Life Insurance, non-smoker policy, they test for nic, can I still vape and pass?

[jlarsen]

do the ins. companies consider people on patches or gum to be smokers, or non-smokers? If non, then wear a patch to your insurance screening, tell them you are a non-smoker on the patch, show it to them if you have to. Otherwise, don't vape for 3-4 days before hand, though that could be hard for many.

 

[DuncanDisordely]

What an interesting question, today I went for a blood test for my work insurance also, and the test does check for "Cotine".

I have been assuming as I am vaping nicotine, the insurance will still consider me as a smoker.

It will be interesting to see the result, I am vaping 24mg juice, and going through 2 ml a day, although I am dead certain I am not getting the level of nicotine I did when I actually smoked a pack a day.

this should be interesting, I have not had a ciggerette ( well 1 ) in 17 days, and that single ( and terrible ) one was over a week ago.

PLEASE do let us know the result of this

 

[Glam]

I am not an insurance company lover--I believe them to be one of the greedier corporations. However, to be fair, there are no statistics for long term use of e cigs, as there are for tobacco cigarettes. If I were an insurance actuary making rates, I would not give e cig users the benefit of any doubt until there were statistics. Stats that show e cigs as more successful as quit smoking devices are not relevant to the information used in life insurance rates. Maybe some day in the future, e cig users will be subject to a different test and/or rates but at this time there just are no statistics on which to base a rate change. The carcinogen causing diseases of tobacco cigarettes might be replaced with another whole new set of health problems.

 

[Astronomer]

I will... but I bet you the cotine will show up

But I will let you know when I get the results back

 

[srw78]

As a former insurance agent and a currently licensed nurse I have to warn against lying to the insurance companies. This is not a good thing to do. They consider you a smoker if there is nicotine in your system, from any source. I can not speak for the amount of time it takes to get out of your system, perhaps there is someone here who works in a lab and can answer that question.

Keep in mind that if you decide to lie about it and it is documented anywhere in your medical record that you are using nicotine products, they will find out and your claim will be rejected. Insurance comapanies search medical records to ensure that they have to pay the policy, wouldn't you do the same if you were paying out that much money? I know that the premium difference is staggering, usually twice as much. But, ask your self if it is better to pay the extra now so that your family can have something when you leave or take your chances that they may not get a dime.

I for one hope that in the future they will see the benefits of nicotine replacement products and conduct their testing accordingly. But, for the time being we have to follow the rules even if they aren't fair.

 

[Swarley]

But, ask your self if it is better to pay the extra now so that your family can have something when you leave or take your chances that they may not get a dime.

I for one hope that in the future they will see the benefits of nicotine replacement products and conduct their testing accordingly. But, for the time being we have to follow the rules even if they aren't fair.

extremely good point.i would rather know that my family was taken care of rather than have nothin so i could save afew(or alot i know) bucks.hope it changes within my lifetime tho

 

[srw78]

I just asked my sister in law who is currently licensed with State Farm and she said that using any nicotine product makes you a current tobacco user. She said that new apps typically ask for you to be tobacco free for 36 months and to have an existing policy changed, you must be tobacco free for 12 months.

Perhaps the thing to do here is to write to the President and ask him to include this on his Obama care pacakage. He was a smoker afterall.

 

[Nitemist]

Hopefully you haven't gotten less healthy in other ways during that year!

WoW! THAT statement frightens me for a lot of reasons...

 

[renstyle]

I just asked my sister in law who is currently licensed with State Farm and she said that using any nicotine product makes you a current tobacco user. She said that new apps typically ask for you to be tobacco free for 36 months and to have an existing policy changed, you must be tobacco free for 12 months.

I also asked my insurance agent when I was picking up my term policy. Need to be "smoke" (err nicotine free) for 12mos before they would consider an adjustment off of a smoking policy to a non-smoker.

After you get the policy, it remains in effect as long as you pay your premiums. Surely if you do get a smoking related illness that is an unavoidable sign that you have taken smoking back up would cause you problems down the line. My Doctor has never heard of my smoking past the "Do you smoke?" question. I answer no now, since I just vape, and only 1/2 time with nic.

I will have to wait until next March to re-up regardless, and before that I'd like to take up the discount my company offers on health insurance ($50.00/mo) to list myself as smoke free (and pass a test). If I can keep passing these "yearly" tests, I'd feel comfortable checking on the non-smoker renewal.

 

[DaveP]

Once vaping has proved itself as a safe method of ingesting nicotine along with stats that say life expectancy is equal to a non-smoker, we should see some relief in policy rates. After all, it's life expectancy that drives the premiums. The jury is still out at this point and too many people see vaping as another way to kill yourself, as absurd as that may seem.

 

[Astronomer]

My test came back... yes it detected nicotine use as I suspected it would.

Had been vaping and not smoking for a month before the blood test

 

[Hómmi]

My test came back... yes it detected nicotine use as I suspected it would.

Had been vaping and not smoking for a month before the blood test

Ain't that a kick in the teeth !

 

[renstyle]

My test came back... yes it detected nicotine use as I suspected it would.

Had been vaping and not smoking for a month before the blood test

Earlier you had mentioned 2mL of 24mg used per day. Did you cut that down the week of the test? Alot of places are telling me cotinine reaches almost undetectable levels after 7-10 days of abstinence. I was going to try the zero nic option for a week or two, see where that leaves me.

 

[Astronomer]

For myself, I didn’t have a goal of it not showing up on the test... so I didn’t alter anything, I was just curious if it would and as I suspected, it did. My goal right now is not smoking… which I have done, cutting down on Nicotine comes later.

I have gone from 24 to 16 gradually over the last week, and no problems so far.

By next year I will be down to 8mg or perhaps zero

 

[brian964]

In my experience it is cheaper getting quotes online. Some of the bigger companies offer discounts when ordering online, because it is less work for them. But to be safe you could compare quotes online, pick the best offer and try a local agency to see if they can match it or do better.

I recommend this site for online comparing: http://www.quotes-center.com/life-insurance-premium-calculator

 

[analog]

I found this thread interesting and thought I'd bump it. I haven't had insurance for a while, but last time I did, i think it was in 2002, term policy from state farm, I was actually a few days into a quit attempt. When asked if I smoked, I said I was trying to quit, the agent asked how long and I was honest it was only a few days. She said she'd give me the test and if I tested clean she'd give me the non-smoker policy. The test was administered on the spot, in her office, no blood or urine. It was just a mouth swab.

Anyway, I failed the test and got the smoker policy. I wonder if any insurance companies are still using these tests instead of blood/urine? Maybe age has something to do with it? At the time I was in my 20's and healthy. There was no offer for anything cheaper that required a physical or more thorough testing. I'm reading that the swab tests are a LOT less effective than blood and urine, but haven't seen exactly what they test for, anybody know?

 

[mrspenn]

Great question! I'm looking to change policies too and was wondering the same thing. How long do you think you have to wait after you've made the switch from analogs to vaping? Where are the MD's at?!

My insurance doesn't recognize the difference, they had never heard of e-cigs (so they say). Told me I had to wait 1 year and if I had a health problem and tested possitive, they would cancel the policy and not pay any claims. Blue Cross Blue Shield