By Karen Caffarini, Life Quotes, Inc.

A history of heart disease won’t necessarily flatline your chances of obtaining life insurance at reasonable rates, insurance experts say, provided you have the condition under control and you’re following doctor’s orders.

Take “Jeff” for instance. Obese and a smoker, he needed a bypass and a couple stents to keep his arteries open. His doctor told him to lose 100 pounds and kick the habit if he wanted to live, relates his insurer, Ryan Pinney, a brokerage director with Pinney Insurance Center Inc. in Roseville, Calif. Jeff lost 140 pounds, stopped smoking and takes his cholesterol medicine faithfully.

“I was able to get him life insurance at a preferred rate,” Pinney says. “He’s healthier now than he was back then.” A preferred rate would cost around $60 for the same policy that would cost $100 at a standard rate, he says.

Dr. Robert Pokorski, chief medical strategist for The Hartford’s Individual Life Division, says in general, life insurance can be offered six months after bypass, angioplasty, or use of stents, usually at a small to moderate additional premium.

To learn more about the national impact of heart disease, the the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention has tracked incidences of heart disease by state.

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