Securing affordable life insurance is a growing problem as more Canadians are diagnosed with serious ailments, according to experts.
Tim Potter poses for a portrait at the Eastern Passage in Halifax on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019. Like millions of Canadians, Potter is living with a serious medical condition that has made it difficult, if not impossible, to secure meaningful life insurance.The Halifax father of seven was diagnosed 26 years ago with Type 1 diabetes.
Half of Canadians will develop cancer at some point in their lives, the Canadian Cancer Society says. The Heart and Stroke foundation points to an increase in the number of people with heart conditions and strokes. And about eight per cent of Canadians have been diagnosed with diabetes, a condition that's growing in frequency amid an aging population.
"The issue of pre-existing conditions is a bit of a growing issue because people are needing term insurance longer in their life because of the financial pressures today," said Kevan Penonzek, manager of Insurance Direct Canada in Vancouver. "We've seen our premium numbers or policies grow by 40 to 50 per cent for the last five years so that's a good sign and we've seen other carriers starting to look at the non-medical space as well," he said.
Marr said the situation changed because insurance companies have more data to evaluate life expectancy while medications and treatments have also improved.
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