How do you get life insurance if you’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer life insurance prices are based on your individual medical history and the type of cancer treatment you received.
In this guide, we break it down by the type of prostate cancer treatment received and point out what you need to know in order to get the best life insurance rate possible.
Quick Overview Guide
- Radical Prostatectomy
- Radiation Therapy
- Active Surveillance
- Step by Step Guide to Prostate Cancer Approvals
- Denied? Read this.
- Prostate Cancer Success Stories
Prostate Cancer Life Insurance FAQ
Get answers to your prostate cancer life insurance questions here.
You can get life insurance after prostate cancer if you work with a high-risk life insurance specialist who understands prostate cancer underwriting.
Life insurance is available if you currently have prostate cancer and meet the active surveillance criteria described later on in this article.
The best life insurance companies for prostate cancer depend on the type of treatment and your details, but insurers like Prudential, Lincoln Financial Group, John Hancock and Protective Life have been the overall best.
Prostate cancer life insurance underwriting varies dramatically by company. Some carriers specialize in radiation and active surveillance, while others specialize in radical prostatectomy.
You can still get life insurance if you were denied due to prostate cancer. It’s important that you work with a high-risk life insurance specialist to get your best rate.
Life insurance companies favor radical prostatectomy in the early years but as more time passes, radiation and stable active surveillance receive similar offers.
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Life Insurance after Radical Prostatectomy
Did you know that life insurance is available in 3-12 months after prostate cancer surgery?
It’s true, but you need to meet the following criteria.
- Pre-treatment PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels of 10 or less
- Gleason score of 6 or less
Post-surgical pathology staging of T2b or less- Negative (clear) surgical margins
- Post-treatment PSA level less than 1.0
- Age 60 or older at time of diagnosis
- No family history of prostate cancer
Your postpone period may be as little as 3 months after the prostatectomy.
Non-smoker plus rates and possibly preferred rates.
What happens if you don’t meet the above criteria?
Life insurance is still available but you’ll probably have to wait 12 months, and additional charges called flat extras and/or table ratings may be added.
For example, the following unfavorable factors will negatively impact prostate cancer survivors’ life insurance underwriting.
Unfavorable Radical Prostatectomy Factors
Underwriters look at the following as “unfavorable” or “very unfavorable” and the type and number affect postpone periods, availability and pricing.
Unfavorable
- Pretreatment PSA 11-20
- Gleason 7
- Stage T3a
- Hormones prior to treat.
- Diagnosed – Age 50-55
- Pos. surgical margins
- PSA >1.0 after surgery
Very Unfavorable
- Gleason 8
- Stage T3b or greater
- Hormones after treat.
- Any Recurrence
- Diagnosed under Age 50
We use the information from your post-surgical pathology report to obtain underwriting feedback from life insurers that specialize in prostate cancer underwriting.
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Life Insurance after Radiation Therapy
With radiation therapy, life insurance is available 12 months (or longer) after completing radiation assuming you meet the following criteria.
The 12 month postpone is to see if the prostate cancer cells have been effectively treated, your side effects are manageable, and your cancer is in remission.
The following is considered ideal for prostate cancer radiation therapy:
- A pre-treatment PSA level of 10 or less
- Gleason score of 6 or less, and some Gleason 7 (3+4)
- Post-treatment PSA level of 0.2 or less.
- PSA level stable for more than 12 months
- Age 60 or older at time of diagnosis
The best life insurance companies will consider a “standard” rate and possibly a “non-smoker plus” life insurance rate.
IMPORTANT – Your entire PSA history is needed. We need the PSA test results, dates of tests and any changes in testing facilities.
In addition, If you’ve had other prostate disorders (BPH, High-Grade PIN), let us know that.
Unfavorable Radiation Therapy Factors
Life insurance companies consider the following unfavorable:
- Gleason Score of 7 (when it’s a 4+3)
- Under Age 60 when diagnosed
- Hormonal Therapy
- PSA Increase of 1.0 or more above your nadir
- Gleason Score of 8 or greater.
PSA increases greater than 2.0 ng/ml are considered a recurrence of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer recurrence requires a 3-5 year postpone after treatment.
A quick note about types of radiation therapy – The type of treatment used by your radiation oncologist (brachytherapy, EBRT- IMRT, IGRT, 3D-CRT, SBRT, Proton Beam) doesn’t matter as much as the outcome after prostate cancer.
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Life Insurance for Active Surveillance
Life insurance for active surveillance is the most complicated to obtain.
Consequently, the best-case scenario is a “standard” rate if you meet the following criteria:
- Age 60 or older when diagnosed
- Stage 1 prostate cancer
- Gleason Score of 6
- Stable PSA for 3 years or longer
- Regularly scheduled visits with your urologist.
Generally speaking, the type of life insurance available to you when your treatment plan is active surveillance:
Under Age 50 – Guaranteed Issue and Accidental Death coverage.
Age 50 – 65 – With a stable PSA of 10 or less (for 2-3 years), term life insurance, universal life insurance, and whole life are available.
Age 65 or Older – For stage 1-2b prostate cancers and stable PSA, all types of life insurance are available.
IMPORTANT – Your entire PSA history is needed. All dates and PSA results are needed.
Unfavorable Active Surveillance Factors
The following make underwriting more difficult:
- Age 55 or younger when diagnosed
- PSA Level of 10 or greater
- Gleason Score of 7 or greater
- Stage T2 or greater
To summarize, stable PSA levels are critical to getting approved if your treatment plan is watchful waiting.
Favorable Active Surveillance Factors
We’re seeing more and more men choose active surveillance for prostate cancer.
We’ve also witnessed a number of life insurers improve their underwriting of active surveillance cases, which is a huge positive step.
One of the tests we see that has definitely helped with underwriting is the Oncotype DX GPS test. This test was designed specifically for men with low-risk prostate cancer to help them decide between active surveillance and treatment.
Improvements in DNA testing and imaging tests have led to more aggressive prostate cancer life insurance approvals for active surveillance.
If you’ve had any of these tests completed, let us know.
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Step by Step Guide to Prostate Cancer Approvals
1. Know Your Dates – Know the date of prostate cancer diagnosis, surgery, start and end dates of any radiation treatment as well as follow-up dates.
2. Have your PSA history available – Underwriters need your entire PSA history, including both pre-cancer PSA tests as well as your most recent results.
3. Get your prostate cancer stage from the biopsy and pathology reports – For a radical prostatectomy, get a copy of the post-surgical pathology report. For radiation and surveillance, get the biopsy report. The highest stage indicated is used for underwriting purposes.
4. Get your Gleason Score – Your Gleason score is found on the post-surgical pathology report for radical prostatectomies and the biopsy report for radiation or active surveillance. The highest recorded score is used by life insurance underwriting.
5. Know what type of treatment you received – Did you have surgery, radiation, both? Make sure you know all the dates. For surgery, it’s also important to look at the post-surgical pathology report to see if margins were positive or clear.
6. Did you have any cancer recurrence? If cancer has returned, it’s important for you to have all the details.
7. Final Step – Submit your information to us. Our quick quote process takes 3-5 days to get all underwriting feedback. At that time we complete the application with the best life insurance company.
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Life insurers will also ask you about any history of prostate disorders such as BPH or prostatitis before your cancer diagnosis.
Denied Life Insurance Due to Prostate Cancer?
Don’t give up if you were denied life insurance because of your prostate cancer history. Make sure you read this advice before you apply for life insurance again.
Many declines are due to working with the wrong life insurance company.
Only a small number of life insurers specialize in prostate cancer underwriting.
We’ll match you with the best companies based on your individual history.
Life Insurance Success Stories
We’ve helped many prostate cancer survivors find affordable coverage from the best life insurance companies.
Gleason 6 – Radical Prostatectomy
- Age 55 at the time of diagnosis
- Stage T1b Prostate Cancer
- PSA was 6
- Gleason was a 6
- Radical prostatectomy 2 years ago
- No further treatment required.
- No recurrence
Approved at Non-Smoker Plus rates
Gleason 7 – Radical Prostatectomy
- Age 54 when diagnosed
- Stage T1c prostate cancer
- PSA was 6
- Gleason = 7 (3+4)
- Radical prostatectomy 3 years ago
- No further treatment required.
- No recurrence
Approved at Standard Non-Tobacco rates plus a flat extra expense of $600 per every $100,000 of coverage. The flat extra lasts for 3 years.
Gleason 7 is the reason for the more expensive life insurance rate.
Active Surveillance Treatment Plan
- Age 69 when diagnosed
- Stage T1a
- Historical PSA of 5.0
- Rising PSA Level
- 5.1 at diagnosis
- 5.6 at 6 months
- Gleason 6
- Active Surveillance
Approved at Standard Non-Tobacco rates.
Radiation using Brachytherapy
- Age 68 when diagnosed
- Stage 1
- Pre-Treatment PSA = 6.5
- Gleason Score – 6
- Brachytherapy treatment
- Post-Treatment PSA Level has been 0.8 – 1.0.
- No recurrence
Approved at Standard Non-Tobacco rates.
For the active surveillance history, life insurers were concerned about the 0.5 increase in 6 months. It was documented that he planned to start treatment should his PSA reach 6.
For brachytherapy cases, underwriters focus on PSA levels after reaching your nadir (lowest level). Increases greater than 2.0 ng/mL is a recurrence of prostate cancer.
In addition to prostate cancer, we also help men with pre-cancerous conditions such as a high-grade PIN.
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Prostate Cancer Life Insurance Conclusion
When you submit your request to us, we provide you with underwriting feedback from the best life insurance companies for prostate cancer survivors.
You’ll learn what to expect in terms of underwriting and price. We’ll provide you with life insurance quotes for term life insurance as well as universal life insurance.
For prostate cancer survivors, getting approved is complicated unless you know the underwriting rules
We provide you free life insurance quotes and help you determine your life insurance needs.
There’s no pressure and no obligation with our life insurance service.
Please take a few minutes to request your quote today. Thank you.
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