy? Must you worry?

A stroke definitely has the ability to impact the insured's likelihood of obtaining insurance. Ordinary cookie-cutter insurance policies may be available depending on the scale of the stroke. In such cases, insurers will request specific information about the applicant's entire medical record, but most particularly the description of the stroke, the age of the applicant when the stroke occurred and any permanent damage caused by the stroke, such as difficulties with speaking and any medications prescribed to remedy it.

Any history of pre-existing conditions of the patient, like diabetes or high levels of cholesterol, can impact a person's insurability. When a stroke is supplemented by but a negative medical record, the client will have much harder time qualifying for traditional insurance.

Simplified Issue No Medical Life Insurance offerings may be another possibility for stroke victims. There are simplified issue carriers including Assumption Life and Canada Protection Plan who provide immediate coverage to stroke survivors provided they've had the stroke before a period stated in the policy application. This is typically approximately two to three years. It is crucial to look at simplified issue options before you apply for traditional products. This is because should the customer be refused traditional insurance first, he or she may suddenly lose eligibility for simplified issue insurance.

LSM Insurance specializes in locating the right insurance products for hard-to-insure clients in particular.