LIFE INSURANCE

[Seana30]

As my hubby and I are going to sign the final paperwork for our life insurance policies today I was wondering how many of you CFers were able to get life insurance?

When I mentioned getting the children some life insurance, and told him about Courtney, you could see our agent cringe. He said it would be next to impossible to get her any quality life insurance.

If you were able to get it, are you paying a ton for it?

Seana

 

[EnergyGal]

A cf patient can get life insurance if they work for a big company. I am sure all Cf patients are covered under their parents insurance policy up to the age of 18-21. I forgot the cut off age on this. I think I was covered until I was 21 then I went into the insurance business myself.

 

[Seana30]

Risa,

If Courtney was to go work for a "big company" would they HAVE to give her the option for life insurance? If so, would she pay the same price as anyone else that works for that company?

My hubby owns his own company (only 4 employees), so we have to get health and life insurance as individuals, and not thru a company.

Seana

 

[Ratatosk]

Someone on CFChat2 indicated they were able to get their son wcf insured. Their agent looked high and low. We just tried with our insurance agent and he only looked with their company, which they denied. I keep telling DH, we need to look again.

 

[anonymous]

I believe he can form a group insurance plan and your daughter can eventual work for your company. Risa

 

[jenhum]

I have life insurance. My parents must've gotten it forever ago, but they never let it lapse. When I got married they gave me the option of taking over it or just stopping it (though my mom stronly suggested keeping it!) and so now we pay for it....I think it's only like $150 a year. I'll have to ask if they got it through my dad's work or if they got it when I was a baby. I'm sure if I were ever to let it lapse it would be impossible to find new coverage though.

 

[Diane]

I know that my mom had life insurance on me since i was a child. She has it thru " Gerber Life Grow up Plan" or something like that .

 

[Ratatosk]

Darn, tried that one, too this past winter. No such luck. L

 

[EnergyGal]

I do not think a CF person can walk into a Prudential office and get life insurance. If they work for a major company I have no idea. Health insurance yes if they work for a major company that has group insurance. I do believe you can form your own group insurance (like you mentioned you have a company) it does not have to be a big company and she can be one of your employees. That would be a great idea if you can work that out. I would think that your daughter could get life if she worked and qualified for all the benefits but then again if they go by pre existing conditions I have no idea. I bet it is worth looking into at any expense when looking into applying for jobs when she is old enough to work.

Life insurance depending on what type is very expensive. Term insurance is cheaper if you are young and healthy. Whole life is pretty costly and you also have to be healthy to get a good rate. I like universal life. I had a universal life when I was married but I was the beneficiary of my ex husbands policy. I could not be the policy holder.

I have a friend with CF who did get their own life insurance. I do not know how he did it but he escaped some of the clauses I guess. He is a family man and really needed this desperately. If I speak to him I can try to find out. I kind of got the feeling that he did not want to tell me the details for privacy sake.

 

[tammykrumrey]

I do have life insurance on both of my daughters with CF.  I
actually had my agent suggest it to me when my older daughter,
Kayla, was about 8 months old-just in case she were to become
unable to get insurance in her childhood.  She was dx with her
CF about 6 months later.  And while I was pregnant with
daughter number two, we filled out the paperwork and had it all
signed prior to delivering her, just in the case that we were
struck by that 25% chance again.  The day she was born, my
husband called our agent, who immediately filled in her name and
birth date, and sent it in.  He even paid the policy that year
as a 'birth' gift!  She tested positive four weeks later.
 I am so happy that it was something that we did.  The
policies are not very expensive, and they will always have them.

 

[coltsfan715]

I have life insurance and have had it since I was an infant. My mom and dad got it through the same agency they had their life insurance policies through. Same as Tammy did - just in case - that is also why my parents got life insurance for me. I was starting to have mild unexplainable problems - later diagnosed as CF - so they got it.
I now pay the premium - it is $15 a month and am also the policy holder - my dad held the policy in my name until I turned 21 (though I could have had it changed to my name at 18 had I pursued it). It is worth something like 25K. I don't know what kind of plan it is, but it pays a base rate of x amount and then the 15 bucks a month adds on to it, so maybe something like 20 thousand base and then about five thousand more when you add what we have paid in total since we got it 23 years ago. I may be off on that, but that was how my mom explained it to me I think.

Lindsey

 

[Emily65Roses]

My parents tried, years ago, and basically got laughed out of the office. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif" border="0"> I have pretty much accepted that I won't be getting any, because even if the opportunity arises, I won't be able to afford it. Mike is already aware that he's getting jack sh*t when I die. Lovely, huh? Hah!

 

[becca23]

I have life insurance policy thru State Farm. I got it about 10 years ago when I was pretty healthy. The premium was only about 50 buck a month. I then was given the option to turn it into a whole life policy arter the first term was up then it went up to $75.00 it is a 50,000 dollar policy. I wish I would have a applied for a bigger policy back then but now I can't get another one. So my suggestion is to apply for a largest amount possible, and affordable.

 

[CowTown]

Okay, please excuse my ignorance on this one, but can someone explain why we need it, especially if when we're a todler?

Concept is, if/when someone's spouse dies, the other spouse receives that amount of life insurance, right? When you sign up are signing up for a specific amount from the beginning, or does the amount acrue over time? Is this totally different then a will? Because if/when I die, my husband will automatically get everything that I own, right? I'm confused about what life insurance is all about.

 

[lovingBenandCambree]

I just got a 25,000 policy when Ben's company switched insurance. That was the highest amount we could get without any questions asked. After that I would have to have a physical and we all know how that would turn out. So for the first time in my life I have life insurance WHOOPEE!!!

 

[lovingBenandCambree]

Kelly, life insurance is a good thing to have if you can get it. One reason being that it isn't cheap to die. My grandpas funeral plan cost about $6,000 and that was years ago when he purchased it for himself. I have heard that the average is around $10,000 or so. I am just glad that Ben won't have to come up with the money out of pocket when I die.

 

[Ratatosk]

My husband wanted to get it for DS because in his family, they always get life insurance for the kids and when they're 18 they turn it over to them. Several of his relatives developed diabetes, so it would've been difficult for them to get signed up for life insurance after that diagnosis. As long as they continue to pay on the existing policies and don't let it lapse, they're fine.

In theory life insurance is cheaper the younger you are. When we bought our first house, DH cashed in the life insurance policy and used it for a downpayment. Both of us have insurance thru work and also each have whole/term life policies.

 

[CowTown]

Got it. So when you see in the movies that someone is killed b/c that person just wanted their $1million life insurance, it just means that person will have a nice cushion to not work with, right? Maybe when someone leaves a ton of money it's better than putting it in a trust since the beneficiary won't have to pay taxes? Just curious!

I would really like to find a company that would take me on. That would be great. My husband recently signed up for a policy for himself, and now that I understand it all, I feel really bad not having one of my own.

 

[Ratatosk]

I thought the person on CFchat2 said something about it being a farmers insurance. But this was years ago -- things could've changed with their policy. Heck, 10 years ago I got pneumonia a year before we added more insurance and the company requested all my medical records, had someone come to our house and draw blood, check vitals, etc. Thought for sure they'd go after my husband's instead 'cuz he's on meds for high chloesterol. Nope, me.

L

 

[anonymous]

I have got life insurance on my son. I got it 4 mths after my son was diagnosed with cf which was not until he was 9 years old. An insurance agent from liberty national stopped by one day and was asking if we had life insurance on the family. We explained the situation with our son and he said he may be tough but he would do what he could. A couple of days later he called and said we could get insurance on our son. The most would be 15,000 and it would build cash value. We pay 20.55 a month bank draft. The only catch was that if something happened for the first 3 years we would only recieve what we paid in. Starting the 4th year it would be for the full amount and it would draw a cash value in addition to this over the years. I have insurance on him through my work also but its nice to know that he has this policy incase I have to quit my job to take care of him one day. Also he only has to pay on the policy for 20 years (age 29) and it will paid in full and he'll always have it.
Peace of mind for the what ifs in life.