10 Mar Life Insurance Premiums for Diabetics
What Factors Affect Life Insurance Premiums for Diabetics?
- Age when diagnosed
- Your family health history
- Your current age
- Your medical history
- Type 1 or 2 diabetes
- Height and weight
- Your blood sugar levels
- Your hemoglobin A1C level
- Your current medications
If your blood sugar levels are well controlled and you don’t have other major risk factors, you are well-positioned to qualify for an affordable policy.
With diabetes and life insurance, younger is not better.
What this means is that if you are diagnosed with diabetes at a younger age, you are considered “higher risk” by life insurance companies.
And with diabetes and life insurance, younger is not better.
What this means is that if you are diagnosed with diabetes at a younger age, you are considered “higher risk” by life insurance companies.
The reason is simple….if you are diagnosed young, there’s a greater chance that you may develop complications over time. Conditions like heart disease, neuropathy, or kidney failure.
For example, a 35-year-old with diabetes can expect to pay higher life insurance rates than someone diagnosed at the age of 65.
Will You Need a Medical Exam?
Most life insurance companies will require a medical exam before underwriting a policy. There are some companies out there who may not require an exam, but their policies will almost always cost more.
This makes sense if you think about it….without a medical exam, the insurer can’t accurately evaluate an applicant’s risk to the same extent as with a medical exam.
Now I’m sure you don’t need to be told this….but for completeness sake I’m going to say it anyway: Always provide truthful and accurate information on your application about your diabetes.
It might be tempting to report good blood sugar readings, but “accidentally” forget just a couple of the bad ones.
Look, we’re all human and capable of making an error when filling out an application. Life insurance companies are aware of this fact.
But if an insurer discovers that an applicant was intentionally deceptive or falsified information, he can cancel your life insurance policy and even refuse to pay out the death benefit should tragedy strike.
Most companies have what’s called a two-year contestability period. This means the life insurance company can investigate and contend your application within the first two years if they think fraud or deceit may have occurred.
How to Qualify for Affordable Life Insurance for Diabetics
You already know the importance of making sure your diabetes is well-controlled in qualifying for favorable rates.
But did you know that visiting your doctor regularly can also be helpful?
As a diabetic, you should be seeing your doctor at least once a year for a regular checkup. Same goes for your eye doctor too.
Even if your sugar readings are really good, you should still pay regular visits to your doctor.
“Why” you might ask? Because doing so provides more objective information for life insurance companies to accurately gauge your risk to insure.
Basically, you are making it easier for the underwriter to classify you in a lower risk group and give you a better rate.
On the other hand, if you rarely see your physician, companies will have a more difficult time assessing your risk. The uncertainty this creates is NOT likely to result in a more affordable premium for you.
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