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.

When it comes to purchasing life insurance, there are a number of policy choices available that can match your needs without hurting your pocketbook.

Life insurance companies price their policies very competitively, so if you do your homework and keep your options open, finding a good deal on a life insurance policy shouldn’t be hard. Here are some common tips you can use to reap savings on life insurance.

Don’t purchase the wrong policy. Choosing the right policy that fits your needs is more important than you might think.

Term life insurance is generally the better bet for people who just want basic insurance protection because the premium is affordable.

“Term insurance is initially the least expensive form of life insurance you can buy,” says Brian Ashe, CLU and spokesperson for the LIFE Foundation. “A young family just starting out can get a lot of term insurance for a relatively low premium.”

But keep in mind, once your term expires you will likely need to look for a new policy. If you purchase a new term life insurance policy, the premium will go up based on your age and health status. For example, if you compare a the cost of a term policy for a 20-year-old male to the cost of a male above age 50, the male over 50 could be paying three to five times more for a term life policy than his younger counterpart.

If you decide that term is the best policy for you, you might want to think about purchasing a policy with a “guaranteed renewal” or “annual renewable” term. This means that the policy automatically renews on it’s own and you won’t be required to take another medical exam. This can be helpful especially if you become ill or find yourself with a pre-existing medical condition during the duration of the term. Still, like most term policies, the premium price goes up every consecutive year during the life of the policy.

Also, consider Return of Premium (ROP) term life insurance. “You pay premiums for 20 or 30 years and if you don’t die by the end of the term your premiums will be refunded,” explains Al Lurty, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Development for ING. “The premiums cost more but in the long run this type of policy can help you save money in addition to providing insurance protecting for you and your family. Premiums can range from one to three times as high.”

Ashe recommends that once young families are able to do so financially, they should convert all or a portion of their term life insurance policy to permanent life insurance.

Credit reports and driving records are two tools used by insurance companies to determine how a consumer is rated when it comes to qualifying for life insurance.

The good news is that a poor credit score and a history of moving violations will not necessarily preclude an individual from finding life insurance, experts say. The bad news is it may cost you more for life insurance.

Jack Dewald, chairman of the board for the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, says while a credit report may be used to verify the accuracy of an individual’s application a driving record is used to determine any risky behavior by the applicant.

“They will be checking for instances of issues with your driving record, to determine if you take chances while driving,” Dewald says.

To get the preferred best rates, a consumer would need to have a clean driving record with no DUI’s, DWI’s, reckless driving charges, excessive speeding tickets or license suspensions.

Cyber Drive Illinois said drivers caught under the influence and charged with a DUI are required to purchase high-risk insurance costing about $1,500 per year for three years total.

Breast cancer strikes fear in women’s hearts. It is the leading cause of cancer in women, with 207,090 women expected to be diagnosed with the disease this year alone, and is expected to claim the lives of more than 40,000 women in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society.  Many of its victims are scarred by the trauma of going through treatments and possibly losing part of their womanhood.

But there is cause for hope. The likelihood of surviving the disease and subsequently getting life insurance has improved over the last several years.

As a result of earlier detection, improved treatment and decreased incidence, death rates from breast cancer have been steadily decreasing since 1999, according to Cancer Facts & Figures 2010—Atlanta: American Cancer Society report.

Survivors can obtain life insurance after they’ve been successfully treated for the disease. How long after depends on a number of factors including the stage or severity of the cancer, whether it spread to other organs and if it is a repeat cancer, says Anna Hart, principal and consulting underwriter with ARH Consulting in Eastland, Tex.

Treatment and follow-up is key

“Those with small, early stage, good risk breast cancer can get life insurance as soon as they have completed treatment and had a follow-up visit. For a later stage breast cancer, the postpone period may be 2-5 years. For more advanced breast cancer and recurrent breast cancer, the postpone period may be 5-10 years,” says Dr. Ann Hoven, chief medical director of The Hartford’s Individual Life Division. She says insurance companies don’t look at the type of treatment used to cure the cancer—mastectomy versus chemotherapy—but at its overall success.

Life insurance companies base their charges on several rating categories, with preferred plus being the best and cheapest and substandard the lowest and most expensive. Hart says most survivors would be offered standard rates. Some companies will offer preferred rates for Stage 1 cancer and after a minimum of 10 years without reoccurrence, she says. She says those with recurring cancer are generally uninsurable.

Those with cancer in both breasts have a higher risk and therefore, a higher rating, than those with cancer in just one breast, Hoven adds. Hart says family history is considered as a screen for preferred exclusion, but not for possible denial.

Hart says both men and women breast cancer survivors receive the same rates. Survivors could be eligible for both term and whole life insurance.

If you’ve been denied life insurance in the past, Hart and Hoven recommend you try again, provided your treatments are completed and you’ve undergone the wait period. Hoven urges women to get annual mammograms and screenings for other cancers, following a healthy diet and exercise routine and taking care of other health issues like high blood pressure to improve your chances of getting life insurance.

If you’re still undergoing treatment, Hoven says The Hartford can often offer a joint life policy if your spouse/partner is in good health.

This article was originally published by Life Quotes, Inc.

We’re not accusing you of snoring, but let’s get technical for a moment. When you fall asleep, the soft tissues in your body relax, and sometimes block your airways. Snoring is your body’s way of moving soft tissue out of the way. If you have a sleep disorder, the best way to get insurance at an afforable rate is to get treated.

“Without proper sleep, the body is under stress and releases hormones to combat that, this increases blood pressure— and the body literally goes into ‘fight or flight’ mode,” says Tom Hinerman, partner for the Hinerman Group in Salida, Colo.

For people with chronic-sleep disorders, snoring can sound like a chain-saw symphony.  And often, snoring is an indication of a serious sleeping disorder such as sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea causes a person to stop breathing for short periods during sleep. Depending on severity, as the airways close, a person can stop breathing five to 50 times during the night. More often than not, people with sleep apnea are literally gasping for air during the night while their bodies fight to get enough oxygen.

WebMD.com outlines a list of effects sleep deprivation can have on a person’s health, well-being and bank account.

Disrupted sleep is deadly—even that precious hour lost during daylight savings time can have hazardous consequences. An article published in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology showed that losing an hour of sleep increases the threat of on-the-job injuries for those in hazardous work environments.