Life insurance is denied for HIV positive people

by Guest » Sat Oct 22, 2011 08:40 am
Guest

My cousin is HIV positive but in good health. He's very young and his disabled mother is depended on him. He doesn't have a life insurance policy but is very keen on getting one, which will have his mom as the beneficiary.

My question is, would he be able to buy a life insurance policy even though he is HIV positive? if yes, what would be the easiest way for him to get one?

I have a life insurance policy and I heard that HIV positive people would be denied by most of the companies. Please give some information on this. Any comment will be appreciated. Thanks

Total Comments: 10

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:26 am Post Subject:

It is true that the insurance companies are not much interested in writing life insurance policies to HIV positive people. It’s because they fall under the high risk group, owing to their increased death expectancy.
But many companies have started writing life insurance policies to HIV positive persons because of the advancement in medical science which expands the life span of such people.
Ask your cousin to consult his HIV AIDS case worker to locate special plans.
The best thing would be to get into a group life insurance plan under his employer.
Or else he might get an individual policy, if he meets the special criteria set by insurance companies. He may choose to buy a simplified issue or guaranteed issue life insurance policy. However, his policy rates would be higher.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 02:09 am Post Subject:

A confirmed positive HIV result can be grounds to decline a person for life insurance, and is not discriminatory. There are several companies that will write relatively small face amount policies (up to $25,000 or $50,000) without a medical exam. However, if the application asks about knowledge of an HIV positive diagnosis, failure to answer correctly can void the policy.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:34 pm Post Subject:

Hi,
I sympathize with your brother. He can try to purchase small amount on "guaranteed issue" or "special risk" policies. However, he may need to wait in order to get coverage of his pre-existing conditions.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 07:00 pm Post Subject:

Life insurance is not subject to "preexisting conditions" in the way that disability/health insurance is. Your health status is either a non-issue or it will result in a substandard rating, or a decline. Once the policy is issued, dead is dead, except for death by suicide in the first 1-2 years (depending on the state). Misrepresentations in a application can also void a policy during the first two years.

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 04:45 am Post Subject:

While there is no waiting period in the case of life insurance, there is a period that an insured has to wait in order to get the policy activated, before which no benefits can be realized even if the insured dies. In the case of an HIV positive person, this period of time may be greater than the others, which can be as high as more than 2 years, depending on the life insurance company.

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 09:32 pm Post Subject:

Misrepresentations on an application can be considered fraud which does not fall in the 2 year contestability period. Insurance company could still resend the policy even if it has been longer than 2 years.

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 07:50 pm Post Subject:

A policy can't be rescinded for fraud after the 2 year period.

Ex. Joe has been diagnosed with cancer. He does not disclose this. He dies 2 years and 2 days after getting the policy. The claim will be paid.

There are very few exceptions to this. For instance, Joe used Sam's piss for the urine test.

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 09:29 pm Post Subject:

Dante, are you sure that you want to be soliciting for business over the web when you are only licensed in three states? I guess that is better than Max doing it while only licensed in one state.

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 09:18 am Post Subject:

Nearly all insurance policies exclude pre-existing medical conditions. Although there maybe some life insurance providers that may consider applicants with HIV, they do it for limited time periods every now and then. The trick here is to conduct as much research as possible.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 05:12 am Post Subject:

Nearly all insurance policies exclude pre-existing medical conditions.


This is not accurate when it comes to life insurance. Some "preexisting conditions" have little or no effect on life insurance premiums, while others result in a substandard rating, costing more money, but providing insurance coverage.

HIV is in a special category. A prior diagnosis of HIV+ allows an insurance company to automatically decline an application. There are a handful of insurance companies that will look the other way, because they charge exorbitant rates for their coverage to begin with, and they will limit the coverage to no more than $25,000 - $50,000.

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