The heart has an electrical conduction system that controls when each part of the heart contracts. When part of the system has slow or blocked conduction it is called a heart block. The electrical impulse that for a heart beat is initiated at the SA node causing the atrium to contract and follows pathways to the AV node. From the AV node the impulse travels through the left and right bundles that stimulate the ventricles to contract pumping blood out of the heart. In less than 1% of the population there is a conduction problem in the left or right bundle that shows up on an EKG. What physically happens is that the left and right ventricles are a little out of sync instead of contracting at the same time. 50% of bundle branch blocks (BBB) are caused by coronary artery disease. They can also be caused by trauma, hypertension, fibrosis, congenital lesions, tumors and cardiomyopathy. And, sometimes they occur in a heart with no known abnormalities.

If the cause of the BBB will affect the mortality of the underwriter will need to address the cause to determine a fair price for the insurance. For example if the BBB was caused by a heart attack then the question should be how will the heart attack affect the price of insurance as it is more of a concern than the BBB.

At RescueQuote if we have a customer who has an isolated finding of a BBB with no known heart disease or history of changing EKG patterns we expect to find the following rates or better.

  • For incomplete right bundle branch block (IRBBB) no extra rating.
  • For complete right bundle branch block (CRBBB) no extra rating.
  • For left anterior or posterior hemiblock (LAHB or LPHB) no extra rating.
  • For a complete left bundle branch block (CLBBB) or for a complete right bundle branch block with a left hemiblock (Bifascicular block) under age 40 150% of standard, age 40 and over 175% of standard.

    • Time since discovery can change the rating. For example for a person who would have been charged 175% of the standard rate soon after discovery of a CLBBB could pay only 150% of standard after 3 years and have no rating after 6 years. Of course this assumes that the CLBBB was stable over that time with no other cardiovascular impairments. Having a current normal thallium stress test could result in a reduced rating as well.

    The treatment of a person with this or other medical history varies enormously from insurance company to insurance company. It is difficult to shop for life insurance as individual companies don't publish rates for people with medical histories. At RescueQuote we ask for informal quotes from all companies that we believe may give our customers their best rate regarding their specific medical history. That way the customer gets his personal best quote from RescueQuote.