Life Insurance and Heart Tests – What You Need to Know

Can You Get Life Insurance After a Heart Test?

Yes! Life insurance is possible after cardiac tests, but your results may work for (or against) you. This guide breaks down how common cardiac tests impact your ability to qualify for life insurance and what underwriters look for when reviewing your medical history.

In the United States, statistics show that more people die from heart disease and stroke than cancer.

Life insurance underwriting for heart patients falls into the high-risk underwriting category. Companies rely on heart test results to evaluate your cardiovascular health.

Here’s what underwriters focus on for each major heart test:

An electrocardiogram records the heart’s electrical activity and helps detect arrhythmias, previous heart attacks, and cardiac abnormalities like heart blocks.

Key Underwriting Factors:

• Normal EKG – No impact on rates
• Minor Abnormalities – Minor T-wave changes range from no impact to Table 2 rating
• Significant Arrhythmias – Major T-wave changes or ST depressions – Higher ratings to decline
• Recent Abnormal EKG – Postpone until your physician evaluates it.

If you had an abnormal EKG and were evaluated by a physician, we can use those results to offset the EKG results. For example, an abnormal result may lead to further testing, such as a stress test.

If a pacemaker is recommended, you’ll need to get it before life insurance is available.

A stress test evaluates how your heart responds to physical exertion and identifies potential blockages or abnormal heart rhythms.

The stress test may be performed alone or include additional testing like nuclear or echographic imaging.

Key Underwriting Factors:

• What did the results indicate?
• Did you complete the test or stop it due to fatigue, symptoms, chest pain, etc.?

If your stress test results are normal, they can be used to offset an abnormal EKG. If the results are abnormal, underwriting is based on the identified condition.

Not everyone is able to complete a stress test, whether due to existing health issues, inability to walk for the required time, or other reasons.

The TEE test provides detailed ultrasound images of your heart using an endoscope procedure.

A TEE test is commonly used to evaluate:

• Atrial or ventricular heart defects
• Congenital heart conditions
• Heart valve disease

This test is used to diagnose cardiomyopathy and mitral valve conditions.

Nuclear testing, or myocardial perfusion scans, administer imaging isotopes intravenously that are then monitored and recorded to help identify artery blockages, ventricular functions, indications of a heart attack, and more.

Types of tests include PET Scans, MUGA Scans, and SPECT Scans.

A cardiac cath is one of the most definitive tests used to evaluate your heart and gives insight into:

• The extent of coronary artery disease.
• Ventricular pressure measurement
• Congenital defects
• Heart valve issues
• Ejection Fraction Measurement

For many people, the cardiac catheter results will indicate what types of heart problems there are and what type of treatment will be needed to address the cardiac issue.

Coronary artery calcium scores hurt your underwriting chances or have no effect. It rarely helps you in underwriting.

Coronary artery calcium scores (CAC) measure the amount of calcium that has built up in your heart’s arteries. Electron Beam CT or Multislice CT scans measure the degree of calcification.

Here’s how coronary artery calcium scores affect life insurance based on age:

Age	CAC Score	Underwriting
< 35	1-10 > 10	Standard – Table 2 Decline
35-44	1-100 101-400 >400	Preferred Best – Table 2 Table 2 – 4 Table 4 – Decline
55-64	1-400 401-1000 >1000	Preferred Best – Table 2 Table 2 – 4 Table 4 or greater
>64	1-1000 >1000	Preferred Best – Table 2 Table 3 or greater

CAC scores compare your results to the general population of people of the same age, gender, and race as you.

If your calcium score is less than 90% of the expected score for your age/gender, your rate will be more favorable. Above 90% puts you into the high end of the above ranges.

The most important thing for us to know is why you had a coronary artery calcium score completed. Was it due to an existing heart condition, or was it part of a preventative screening?

With that information, we’ll help you find the best rates available.

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiac-related hormone. BNP consists of an inactive hormone (NT-proBNP) and an active hormone (BNP).

BNP and NT-proBNP are blood tests used to diagnose and monitor heart failure.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, normal levels of NT-proBNP are:

• Age 0-74 = 125 pg/ml or less
• Age 75-99 = 450 pg/ml or less

It varies by company, but some general age guidelines are as follows:

• Age 0-59 – NT-proBNP levels under 300 do not affect underwriting
• 60-69 – NT-proBNP levels under 400 do not affect underwriting
• 70+ – NT-proBNP levels under 500 do not affect underwriting

Underwriters may add table ratings to your price if your level exceeds the above.

Increasingly, life insurance companies are using NT-proBNP in paramedical exam testing. BNP and NT-proBNP give underwriters a crystal ball when evaluating your health.

BNP levels evaluate:

• Left ventricular function
• Right ventricular function
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Atrial fibrillation
• Coronary artery disease

Slight elevations of BNP predict future heart problems and mortality.

The NT-proBNP testing rules vary by company. We pulled the following information from each company’s underwriting guidelines.

• Corebridge Financial
  • Ages 20-39 – $5,000,001+
  • 40-44 – $1,000,001+
  • 45-49 – $1,000,001+
  • 50-55 – $250,001+
  • 56-59 – $100,000+
  • 60-66 – $100,000+
  • 67-70 – $50,000+
  • Ages 71+ – $50,000+
• Banner Life
  • Any insured over age 60 or if insured has a medical history.
• Lincoln Financial
  • All ages – $10,000,000+
  • Ages 41-50 – $2,500,000+
  • Ages 51 or older – $250,000+
• Pacific Life
  • All ages – $10,000,000+
  • 18-40 – $5,000,000+
  • 41-50 – $1,000,000+
  • 51-60 – $500,000+
  • 61-70 – $250,000+
  • Ages 71 or older – All Face amounts
• Protective Life
  • Ages 51-60 – $500,000+
  • Ages 61 or older – All face amounts
• SBLI
  • Ages 50 or older AND $5,000,000+

We’ll continue to update this as we receive updates from other companies.

The liver makes C-reactive protein in response to inflammation, and that inflammation plays a role in the buildup of plaque in arteries.

High-sensitivity CRP tests (hs-CRP) with levels above 2.0 mg/liter are linked to a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart disease.

A cardiac MRI provides detailed images used to assess heart structure, function, scarring from heart attacks, aortic evaluations and more that provide cardiologists with detailed images of your heart.

A chest X-ray is a basic imaging test used to assess your heart size, lung conditions, and fluid build-up.

Different life insurers evaluate heart test results differently. Some are more lenient with abnormal findings, while others are more strict.

• Which heart tests did you have?
• Why were these tests completed?
• What were the results?
• Have you had any procedures completed (stents, bypass, pacemaker)?
• Have any procedures been recommended that you have not completed yet?

We’ll help you find the best options available based on your unique health history.

Having a heart test doesn’t mean you can’t qualify for life insurance, but the results will determine your options available. Understanding how insurers view different tests can help you find the best policy for your needs.

If you’ve had a cardiac test that has affected your life insurance, contact us today for a free, no-obligation life insurance quote.