How to get Life Insurance When You Have Rheumatoid Arthritis
Finding a life insurance policy when you have rheumatoid arthritis can be very frustrating. 95% of the underwriting decisions for burial insurance are based on a check of your prescription medical history. Unfortunately, medications used to treat RA are on the knock-out list for most burial insurance companies. The good news is that we have a solution.
Medical Treatment for RA
Medications used to treat and control RA and other inflammatory types of arthritis fall into the following categories: NSAIDS, conventional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), biologic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, glucocorticoids (also called steroids), and pain relievers.
Glucocorticoids, NSAIDs and pain medications are generally not a problem for underwriting purposes. It is the drugs classified as DMARDs that cause the greatest headache with insurance companies. Not only are these drugs used to treat auto-immune conditions like RA, they are often used to treat potentially terminal conditions like cancer.
DMARDs used to treat RA include the following:
- methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall, Otrexup, Rasuvo)
- sulfasalazine (Azulfidine)
- hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil)
- leflunomide (Arava)
- tofacitinib citrate (Xeljanz)
- cyclosporine (Neoral)
- etanercept (Enbrel)
- infliximab (Remicade, Remsima, Inflectra)
- adalimumab (Humira, Exemptia)
- golimumab (Simponi)
- certolizumab pegol (Cimzia)
- anakinra (Kineret)
- abatacept (Orencia)
- rituximab (Rituxan)
- tocilizumab (Actemra)
- belimumab (Benlysta)
- azathioprine (Imuran, Azasan)
Is it possible to get an insurance plan with first day coverage and a reasonable price?
Yes. My go to company, hands down, for people with rheumatoid arthritis is Royal Neighbors of America. KSKJ Life is also a good choice but they are in a limited number of states.