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Does having a stent affect life insurance?

Yes, but usually less than people expect. A stent is evidence of treated coronary artery disease, and carriers price the underlying disease rather than the device. A single stent with good recovery and controlled risk factors is routinely insurable.

Applicants often assume the stent is the problem. Underwriters read it as the solution to a problem, and the question is what the problem was.

What is actually being assessed

The stent tells the underwriter you have coronary artery disease significant enough to require intervention. What matters next is the extent of that disease, how many vessels were involved, your ejection fraction afterwards, and whether anything has recurred.

A single stent placed electively after a stress test, with normal cardiac function since, is a very different file from multiple stents placed after an infarct.

The factors you can still influence

Blood pressure, cholesterol ratio, weight, smoking status and medication adherence. Carriers are pricing the likelihood of another event, and every one of those bears on it. A file showing well-controlled risk factors two years after a stent reads as managed disease.

Continuing to smoke after a cardiac intervention is the single most damaging item you can present.

What to supply

The catheterisation report, the number and location of stents, your most recent ejection fraction, and a current medication list. Supplying these up front often avoids an Attending Physician’s Statement request, which otherwise adds weeks to the file.

This is research, not advice. No Exam Life Insurance Online is an independent publisher, not a carrier or agency, and sells nothing. Underwriting outcomes vary by carrier, by state and by individual file, and carriers revise their guides without notice. Confirm anything that affects a decision with an agent licensed in your state before you apply.

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