Life Insurance for Diabetics
Life insurance for diabetics is possible to obtain regardless of what you might have heard. It is just as important to a diabetic, if not more so, as it is to the general population.
I would be remiss if I did not say right up front that diabetes combined with other illnesses or unhealthy life styles will make it much more difficult to find, more expensive or limit your options. But, you would be very surprised as to how many well known carriers are writing life insurance for well controlled diabetics.
I do not want to mislead you. If your A1C is not within normal limits, you are morbidly obese, you have a neuropathy, etc, your choices will be extremely limited. But, there are carriers that will still write life insurance for you, albeit at lower limits and higher premiums.
The carriers are looking at:
- Your hbA1C (preferably 6.5 or lower)
- Your weight
- Your age and the age of onset
- Other life style factors such as smoking and drinking
- Complications such as heart disease, neuropathy, retinopathy
- How long you have been a diabetic
- How you control your diabetes; insulin, oral medication, diet and exercise
Not all life insurance carriers underwrite the same way. Some will just focus on your disease while others use “clinical underwriting” and look at your total health and how you are managing your diabetes.
The type of diabetes you have is also a factor. If you are reading this page, I am sure you already know what type of diabetic you are. You would be either a type 1, type 2, have gestational diabetes or something called metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome consists of certain risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing diabetes in the future. These include a large waist size, high triglycerides, high cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as high blood sugar.
Often people will comment “I am a borderline diabetic”. In some cases they have metabolic syndrome while in other cases they are just deluding themselves and already have diabetes.
There are a number of different types of life insurance available for diabetics. I do not want to go into a lengthy explanation of how life insurance plans work and which is the best for you.
But, to be brief, there are two essential types of life insurance to chose from; term and permanent.
Term life insurance has lower premiums for a given benefit amount. However, this type of life insurance is generally taken for a certain period and then dropped. The fact that you can get a reasonably high benefit amount for a relatively low premium, especially when you are younger, makes it very popular.
Permanent or whole life insurance is generally obtained to provide lifelong coverage. Besides the death benefit, there are a multitude of other financial benefits associated with this form of life insurance.
As a diabetic, it might make more sense to purchase either whole life or a term life plan with a guaranteed conversion feature. Diabetes, no matter how well controlled, is generally a progressive disease. Hindsight is 20/20 and you might wish you had the option for life insurance as you get older.
Obtaining life insurance as a diabetic will also depend on your agent and how well they understand your problem. They need to be familiar with all of the important medical indicators and what carriers will except you with your particular profile.
If you are a Type 1 diabetic you can expect a rate-up. This means that they will use insurance rate tables that increase the premium anywhere from 50% to 100%.
With type 2 diabetes, if you are well controlled, you might be able to obtain a standard rating. This is not necessary the very best preferred rating. But, it is pretty close. If you fall into this category you might consider using a combination of both term and whole or permanent life insurance. Get it while you can get it is the operative idea.