Sickle Cell Trait

[bluemarlin08]

Have a 45 year old male diagnosed in December with sickle cell trait that presented when at high altitude in Aspen. Hospitalized for week, returned to normal altitude no further problems. Looking for several million dollars of term coverage. Anyone had a similar underwriting issue and what was the outcome?

 

[BNTRS]

Have a 45 year old male diagnosed in December with sickle cell trait that presented when at high altitude in Aspen. Hospitalized for week, returned to normal altitude no further problems. Looking for several million dollars of term coverage. Anyone had a similar underwriting issue and what was the outcome?

So he carries the trait. "Presented" would indicate anemia? Or additional complications? The tricky part is sickle cell trait can have complications unlike other hereditary anemia traits like Thalassemia.

Underwriting is going to look for a Current Blood Count (CBC) that was done within a year. These are tricky to do with a paramed company, so they generally want to see something that was performed at a clinic or hospital. They'll generally look most heavily at MCV and MCH to determine level of anemia if any.

Depending on the CBC, and severity of anemia (if any) he could potentially be standard.

What kind of coverage are you looking at?

 

[bluemarlin08]

Looking for 3 million twenty year term. Recently took one million from Hancock with a tbl 8 rating from another agent.

 

[InsuranceMonkey]

It's pretty rare for sickle cell trait to manifest itself, but it can happen under stress. I'd get an APS, look for CBCs, and likely refer it to a Medical Director for opinion. I suspect with good follow up and normal testing you will get standard easily, "preferred" on the other hand... may be a tough one since it's already manifested itself once.