One of the trickiest parts of life insurance is trying to find it when you have an existing medical condition. Many insurance companies may deny you coverage or give you higher rates if you have health issues. However, having diabetes doesn’t mean you have to give up on getting life insurance. Below we’ll cover what it’s like to find life insurance if you have diabetes and where you can still find life insurance for diabetics.
- Can Diabetics Find Life Insurance?
- How Much Does Life Insurance Cost Diabetics?
- Where to Find Life Insurance for Diabetics?
Can Diabetics Find Life Insurance?
Having diabetes does not cut you off from having life insurance. You can still get life insurance for diabetics, especially if you prove during a medical exam that you have the condition under control, respond well to treatment and keep a healthy lifestyle.
Often, companies may have stipulations that you must have had the condition under control for a certain period of time, often six to 12 months. Companies also take into account whether you have underlying health conditions with diabetes, such as smoking, obesity, coronary heart disease, or uncontrolled high blood pressure. Conditions like these can affect your ability to find coverage.
If you have issues with controlling the condition, you may still be able to find life insurance. In this case, you have a couple of options:
- Find companies that require no medical exams, such as Globe Life. The trade-off with companies like these is that they may offer lower coverage amounts, like 100,000 or under. You may also still have to fill out a form with health questions, and it’s still up to the company if it wants to insure you.
- You can also look into a guaranteed issue/guaranteed acceptance life insurance plan. As listed by AIG, these plans come with no health questions or medical exams. However, premiums tend to be much higher.
In short, no medical exams can often mean paying higher premiums or getting less coverage in life insurance for diabetics. Basically, without any sort of health screen, you become more of a risk to insure, so you can expect higher premiums on average.
How Much Does Life Insurance Cost Diabetics?
We’ve mentioned above that getting life insurance for diabetics can often be on the more expensive side. But what are you looking at for increased premiums specifically?
Life insurance broker Quotacy also gave some real-life case studies detailing what it’s like to find life insurance quotes if you have diabetes. This example refers to a 30-year-old woman who has had Type 1 diabetes since she was diagnosed at 4 years old. She got the following quotes for a $250,000 20-year term life policy:
- Term life 1 : $72/month
- Term life 2 : $84/month
- Permanent policy : $720/month
She was also declined from a fourth anonymous company.
If she did not have a diabetes, her 20-year term $250,000 policy would cost her around $30-40 a month. Diabetes has more than doubled her premium for the same life insurance policy.
While permanent life insurance for diabetics policies do tend to be more expensive than term life, $720 per month is a very drastic cost. This is especially true when you compare that cost to the two term life policies. An example like this shows how you may be limited to a term life policy instead of a permanent one, depending on what you find.
In addition, despite not diabetes, we have sample quotes for someone who has high blood pressure. For a term-life policy of $500,000, a female who is 30 years old and not taking medication for her condition, she can expect to pay $360.63 annually through Banner Life. If she is taking her medication, the same woman can expect to pay $194.04 annually through Banner Life. That’s $166.59 in savings per year. It just goes to show how keeping a health condition under control can affect your premiums.
- How Much does Term Life Insurance Cost?
- How Much does Whole Life Insurance Cost?
- How Much does Whole Life Insurance Cost?
Where to Find Life Insurance for Diabetics?
Look around at different life insurance companies to see how they handle people with health conditions, especially diabetes. You’ll most likely have an easier time finding no-exam coverage if you have Type 2 diabetes. Since the situation is a little more complicated, you may also want to look into working with an insurance agent or broker, who can help you find the best plan for your health condition.
However, some companies are known for working with insureds who have diabetes. There are even companies that specialize in finding life insurance for diabetics, like Diabetes Life Solutions.
And some of the top companies that work with diabetics include Mutual of Omaha, Assurity, and American National.
You should work with a licensed life insurance agent or financial advisor to find the best life insurance policy for you. In general, independent insurance agents or brokers are able to shop your life insurance application around multiple carriers to find the best policy with the best price and coverage for you. This is even more critical when you have health conditions like diabetes.
Final Thoughts
Life insurance for diabetics can be possible to find. You may have to prove you have the condition under control and possibly shop around more. However, some companies may cover those who have the condition, and there are even companies that specialize in helping those who have diabetes find insurnace.
