Life Insurance and Marijuana

Making Smart Decisions with Josh Tirado

You're listening to making smart decisions with Josh Tirado, and today's topic is life insurance and marijuana. before you start going into your preconceived notions of this topic of life insurance and marijuana, let me start with a quote from a very old hall of fame baseball player, Yogi bear. He was asked once, what is the best type of life insurance to have?

[00:02:06] And yoga was quoted as saying, I don't know which type is the best, but I know that none is bad. So

[00:02:12] let

[00:02:12] Josh: me start first and foremost with the need and the importance of life insurance. And at the time this is being recorded. It is September and September is actually national life insurance awareness month.

[00:02:24]But on the topic of life insurance, things over the years have changed dramatically in regard to life insurance and marijuana. And this has been brought to my attention because, in the last several months, I have literally handled half a dozen insurance cases for people who are using marijuana and needed to upgrade or update their life insurance.

[00:02:47]And almost every one of these people is a professional who has a very high household income. They all married with children, but marijuana is being used for a number of different purposes. Some of them it's recreational. Some of them it's strictly medicinal and prescribed by the doctor.

[00:03:03] Some are in States where medicinal marijuana is not yet legal, but marijuana is being used for medicinal purposes. To allow them to not use some traditional pharmaceuticals. The marijuana was able to take the place of some other drugs that they don't want to have to continuously take, and they can use less marijuana with the same effects than taking the prescription drugs, and they've admitted it to their doctor.

[00:03:27] It's in their medical records, and it's all on the up and up. But these people are very concerned, saying, I'm using marijuana. And a number of cases, technically it's still illegal. at least on the federal level with not the state. And they're very concerned as to how it's gonna affect their life insurance.

[00:03:41]I'm here to tell you that things have changed dramatically, but let me give you a little background. I'm insurance licensed now for 23 years. And when I first started, you can not test positive for marijuana and get life insurance. You would be declined because it was drug use, and they did take, they did test the urine samples for THC.

[00:04:00] To make sure you weren't using marijuana. And if you don't realize this marijuana is fat-soluble, so it stays in your system for quite a long time. And this was always a concern for people that use it recreationally, fast forward 20 something years, and the trends companies have much more data to go on.

[00:04:17] And this is what every insurance company bases their prices and their acceptance on is their own individual data, which is why some insurance companies are more favorable towards health issues than others. I have some companies that are very lenient. If someone has heart disease, I have some that are more lenient.

[00:04:34] If you're diabetic, I have some that are more lenient based on your height and weight. if you're a little too heavy for your height, those things come up, but each company has a different appetite, and based on their own data, they decide what's a good risk or not even comes to tobacco.

[00:04:48] Now, they have a lot of information over a lot of years concerning marijuana. So they're able to adjust that. And this is, let me make one point here. This is where it's important to have access or use an insurance person that has access to a number of insurance carriers. I have over 30 insurance companies I can utilize, and no one company is the right fit for every person and every need.

[00:05:09] And the appetite of the insurance company changes over the over time as well. Sometimes they feel they've taken on too much risk in a certain area or certain health conditions, and they move on to another area. But the bottom line is there's a number of large—respect insurance companies, a-rated insurance companies, national companies that are very lenient or accepting towards marijuana.

[00:05:30]when we look at the marijuana use, if you're admitting to it and it's in your doctor's records, there's no need to be scared. There's no need to hide first and foremost. One of the questions asked when you apply for life insurance asks about drug use, different things, ask about marijuana use.

[00:05:47] The important thing is that you admit to it and say, yes, especially if it's in your doctor's records. Cause it will be found out anyway. And you don't align the life insurance application because the last thing you want to do. Is pass away, go to use the life insurance, and they have to do an investigation because there are concerns that you lied on the application. so first and foremost, if you're using marijuana, don't say no and try to cover it up because if they find it, they then feel that you lied about drug use, and he will be declined coverage. when the question is up to you, use marijuana, you say, yes, they ask frequency and purpose, and you let them know.

[00:06:25] For some companies, as long as it's recreational, it's below a certain number of times per week. you don't even get rated. You can't get the best rating. You can't get super preferred or best preferred a slight preferred, but you can still get a healthy non-smoker or preferred health rating for some companies, depending on the amount of marijuana you utilize, they will give you a smoker rating.

[00:06:47] Or a light smoker ratings. So you'll still get a standard healthy person, but there'll be more of a surcharge added on for smoking. Cause they're going to classify as tobacco use. And it does matter if medicinal or not, if you're using it in an edible form, if you're smoking it, whatever the delivery system to your body matters too.

[00:07:06] So you tell them how often when you're using it, how you're using it. Okay. And that can help your agent determine which company is the right fit for you. And they can find a company that best meets your needs, medicinal or not. So when the marijuana question comes up, don't be scared. Don't think you're on meth and get turned down.

[00:07:24] Don't think that it's going to cost you a lot more money. There are good companies out there that will double-take you. the one caveat I've seen is I know some of them that was declined because it was not medicinal marijuana, and they were using it multiple times a day, every day. And the that was just too much to not have a prescription for, but if you're using it to reduce your dependence on some sort of another drug, (by the way, when I say the itger drug, I'm referring to prescription drugs) if you're using it to, reduce or get rid of your dependence on some other drug, or you're simply doing it too, improve the quality of your life, or you're using it recreationally, or you're using it because.

[00:08:06] 2020 has been such an awful year, and this is what's helping you through. You're still able to get life insurance and get it on a favorable basis. The other thing I would like to bring up as well is in this day and age, because of social distancing, everything that's going on. A number of insurance companies have also gone away from traditional underwriting, where they're doing blood and urine, where they're simply doing a questionnaire and a 10 to 15 minute telephone interview.

[00:08:33] Now. If you answer yes to certain questions, one...