Lincoln National Life Insurance – Now Marijuana Friendly

We are excited to welcome Lincoln National Life Insurance Company to the fold of companies who don’t unfairly rate people for cannabis use.

In this article, we will examine privacy laws, medical vs. recreational marijuana, Lincoln’s cannabis underwriting policies, and their available life insurance policies.

To check life insurance rates from Lincoln, use the INSTANT QUOTES form on this page. Complete the form and look for the Lincoln LifeElements Option. The minimum coverage is $250,000. If you put in less than this amount, you won’t see the Lincoln prices.

How U.S. Law Protects Your Privacy

Anything on a life insurance application, including cannabis, falls under the category of private medical data. That means nobody gets to know what you put on an application, not your boss, not your spouse, not any law enforcement agency.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the Federal law protecting your privacy rights. This applies to cannabis use, regardless of state legality. It also covers both medical and recreational smoking.

How Insurance Companies Evaluate Medical Versus Recreational Smoking

Every cannabis-friendly life insurance company looks at recreational use differently than medical consumption.

Companies underwrite recreational smokers based on the frequency of use. Smokers can easily pay two or three times the amount that non-smokers do. So if you smoke recreationally, then talk to your argent about finding the company that best fits your smoking habits.

The second consideration is how you imbibe it. Some companies will ignore smoker rates for more frequent use provided that you only use edibles, oils, or any non-smoking method.

Medical use is entirely different. It’s not about how much you choose to smoke, you’re following your doctor’s orders. Many doctors also recommend taking it in forms other than smoking to avoid any irritation to your lungs.

When medical marijuana shows up on an application, the life insurance company is more interested in the medical condition than the treatment.

Medical conditions treated with medical marijuana can make finding life insurance a little more tricky. Each company has different ratings for different medical conditions. Some are more generous than others. Conditions can be mild and have little, if any, effect on your health class. Alternatively, some situations won’t qualify for traditional life insurance and require particular types of insurance.

Brief Background of Lincoln National Life Insurance Company

Lincoln National Life Insurance Company was founded in 1905. Robert Todd Lincoln (President Lincoln’s son) gave them his endorsement. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, their core values are to provide an “honest, dependable financial service company.” Think Honest Abe.

Lincoln Financial Group owned Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. They offer four basic services: life insurance, annuities, retirement plan services, and group insurance plans.

Financial Strength

Arguably more important than a company’s history is their current financial strength.

One of the most important factors when choosing a life insurance company is their financial strength. It’s a measure of the company’s current finances and can indicate when a company is close to ruin. We hope you hold your life insurance policy for decades, so it’s important the company is still in business if anything does happen.

All life insurance companies submit their books to financial rating companies for review. You should check the ratings of your company periodically. As of the time of writing, Lincoln National’s ratings are as follows:

• AM Best – A+
• Standard and Poor’s – AA-
• Moody’s – A1
• Fitch – A+

As a general rule, you always want a life insurance company with an A rating. It’s a little like you always want to eat at restaurants with A ratings from the health inspector.

With these ratings, Lincoln National Life Insurance has a solid financial base. You shouldn’t have any worries about them being able to honor a claim in years to come.

Lincoln and Marijuana Use

On the spectrum of marijuana-friendly life insurance companies, Lincoln National is one of the most progressive. Their one drawback is they will not offer policies to anyone who owns or works in a cannabis-based business. They cite that marijuana is still illegal under Federal law.

Industry aside, they offer their best health classes to recreational smokers, preferred best, and preferred. You can qualify for preferred best if you smoke once a month or less. You may qualify for preferred when smoking up to twice a week. Both of those classes are non-tobacco.

For medical patients, they will look at the reason for the prescription instead of at medical marijuana.

All rate classes depend on other factors besides cannabis use, including medical records, family history, and driving records.

The interesting thing about Lincoln National Life Insurance Company is they accept recreational smoking at non-tobacco rates without testing for THC in the life insurance drug test. They will consider any cannabis use based on what you disclose on your application. (But remember, lying on a life insurance application leads nowhere good.) It’s a break with the normal “trust, but verify” mentality of most life insurance companies.

Insurance Products Available with Lincoln National Life Insurance Company

Lincoln National offers both term and permanent life insurance. Their permanent life insurance products are both universal life.

Overview of Term Life Insurance

Lincoln has two types of term life insurance products. Both products offer term periods ranging from 5 to 20 years.

Lincoln TermAccel – Level Term

Available to anyone 60 or under, you can get a term policy for up to $1,000,000. It’s a quick turn-around time with approval for phone or online applications coming as quickly as two days after application.

You also have the option with this to skip the life insurance exam entirely. However, if you are a cannabis user, you don’t want to use the TermAccel policy. This policy is not as friendly to marijuana users. With any marijuana use, apply for the Life Elements policy as discussed below. 

Lincoln LifeElements – Level Term

This is one of the most cost-effective policies for anyone between 30 and 54 looking for a million dollars or more in term coverage. The 55 and above crowd get extremely competitive rates any policy above $500,000. Lincoln is doing their best to bring in families looking for large policies.

Term Riders Available

You can add a couple riders to either of these policies to customize your policy to fit your family best.

• Waiver of Premium – allows you to waive your premiums if you cannot work due to disability
• Accelerated Benefits – enables you to receive a portion of your death benefits while you’re still living if you have a terminal illness
• Children’s Term Rider – allows you to get coverage for all of your children until they become adults or marry. This extends to any new additions to the family through birth or adoption.

Universal Life Insurance

Universal is one type of permanent life insurance. It differs from term policies in several ways, but the major one is that it covers your for life. In addition to death benefits, permanent policies also have a cash value accumulation feature. It grows throughout the policy, allowing you to borrow against it or use it to pay premiums.

Universal life insurance provides you with several advantages over other types of permanent life insurance including:

• Flexibility to set your monthly premiums
• Flexibility to establish the amount of your death benefits while the policy is in force
• Offers tax-deferred earnings

Lincoln National also offers a variety of riders for their universal policies. These riders include:

• Critical Illness
• Accidental Death Benefit
• Guaranteed Insurability
• Child Term
• Waiver of Premium

Lincoln provides an array of both universal life and indexed universal life. The products available vary by state. If you are curious about the policies available in your state, give us a call at (888) 987-8447.

How Marcan Insurance Can Help

We are an independent life insurance agency focused on finding the right insurance company for medical marijuana patients and recreational smokers alike. Nobody deserves to pay tobacco prices when they don’t consume tobacco.

If there is any way we can help, give us a call at (888) 987-8447. You can also use the Instant Quotes tool on the left (top on mobile) to see what your rates may be. Everything is confidential, and there is never any obligation to buy.