Cigar Smoking and Health Insurance

[blessednxs65]

I am coming up on my physical as I get one every year around my birthday and I am also thinking of increasing my life insurance as I want to ensure that I provide for the family should I go before my wife.

Anyway, I got to thinking about health insurance and cigars and almost to a man, all of my buddies who smoke, do not claim this when completing insurance forms and/or medical questionnaires. Now me, I do on questionnaires, and I will on my insurance application. That said, I submit these two links:

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,695,00.html

http://beyondquotes.com/life-insurance-quotes/life-insurance/life-insurance-for-cigar-smokers/

and ask the question... Don't ask, don't tell or simply tell?

 

[Clinton]

No way. Cigars have been lumped together with cigarettes as a health threat, accurate or not. If you admit to smoking, the insurance company is going to use that to either kick up your premiums or deny coverage. Insurance is all statistics. You are a statistic. You are statistically more likely to cost them money. And, no, they won't reward you for your honesty.

Your first link is more than 12 years old. I'll bet there are very few companies that still differentiate between cigar and cigarette smokers. It's all evil, don't ya know?

 

[Rich K]

I'm very curious about how people answer this question, too.

 

[terrantheman]

Go to pac life and check them out... I'm pretty sure that you can be a cigar smoker and not considered a smoker. I've had my insurance before I got very serious into cigars.

 

[TexaSmoke]

Go a month without smoking before you fill out the form so you can say no, then get back into the art after that.

 

[TBone]

I just say no.

 

[Benzopyrene]

Go a month without smoking before you fill out the form so you can say no, then get back into the art after that.

Or go a day without it... and do the same thing.

 

[TexaSmoke]

Or go a day without it... and do the same thing.

Right...use the I quit 24 hours ago.

 

[CWS]

My brother-in-law went a whole year so he felt he was being honest. I told my folks, an occasional cigar, they did a blood test and I was considered a non-smoker. I asked the agent and she said depending on the level of insurance they may require a physical which includes a blood test. There are experts on this board that can tell you how long it takes to get nicotine out of your system. I did OK.

 

[ATCDub]

Same here Chuck, I told them I smoke an occasional cigar (which I actually do). I didn't smoke anything for two weeks prior to the mini-physical. Blood work came back clean and I got a preferred rate. Cigarettes are a different beast altogether, according to the agent. Even if you've quit years before he said that I would not have been able to get a preferred rate. So, I told him I've never smoked cigarettes.

 

[jmatkins]

I just say I smoke a cigar once a month.

 

[bballbaby]

OK, this is old, but here's my .02

i got a buddy who was an underwriter for Nationwide insurance, the life insurance division. he worked closely with doctors about these very issues.

He says, and i trust and believe him, that a chronic cigarette smoker will have toxilogical signs of nicotine for a period of 7 days. A chronic smoker of the chronic will have traces of THC for 7 days as well. If you smoke less, the time is less.

So 7 days is my rule. When i got my policy over the winter, i stopped smoking for 2 weeks before my urine test. when i get popped here at work, i stop for at least 7 days and i do a cleansing diet whcih consists of 100 oz of water a day, daily exercise and a diet that keep my metabolism active from the time i wake up til the time i go to sleep. Havne't failed yet.

 

[Jetexas]

I just went through this two months ago. My agent said to say NO. He also said it takes 10 days for a clean piss/blood test for tobacco or any other else one may smoke. So I waited 11 days with no smoking and the nicotine/tobacco portion came back negative. Good times!

 

[stogies&hoagies]

I took three days off and was negative for nicotine.

 

[caseabb]

I actually work for a very large insurer and we allow a celabritory cigar once a week. I would advise against smoking for a few days before the physical as the presence on nicotine/cotine in the urine will ultimatily lead to them giving you a smoker rating. Also keep in mind that if you have ever told your doctor you smoke cigars/etc they will find that when they pull your medical reports. That is how we do it, remeber every insurer is different. If you want to PM me the company you are considering I can probably find out thier cigar policy.

 

[caseabb]

I was always curious about if a person lied when applying for insurance and then it was proved he was a smoker, would or could it void the policy for fraud?

If you lied and die during the period of contestability (usually two years from the date the policy was issued) the insurer could deny the death claim. Usually what happens is the underwriter will catch your lie and rate you as a smoker. The crazy thing is that the insurers keep databases on underwriting. So lets say you get caught in the lie and are offered a smoker rate, turn it down because it is too expensive and go to another insurer an reapply, your original underwriting info will come up at the new insurer and you will be offered a smoker rate there as well. I usually say honesty is the best policy.

 

[DevonS]

I found this old thread because I was just discussing life insurance with my financial advisor yesterday. I really didn't need to post since I found my answers, but thought it may be of interest what I found for the carrier I may be going with. Their website has a "Healthstyle" checker. 1 is Excellent Health, 5 is a cigarette smoker. 4 is "User of tobacco or nicotine products other than cigarettes". :angerFU:

I'm in pretty damn good shape. I hit the gym 4 -5 times a week and eat very healthy 90% of the time (gotta have pizza, beer, and chocolate, right?). So, what does this tell me? Lie and hide the cigars when the nurse shows up. :innocent:

May have to find a company who doesn't lump cigars in with the rest of the cancer sticks I guess.

 

[gibbleguts]

I found this old thread because I was just discussing life insurance with my financial advisor yesterday. I really didn't need to post since I found my answers, but thought it may be of interest what I found for the carrier I may be going with. Their website has a "Healthstyle" checker. 1 is Excellent Health, 5 is a cigarette smoker. 4 is "User of tobacco or nicotine products other than cigarettes". :angerFU:

I'm in pretty damn good shape. I hit the gym 4 -5 times a week and eat very healthy 90% of the time (gotta have pizza, beer, and chocolate, right?). So, what does this tell me? Lie and hide the cigars when the nurse shows up. :innocent:

May have to find a company who doesn't lump cigars in with the rest of the cancer sticks I guess.

Would warn you against lying about cigar smoking to an insurance company. A friend of mine who was an occasional smoker died in a plane crash a little over a year ago. He was was quite well off and had a (I am guessing) fairly substantial policy. A year goes by and they had PI's contacting everyone they could tie to the cigar store as we had pictures with him on the web site. Needless to say his wife and son have not seen a payout and the insurance company is looking for a way to deny the claim.

 

[zirotti]

Would warn you against lying about cigar smoking to an insurance company. A friend of mine who was an occasional smoker died in a plane crash a little over a year ago. He was was quite well off and had a (I am guessing) fairly substantial policy. A year goes by and they had PI's contacting everyone they could tie to the cigar store as we had pictures with him on the web site. Needless to say his wife and son have not seen a payout and the insurance company is looking for a way to deny the claim.

I would have to imagine the widow would be able to file a DTPA (deceptive trade practice) suit against the insurance company. His death was obviously in no way tied to his smoking.

There is absolutely no way the insurance company will win that one.

 

[Alwayslit]

I would have to imagine the widow would be able to file a DTPA (deceptive trade practice) suit against the insurance company. His death was obviously in no way tied to his smoking.

There is absolutely no way the insurance company will win that one.

^^^tbis^^^