When you’re shopping for life insurance protection, it can be a long and difficult process. There are hundreds and hundreds of different companies on the market, and all of them are going to view your application differently, which means that you’re going to get drastically different rates depending on which company that you get the quote form. One of the most common reasons that people don’t buy life insurance because they assume that it’s too expensive, but in most cases, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

When you apply for life insurance, the company is going to look at dozens of different factors to decide how much they are going to charge you for your insurance protection. One of the biggest factors that they are going to look at is your overall health and if you have any pre-existing conditions, like diabetes.

Are you a woman with insulin dependent diabetes and you are shopping for life insurance? I commend you for taking time to do some research and educate yourself on how diabetes and insulin affect your life insurance rates and options. In this article I’ll explain how insulin affects the life insurance process as well as other factors that will affect your options. Continue reading or you can go ahead and compare rates from several diabetic friendly life insurance companies.

How Being on Insulin Affects Life Insurance Rates

A life insurance underwriters sole job is to determine the risk that an applicant poses to the company. They rely strictly on data and facts to determine this – your age, your height and weight, your medical history, what prescriptions you take and more. They look at all of these things to get an overall idea of how healthy you are and how long you are likely to live.

If you have diabetes, there are additional factors that an underwriter looks at to determine whether you qualify for a policy and at what rate.

When it comes to insulin vs oral medication, there isn’t an absolute standard on how it affects life insurance rates.

Every company has their own standards for determining what rate class an applicant will get based on certain criteria. Some companies will automatically charge more for a woman who uses insulin to manage her blood sugar vs a woman who uses oral meds or just diet and exercise alone. Other companies don’t put as much weight on insulin vs oral meds, but are more concerned with how well controlled your blood sugars are.

Generally speaking , how well you control your blood sugar, whether it is through diet and exercise, oral medication, insulin, or a combination, is the most important factor that underwriters examine.

Are You a Woman With Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes?

Generally speaking, women pay less for life insurance than men because statistics show that women live longer. When it comes to a female with diabetes vs a male with diabetes, this is generally true as well. The differentiating factor is the type of diabetes you have.

Type 1 diabetes, or what is often referred to as juvenile diabetes, can strike at any age. While it does show up in children as young as 1 years old, adults in their 20’s, 30’s and beyond are also diagnosed with type 1. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes, then it is more difficult to obtain life insurance, but there are options.

Some companies will automatically underwriter a type 1 diabetic woman as “substandard” no matter how well controlled her blood sugars are. Other companies will give a “standard” rating if your blood sugar is well controlled and there are no complications.

If you are a woman with type 2 diabetes and you take insulin, then your options of obtaining affordable life insurance with diabetes are better, but it all boils down to how well you manage your blood sugar and which company you apply with.

Again there is no strict standard across the industry. Some companies lump all insulin taking diabetics together into one category, while others make a distinction between a type 1 diabetic and a type 2 diabetic.

There is one factor that will have the biggest affect on your life insurance rating with a majority of companies and that is your overall control, which is measured by your A1C.

How Well Controlled is Your Blood Sugar?

Once underwriters look at basic factors regarding your age, height, weight, what medications you take (insulin or oral meds) they will then look closely at your A1C. Your A1C measures your overall blood sugar control for the previous 90 days. This paints a very clear picture of how well you manage your overall blood sugar.

It comes down to whether you have an A1C that shows excellent blood sugar control, okay or average blood sugar control, or average blood sugar control. I mention this all the time and I’ll say it again – there is no strict or standard number that all companies use to determine what A1C is excellent versus poor. But I can give you an overall idea of where your A1C falls.

If you want to save money on your life insurance coverage, it’s important that you improve your overall health. Before the insurance company approves your application, they are going to require that you take a medical exam (unless you buy a no exam life insurance plan). The results of these tests are going to play an important role in how much you pay for your insurance protection.

Two simple ways that you can improve your overall health and get lower premiums is to start a healthy diet and start getting regular exercise. Both of these are going to help you lose weight, lower your blood pressure, lower your A1C levels, and also reduce your risk of being diagnosed with other health complications. By simply losing weight, you can save yourself around 50% on your insurance premiums.

Another simple way that you can save money is to eliminate any tobacco that you currently use. If you’re listed as a smoker on your life insurance application, you should expect to get much higher insurance premiums. In fact, smokers should expect to pay at least twice as much versus what a non-smoker is going to pay for the same plan. If you want to save money, kick those cigarettes to the curb. You’re already diagnosed with diabetes, which means that you’ve already got a red mark on your application, don’t add another by using tobacco.

Get a Quote for Life Insurance With Insulin Dependent Diabetes

I hope this article has given you a better idea of how insulin affects a woman applying for life insurance. As you may see now, there is no clearcut answer on what rate you’ll get or if you’ll even be approved. It really depends on your overall health and blood sugar control as well as what company you choose.

This is something that so many women with diabetes overlook – you have to be strategic about which company you apply with because all companies differ in how they rate applicants. If you are an insulin dependent diabetic woman with an A1C of 7.1 then company A could possible give you a “standard” rate while company B gives you a “substandard” rate based on their criteria. So if you knew to apply with company A it could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars.

As we mentioned, every insurance company is different and all of them are going to use different medical underwriting and ways for determining insurance premiums. If you’re wanting to get the lowest rates, it’s vital that you get dozens of quotes before you decide which one works best for you. Instead of wasting hours and hours calling those companies yourself, let one of our independent brokers do all of the hard work for you.

This is where this site is beneficial for women with diabetes. When you compare rates, you get to see rates and options from multiple companies. This helps you decide which company is best and increases your chance of getting the best policy at the best rate for your particular needs.

Get started today by filling out a rate quote form to compare the best rates from diabetic friendly life insurance companies.

We know that nobody wants to think about his or her death, but not planning for the worst can leave your family members in a difficult situation. If you didn’t have life insurance coverage, your family would be responsible for a massive amount of debt and other final expenses. You never know what life is going to throw at you tomorrow, which means that you shouldn’t wait any longer to get the insurance protection that your family deserves. If you have any questions about getting life insurance protection as a woman with diabetes, please contact one of our agents today.