Affordable Life Insurance Rates with Heart Attack or Heart Disease
Does having a heart attack
in your medical history mean you are uninsurable?
Assessing
Heart Damage and Insurability
 A myocardial
infarction is a medical term for the more familiar
term heart attack. Both labels are used when discussing
the most common cause of death in the United States. A
heart attack occurs when the heart’s blood supply is
blocked, cutting off oxygen and causing irreversible injury
or death to a portion of the heart muscle. The severity
of the heart attack is determined by how much of the heart
is irreversibly damaged. The extent of damage inflicted
by a heart attack, medical interventions and how people amend
their lifestyles to strengthen their hearts after an episode,
are significant factors in determining a person’s potential
for future attacks and insurability.
How fully a person recovers from a heart attack is dependent
upon what part of the heart and how much of the heart is
permanently damaged. The extent of the damage will, in turn,
determine the course of recovery, be it surgical, medicinal,
rehabilitative including lifestyle change. Insurers need
to build a case that certifies that the person recovering
from a heart attack is doing everything possible to prevent
a future attack. Document your heart health by supplying
the insurer with:
- EKG reports
- Regular medical follow-up
- Medication list
- Method of monitoring and controlling blood
pressure and cholesterol
- Lifestyle improvements: quit smoking,
cardiac rehabilitation, exercise, healthy diet
In the best case scenario, of a mild heart attack with few
or no complications, a person may be insurable as quickly
as three to six months. In some cases of complicated heart
attacks, where the health of the heart is in question, an
insurer may request additional EKG or stress test findings
to support supplied documentation. Worst case scenarios are
faced by individuals who are still experiencing chest pain,
arrhythmias, shortness of breath, circulatory discomfort
or weakness following treatment after their heart attacks.
These individuals are probably uninsurable.
Other related medical conditions
(or medical terminology) include Heart Disease, Coronary
Artery Disease, CAD, Coronary Angioplasty, MI, Atherosclerosis,
Heart By-Pass Surgery. Read below for more information on
receiving a term life
insurance quote from a life
insurance specialist with these medical conditions.
Who
Is at Risk for Heart Attack
There are numerous risk factors that lead to heart attacks,
some inherited and others preventable. Heredity, or bad genes,
is a leading cause of coronary artery disease which
can lead to heart attack. High blood pressure, unhealthy
cholesterol and diabetes can run in families or can result
from stress or poor dietary choices, however, these conditions
are manageable with medication and lifestyle changes. Some
individuals are at higher risk due to elevated levels of
an amino acid called homosysteine, or fibrinogen which
is involved in blood clotting, or C-reactive protein which
is linked to inflammation. Men appear to be at greater risk
for heart attack than women and aging is also a risk factor.
Smoking and a high-fat diet are risk factors that are corrected
with lifestyle change.
The Challenge of Detecting a Heart Attack
Heart attacks can be brutally obvious or silent. According
to Medline Plus, heart attacks may include some or
all of the following symptoms:
In addition to the aforementioned symptoms, severe heart
attacks can present with sudden chest pain, described as
feeling like a tight band is around or a heavy object is
on the chest. The pain can be limited to one part of the
body or can move from chest to arms, shoulder, neck, teeth,
jaw, belly area, or back. The pain of a heart attack usually
lasts longer than twenty minutes and relief is not experienced
following rest or from taking a medication called nitroglycerin.
Damage from a heart attack is documented by abnormal findings
on a test called an electrocardiograph (EKG) and from
elevations in cardiac enzymes. This type of heart attack
usually occurs when coronary arteries narrow due to a build
up of plaque. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. When
a piece of plaque breaks loose from the wall of an artery
it can cause blood clots to form and lodge in smaller parts
of the coronary artery. The clots prevent oxygenated blood
from reaching the heart and the heart muscle begins dying
from suffocation.
Silent heart attacks mimic the symptoms of indigestion or
may cause only minor discomfort. Since the symptoms are misinterpreted,
many people fail to seek medical treatment. These attacks
are referred to as “silent myocardial infarctions” and
the resulting heart damage remains undiagnosed until the
unsuspecting person undergoes an EKG test for another reason
and abnormal findings are revealed. Often times, people applying
for insurance have medical exam with an EKG, which may lead
to a diagnosis.
Fighting Back a Heart Attack
When a person has a severe heart attack and appears in an
emergency room and is hospitalized, there are several courses
of medical treatment, which may be performed alone or in
combination when a heart attack is suspected or confirmed.
A clot dissolving medication may be given to interrupt a
heart attack that is in progress. A procedure called angioplasty in
which a balloon-like device, called a stent, is inserted
using a catheter into a blocked artery to may be necessary
to open the artery. In the aftermath of major heart attacks,
or as a preventive measure in patients with severe artherosclerosis, coronary
artery bypass surgery (CABG) to remove and replace
the blocked arteries may be recommended.
Following a heart attack, patients are monitored using an electrocardiogram
(ECG) machine to look for irregular heart beats called arrhythmias. Depending
upon the EKG readings, a patient may be started on blood
thinners, called thrombolytic therapy, through an
intravenous line in a vein. In addition to medicines, fluids
will be administered through the IV and a urinary catheter,
a thin tube, will be inserted into the bladder to monitor
the body’s fluid output. Patients will also be given
oxygen, even when their oxygen levels are normal, to relieve
the heart from the burden of being the sole supplier of
oxygen to the body.
How
Can MEG Financial Help?
At MEG Financial, we have worked with many
individuals across the country that have had alcohol related
histories and have helped many obtain fairly priced life
insurance. A number of these clients previously attempted
to buy life insurance elsewhere but were either turned down
or asked to pay a significantly higher rate. Our experience
helping others with alcohol related problems is invaluable
to you in identifying the insurance company that will treat
you most fairly.
For more specific information or to obtain
a custom quote, call MEG Financial today at (877) 583-3955.
You may also submit this short form and an independent insurance
agent will personally contact you to go over any questions
or other concerns.
 Related
Links for Heart Attack Insurance Information
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