Life Insurance with Crohn’s Disease

Last Updated: June 2020

Our agency helps consumers looking for life insurance with Crohn’s Disease secure the lowest possible rates available. Even if you’ve been declined life insurance with Crohn’s Disease, chances are you just applied with the wrong company.

This happens often when consumers are searching for high-risk life insurance.

• Can You Get Affordable Life Insurance with Crohn’s?
• Life Insurance Rates with Crohn’s Disease
• Life Insurance with Crohn’s Disease Case Studies
• How Rootfin Can Help You Obtain Life Insurance With Crohn’s Disease

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Can You Get Affordable Life Insurance with Crohn’s?

Yes, absolutely! If you have life insurance coverage in force and think you’re paying too much, then call us and get a second opinion.

Especially call us if you’re being insured with one of the life insurance call centers who are notorious for underserving those with minor health issues.

As you know, Crohn’s Disease is a form of inflammatory bowel disease and can affect any part of the GI tract. While symptoms vary from person to person, so do life insurance rates.

With over 700,000 American’s affected by Crohn’s, the causes of Crohn’s are not well understood. Of course, we know that diet and stress aggravate it, but it doesn’t cause the disease.

With that said, life insurance underwriters see a lot of people applying for life insurance with Crohn’s, but it’s a very tricky risk to underwrite and requires more work for a life insurance agent to make sure they gather all the information available and paint your risk in the most favorable light possible.

So yes, affordable life insurance rates with Crohn’s are available if you use the right company.

More details in the following sections.

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Life Insurance Rates with Crohn’s Disease

Not all companies will offer you coverage with Crohn’s and there are a few life insurance companies who will offer you a more favorable rating than others.

It’s important that you use the right life insurance company and an agent who has experience in underwriting Crohn’s Disease. 

You see, underwriters are paid to look at a risk-based on information from your application, doctor’s records, and medical exam results.

With Crohn’s Disease, it’s especially important your agent drafts a cover letter with your application highlighting your positive lifestyle habits.

For example, the use of vitamin supplements, regular exercise, good nutritional habits, and good weight control are all positive pieces of information that will help you get a favorable life insurance rate with Crohn’s.

However, underwriters won’t know this information unless your agent provides it voluntarily. This is a must if you’re applying for life insurance with Crohn’s!

Rates will depend on age diagnosed, the time elapsed since diagnosis, location, frequency, duration, and severity of each episode of inflammation. Also taken into consideration is your response to treatment.

Specifically, here is what you can expect:

Single Episode

There are some companies that will offer Standard rates for a single episode or hospitalization if it’s been over 3 years and there has been no additional treatment or symptoms.

If it’s been 1-3 years since the single episode, you can expect Standard – Table 2 rates assuming no additional treatment of symptoms. If it’s been 6-12 months since the episode, expect Table 2-4 rates. Anything under 6 months will be postponed.

This information is based on the best case scenarios we’ve seen with the life insurance carriers that are aggressive with Crohn’s disease. Many companies will give you much worse ratings, so make sure you’re using the right company. (We’ll steer you in the right direction)

In our experience, those that tell us that their Crohn’s doesn’t really affect them that much usually fall between the single episode and “mild” Crohn’s definitions.

When we say “Mild” and “Severe” below, these are our categorizations after speaking with dozens of underwriters about the risk. It’s just a way for us to explain what to expect in a clear way.

Mild to Moderate Crohn’s Disease

If you have mild abdominal pain or moderate IBS with no surgeries (treatment and some steroid use is ok), you are considered to be in this category.

Generally speaking with no other health issues, if you were diagnosed prior to age 45, you would be in a table 4-8 range. If diagnosed after age 45, you’re looking at table 2-4 rates.

With a well-drafted cover letter detailing healthy lifestyle habits, we’re able to get very affordable life insurance rates with Crohn’s Disease for those considered mild to moderate.

Severe Crohn’s Disease

If you’ve been hospitalized, had surgeries, and have to frequently use steroids, it’s considered to be severe by life insurance underwriters.

The best-case scenario is a table 6-8 rating. If you show evidence of dysplasia on biopsies or sclerosing cholangitis, you will be declined by every traditional carrier and will only qualify for a graded death benefit policy.

What life insurance underwriters need to know about your Crohn’s Disease

Here’s the information we’ll collect from you. The more information you can provide, the more accurate our quotes will be:

• Date of diagnosis
• Date of the most recent episode
• Total number of episodes
• Number of episodes in the past six months and past 5 years
• Longest duration of episodes
• Any other conditions diagnosed? (IBS, frequent colon spasms, frequent diarrhea, Ulcerative Proctitis, Mucous Colitis, Spastic Colitis, Catarrhal Colitis, Ulcerative Proctosigmoiditis, Chronic Proctitis, Chronic Ulcerative Colitis)
• What medications are you taking?
  • Oral 5-aminosalicylates? i.e. Azulfidine, Asocol, Delzicol, Pentasa, Lialda, Apriso
  • Corticosteroids?
  • Immune system suppressors? i.e. Imuran, Purinethol, Remicade, Humira, Cimzia, Rheumatrex, Gemgraf, Neoral, Sandimmune, Tysabri, or Entyvio
  • Antibiotics?
  • Other medications like anti-diarrheal, iron supplements, vitamin B12 shots, or pain relievers?
• Have you been hospitalized for your Crohn’s?
• Has surgery been recommended?
• Has surgery been completed?
• Are you or have you ever been disabled because of your Crohn’s? If yes, dates are needed.
• Any other medical conditions?

With this information, we can go out and find the best life insurance rates available for your unique Crohn’s.

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Life Insurance with Crohn’s Disease Case Studies

Here are a couple of examples of cases we’ve worked recently to demonstrate our expertise on the subject and how we’re able to secure the most favorable rates.

Case Study #1

A 53-year-old, male non-smoker needed $750,000 of term life insurance.

He has Crohn’s Disease. His last flare-up was over 2 years ago.

Every agent was promising him a Standard health class, yet the 2 applications he did, came back at a Table 2 rating (which is 2 notches below Standard and a 50% increase in premiums).

After we drafted a cover letter documenting his favorable family history, good cholesterol, controlled high blood pressure, and his build was excellent and met “preferred” rates, we were able to secure a “Standard” rate with one of the most well-known life insurance companies in the nation.

We don’t want to name this company as it’s our edge on our competitors and they may not be the right company for you anyway. Our expertise came through for our client and we truly feel he has the best rates he can qualify for.

Case Study #2

A 68-year-old female, non-smoker needed $250,000 of permanent life insurance coverage.

She had diabetes and Crohn’s disease. Her diabetes was well controlled and recently diagnosed and her Crohn’s only showed 3 episodes over 10 years and not a single episode in the last 3 years.

She was taking supplements to control her Crohn’s, but not any steroids. She was declined for life insurance twice before being referred over to us.

We were able to secure a “Standard” rating using a Table Shave program which she and her family were ecstatic for. A table shave program is a crediting system that many life insurance companies don’t use because it’s highly technical.

We were able to highlight a lot of her lifestyle routines that were also confirmed on her medical records which qualified her for the table shave and eventual “Standard” offer.

No Medical Exam Life Insurance with Crohn’s

If you’re over the age of 50, there are no medical exam whole life insurance policies you can qualify for.

Typically called “Final Expense” or “Burial Insurance”, they are exactly like they sound: small life insurance policies, usually $10,000 to $25,000 in coverage that is meant to cover your burial costs and any remaining debts that might be left to your heirs.

These life insurance policies don’t require a medical exam, just an application.

There are medical questions, but we know the life insurance companies that don’t ask about mild Crohn’s Disease. If you have what’s considered severe Crohn’s disease, we have options available as well, there will just be a 2 year waiting period for benefits.

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How Rootfin Can Help You Obtain Life Insurance With Crohn’s Disease

First off, if you’re looking for an instant life insurance quote and have your Crohn’s under control, choose “Regular” (aka “Standard”) rates from the instant quote tool on the sidebar.

Just note that not all life insurance companies look at your Crohn’s the same. These quotes will be very close to what your rates will be and many times will be spot on.

We’ve helped every type of Crohn’s Disease risk find the best rates available. It all comes down to your unique situation factoring everything including your lifestyle habits and other medical issues.

The most important advice we can offer is to use a life insurance agent who has experience in obtaining favorable approvals. With all this information we’ve provided, it really comes down to the agent recommending the right company and “pitching” your risk to an underwriter.

Remember, we’re on your side.

At Rootfin.com, we’re experienced in helping those with Crohn’s Disease find affordable coverage and will present you with the best options for your situation.

Whether you’re looking for term life insurance with Crohn’s Disease, universal life, or whole life, we’ll be able to help you secure the lowest possible rates.

A short phone interview will need to be conducted in order to gather details regarding your Crohn’s.

If you have Crohn’s Disease and are looking for life insurance, we look forward to earning your business. Give us a call or fill out the form on the right and we’ll be in touch shortly.

My favorite quote by one of our clients with Crohn’s:  “I used to have a colon, now I have a semi-colon”.