Life Insurance For Diabetics

If you're reading this blog post, you might be thinking about getting a life insurance policy, and may be wondering what you can expect, since you have diabetes.
Life Insurance With DiabetesIn this blog post I will provide you information that will help you get the best price on life insurance with diabetes and potentially save you time and heartache.
Life insurance is one of the most important safety nets that you can purchase for your loved ones. It’s vital that you give them the protection that they deserve. If something tragic were to happen to you, your life insurance plan will make the process easier.
If you’re been diagnosed with diabetes, you may think it’s impossible to find an affordable life insurance plan, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, you may pay more for coverage, but there are still several ways that you can find the perfect life insurance plan for you.

Facts On Diabetes

  • 25.8 Million americans or about 8% of the population have diabetes
  • 26% of all people over 65 years old have diabetes (do you need whole life insurance for seniors over 65?)
  • Risk for heart disease for diabetics is 2-4 times those who are not diabetic
  • Risk for stroke is 2-4 times higher than those without diabetes
  • 67% of diabetics report higher than normal blood pressure, or use medication to control blood pressure
  • Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease

The facts are that Americans with diabaties present a higher risk for life insurance companies than those without diabetes and because of that, rates for life insurance with diabetes are generally higher than for those without diabetes.
Diabetes is measured by elevated glucose levels. An A1C test is useful in understanding your glucose levels and helps life insurance companies evaluate risk. A level of A1C of greater than 6 is typically a concern and can indicate that an individual is a diabetic.

What Questions Should a Life Insurance Agent Ask You?

To know what kind of pricing you can expect for a policy, here are some questions we would be asking so that we can quote you appropriately. The last thing we want to do at ChooseTerm is provide you with a quote without properly understanding your health situation and have you go through a medical, and then deliver the news that pricing is much higher than we thought. This is why we ask questions, and why you should work with an experienced agent who can quote you appropriatly.
Here are some questions we will be asking you:

  • What was the age of diagnosis?
  • What was the latest A1C reading?
  • What is your height and weight?
  • What is the current treatment? Is it diet and exercise, oral medication or insulin?
  • What is the average fasting blood sugar readings?
  • How often do you test? And how often do you see your doctor?
  • Are there any complications resulting from the diabetes, such as Neuropathy, or Retinopathy?

Life Insurance with Diabetes Pricing

In an ideal situation where height and weight are within optimal ranges, and regular visits to your doctor, you may be able to qualify for a “standard” rating. Typically what most diabetics end up getting is a substandard table 2-4 rating if you go with the right life insurance company. To put this into better perspective, let’s take a look at an example:

A $250,000 20 Year Term Policy for a 50 Year Old Male.

I'll show you the difference in pricing between standard, table 2, and table 4.
Standard pricing would be $79/month for the 20 year term.
Table 2 pricing would be about $100/month for 20 year term.
Table 4 pricing would be 4 $131 a month for a 20 year term policy.
This can give you an idea of the range for the cost of a policy for a diabetic. However with asking the right questions, we can help provide you with a better range of cost for a policy.
If you have type 1 diabetes there are companies that will decline your application. However there are companies that will approve you based on well controlled A1C levels, and regular doctor’s visits. At ChooseTerm we ask you questions to understand your situation, so that we can match you with the life insurance company that will approve your coverage at the best possible rates. Contact us via phone, or fill out our quote form below to get your life insurance quote today.
 

Transcript
Hello. This is Liran Hirschkorn. Today I am going to talk to you about life
insurance for diabetics. At Choose Term.com, we are experts on helping
people with diabetes obtain life insurance. There are over 25 million
Americans who suffer from diabetes, either type-I or type-II diabetes. As a
result, we often work with people that are diabetics and are looking for
life insurance. Sometimes, they have even been declined by other companies,
because the agents that they worked with did not know what questions to ask
and how to place them with the right company.
If you are working with an agent, you want to make sure that they ask you
the right questions. What type of questions should they be asking you? They
should find out what your current A1C reading is. A1C is a test that will
give the result of the level of glucose in your blood, the blood sugar
levels. This is a very good test to determine what risk you are to a life
insurance company, or what risk a life insurance company is taking by
insuring you. Typically, a number over 6 of an A1C reading is a concern and
would be considered diabetic.
If you are working with an agent he should be asking you, what is the A1C
rating that you have. He should also be asking you, 'What is your height
and weight?' He should be asking you what treatment are you under for the
diabetes? Are you just trying to control it with diet and exercise? Are you
taking oral medications? Are you taking insulin? What is the treatment? How
often do you see your doctor? Life insurance companies like to see people
that are seeing their doctor on a regular basis, because they know that
with a doctor's help, the diabetes is probably being controlled, as opposed
to not seeing a doctor on a regular basis.
There are some specific life insurance companies that we work with that
treat diabetics more favorably than other companies. Depending on your
situation, depending on the type of diabetes you have, I or II, you will
see rates fluctuate somewhere between what is called a standard rating, and
maybe up to a Table 4 rating for diabetes, especially for diabetes Type II.
We can help you find the right company that is going to look at your
situation most favorably.
With Type-I diabetes, life insurance companies are looking for an A1C
reading of less than 7. They are looking for it to be controlled and they
are looking for regular doctor visits. Some companies, if it is not
controlled or the A1C reading is above that, they will decline you. If you
have been declined, you want to speak with us and let us help you find a
company that is going to approve you.
In addition, we also work with a company that does not require medical for
Type-II diabetics. If you are a Type-II diabetic, and you just do not want
to do a medical, you do not want to take a blood test, then there is one
company out there that we work with that will issue, I believe, up to
$250,000 in coverage for diabetics, as a term life policy. If you are
looking for a policy that does not require a medical, there is one company
out there that will issue a policy for you up to $250,000 in coverage
without a medical, even if you are a Type-II diabetic.
If you do have diabetes, the good news is that you typically can get a life
insurance policy. The cost will be a little bit higher than for someone who
is not a diabetic, but we do know which companies to work with, as far as
which are most favorable, specifically with diabetes. After we ask you
these questions; your A1C reading, your height and weight, what your
treatment plan is, and how often you are seeing your doctor, then we can
know which company is best to place you with, and place an application with
so that we can get you aaa term life insurance rates.
Author: Liran Hirschkorn

Getting Life Insurance With Diabetes

When you apply for life insurance, the company is going to look at dozens of different factors to decide how much of a risk you are to insure, and the higher risk that you are, the more they are going to charge you for insurance coverage. There are several ways that you can secure lower rates and keep more money in your pocket.
The first thing that you should do is improve your health, which is going to get you better results from the medical exam, is to start getting regular exercise and stick to a healthy diet. Both of these can help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol, manage your glucose levels and much more. Diet and exercise can save you hundreds of dollars on your insurance premiums.
The next thing that you should do is eliminate any tobacco that you currently use. If you’re listed as a smoker on your life insurance application, you can expect to pay much higher premiums on your insurance coverage. Especially as a person with diabetes, also using tobacco is a sure way to have your premiums go through the roof. In fact, smokers are going to pay twice as much for life insurance versus what a non-smoker is going to pay for the same amount of coverage.
The best way to ensure that you’re getting the lowest rates is to work with an independent insurance agent. As we mentioned, we can help you find the best company for a person diagnosed with diabetes. Not only can we save you money, but we can also save you time on your life insurance search. We work with dozens of highly rated companies across the nation, which means that we know which companies look more favorable to people with diabetes. Instead of wasting hours and hours calling dozens of companies yourself, let us do all of that work for you.
You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, which means that you shouldn’t wait any longer to get the life insurance protection that your family deserves. If something tragic were to happen to you, your loved ones would be stuck with a mountain of debt, and no way to pay off those bills, but that’s where a quality insurance plan can be useful. If you have any questions about life insurance for diabetics, please contact one of our agents today and we would be happy to answer those questions and ensure that you’re getting the perfect plan.