mykidslovedogs said:
Here are the underwriting guidelines for World Insurance:
Cancer
Skin (basal cell or squamous cell)
a) Present............................................................... RNA
b) Operated, less than 5 mm
• Within 2 years............................................... ER
• Over 2 years.................................................. STD
c) Others................................................................ IC
Melanoma
a) Present............................................................... RNA
b) Operated, Clarks Level III or less
• Within 5 years............................................... RNA
• Over 5 years.................................................. IC
c) Melanoma in-situ 0-2 years.............................. RNA
• 2-5 years........................................................ ER
• > 5 years........................................................ STD
d) Clarks Level IV or V......................................... RNA
IC means "Individual Consideration"
RNA means "Risk Not Acceptable" or decline
ER means "Elimination Rider"
STD means "Standard"
Thanks, this helps. They never gave a specific clarks level, but I think it would be considered III. III is compression of the reticular dermis, IV is invasion of the reticular dermis. My wife's path report said "occupies papillary dermis and at some points line up at the interface of the papillary and reticular dermis".
She is + 5 1/2 years, so that would put her as IC if she is indeed classified as Clarks III. However, the problems is that it was found in one lymph node, and when reading about the Clark's staging, one of the guidelines is "If there is involvement of lymph nodes or distant metastases, another staging system must be used. "
On the bright side (besides the fact she has been cancer free for 5+ years), after reading some of the other responses, I did some research and found that Arkansas does have a high risk pool that she could be a part of if all else fails. Paying a lot for insurance worries me, but not as much as not having any insurance for her.
So, it looks like in a worst case, when the time comes for her to retire, she can do Cobra for 18 months, then attempt to get individual insurance, and then if that fails, go into the Ark high risk pool.
By the way, what does "DW" mean? I have seen that in countless threads, and assume it is referring to wife or spouse, but am not 100% sure.