Gestational diabetes is a condition that develop in about 18% of pregnancies and often affects women who have never had diabetes.
Although it is considered a temporary condition that comes about during pregnancy, life insurance underwriters are concerned about it because some studies show that having diabetes during a pregnancy can increase a woman’s likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes later on. This makes one question, can diabetics get life insurance?
This raises eyebrows for an underwriter because their job is to evaluate whether you pose a risk to the company. If there is a chance that you will develop type 2 diabetes in the future, they think about all the other risks and health complications that go along with that.
Gestational Diabetes and Type 2 Connection
Insurance underwriters have different criteria when it comes to this topic. It’s a tricky one because type 2 diabetes has risk factors related to a person’s lifestyle so it isn’t something that just manifests out of nowhere.
A woman who develops gestational diabetes during her pregnancy and then continues on with a healthy diet and consistent exercise will have a very low likelihood of becoming diabetic down the line. And vice versa.
It would be unfair to punish all women who have had gestational diabetes by giving them a higher rate just in case they get type 2 diabetes five or ten years in the future, but this is what some companies do.
Do You Have a Family History of Diabetes?
The more sensible way to evaluate whether or not you are a high risk for developing type 2 diabetes is to check your family history. There is a high correlation between family history and the probability for someone to develop diabetes in their lifetime.
If you have a family history, then insurance underwriters will often use this as a guideline to charge you a higher rate to offset that risk. As a side note, if diabetes is a health concern that runs in your family then it is crucial to adopt a lifestyle and eating habits that will deter this.
Other Factors that Will Affect Your Life Insurance Rate
So having a history of gestational diabetes is one blip on your health history radar, but there are many other things that an insurance underwriter looks at to determine your rate.
- What is your overall health like? Blood pressure, cholesterol, or any other serious medical concerns?
- What is your height and weight? Are they in a healthy range?
- Do you smoke or drink?
- Do you have a risky occupation or hobbies?
Because these factors will also be taken into account, it is difficult to say the rate that you will get if you’ve had gestational diabetes. You could fall into one of three categories – substandard, standard, or preferred rate depending on your overall picture.
There are several ways that you can get more affordable life insurance coverage. One of the most common reasons that people don’t buy life insurance is because they assume that it’s going to be too expensive it fit in their budget. In most cases, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Making a few simple changes could save you thousands of dollars on your life insurance coverage.
One of the best ways is to lose weight. As a pregnant applicant, the insurance company is going to use different charts to determine what a healthy range is. They will look at your previous medical records to see how much weight that you have gained and determine if you’re in a healthy range. If you’re not in a healthy weight range for your height and pregnancy term, then you might end up paying more for your insurance coverage. In fact, you could end up paying 50% more.
As a pregnant applicant, hopefully you don’t smoke or use any form of tobacco, but if you do, you can expect to pay much higher premiums for your insurance coverage. In fact, smokers are going to pay around twice as much for life insurance versus what a non-smoker would pay for the same sized plan. Not only should you quit smoking because of the pregnancy, but it could also save you thousands of dollars every year for your insurance protection.
Another aspect that plays a part in whether you get an affordable rate is how knowledgeable your agent is with diabetes and life insurance. We are going to explore the advantages of independent agents later in this post.
Another way that you can save money is to ensure that you’re not paying for more coverage than you need. One of the biggest factors that is going to impact your premiums is how much life insurance you buy. If you’re buying too much, then your premiums are going to be higher. It’s important that you’re getting enough coverage, but not paying for more than you need.
Calculating Your Life Insurance Needs
One of the first numbers that you should crunch is your debts and final expenses that your family would be responsible with if you were to pass away. The first goal of your life insurance plan is to give your family the money that they need to pay off those debts and ensure that they aren’t left with a mountain of debt. Some of the biggest expenses will be your mortgage and your funeral costs, but those aren’t the only ones.
The next number that you should look at is your annual salary. The secondary goal of your life insurance policy is to give your family the money that they need to replace your paycheck if something were to happen to you. Even if you’re a stay-at-home parent, you’ll still need to consider how much it would cost your family if something tragic were to happen to you. Before you apply for any life insurance, add up what it would cost to replace what you do or your paycheck.
Not having enough life insurance is one of the worst mistakes that you can make for your family. If you passed away, they would be responsible for all of your debts, and if your life insurance were too small, they would have leftover expenses that they don’t have the resources to pay for.
The Importance of Working With an Independent Agent
If you read my blog then you know I stress over and over again the importance of working with an independent agent and this is a great example of why.
There are many life insurance companies that will charge you a higher rate for up to ten years after you’ve had gestational diabetes. This is right from the get go without taking into consideration any other factors – even if your current health is excellent, and you don’t smoke, and you don’t have any other high risk lifestyle factors.
But on the flip side of this, there are plenty of companies that don’t do this. So if you were to go to an agent that works for one and only company and that company happens to be one that charges a premium because of gestational diabetes, then you may just accept that and think it’s the norm. But it’s not!
When you work with an independent agent, they will ask you all the pertinent questions to give them a good picture of your health history. When they know you have had gestational diabetes, they will steer you away from those companies that charge higher rates just because. This means you end up paying less and getting the most appropriate policy for your needs.
Working with one of our independent insurance agents is going to save you both time and money on your life insurance search. It’s our mission to ensure that you’re getting the perfect policy at an affordable rate. We have years of experience working with all types of clients and we know which companies are going to give you quality insurance.
Because you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, you shouldn’t wait any longer to get the insurance protection that your family deserves. We know that nobody wants to think about something tragic happening, but life insurance is the best investment that you’ll ever make for your family.
If you have any questions about getting life insurance with gestational diabetes, please contact us today. Having a child is one of the most exciting times in your life. Make sure that your loved ones have the insurance protection that they need. Contact one of our agents and we can get the process started.