Don’t let the life insurance buying process scare you away if you have diabetes. You can get affordable life insurance coverage by being strategic about the process, even with type 2 or type 1 diabetes. Regardless of your health or diabetes diagnosis, there are several ways that you can get insurance coverage.
Life insurance is one of the best purchases that you’ll ever make for the future security of your family. It’s one of the best ways that your family can have the money that they need, regardless of what happens to you. We know that finding the best life insurance plan can be difficult, but that’s why we are here. It’s our mission to help connect you with a quality and affordable life insurance plan.
Here are five tips to consider while doing your research on life insurance for a diabetic.
Tip 1: Know Your A1C
A1C, A1C, and A1C. This is one of the biggest factors that an underwriter will hone in on when reviewing your life insurance application. All companies that even consider type1 and type 2 diabetic applicants will want to know what your A1C is.
The hemoglobin A1c test, also called HbA1c, is a blood test that allows an insurance underwriter to understand how well you’ve managed your blood sugar levels over the last 12 weeks. The way this test works is pretty simple. Your red blood cells have hemoglobin in them and if your blood sugar is too high, sugar builds up in your blood and binds to the hemoglobin.
This is what is measured and if your glucose levels have been high, your A1C will reflect that.
Generally speaking, insurance underwriters look for an A1C of 7.0 and under. This shows good control.
If you are in the 7.0 – 8.0 range, then you can still get standard life insurance rates with some companies. Anything over 8.0 and you would be categorized as having poor blood sugar control and fall under a high risk class, or what is referred to as sub-standard rates.
If your A1C is not so great, then tip 2 is for you.
Tip 2: Get Active And Improve Your Diet
I know it sounds so cliche, but improving your health is the smartest thing you can do to get better insurance rates and to improve your life overall. It is vital for someone with diabetes to actively manage their blood sugar.
As mentioned above, your A1C will play a big role in your life insurance premium so it benefits you to have the lowest A1C possible. You get this by bringing your average blood sugar levels down and by exercising and monitoring the type of foods you eat. If you aren’t familiar with or not comfortable with proper eating and diet, there are many ways to educate yourself on this.
Some recommended books are:
- Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars
- The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes
- Think Like a Pancreas: A Practical Guide to Managing Diabetes with Insulin–Completely Revised and Updated
.
With added exercise, a better diet, and a motivation to educate yourself about diabetes, you can reduce your blood sugars. Again, this will have a positive outcome for your finances with lower insurance rates, but most importantly it will have a positive effect on your entire life. Making a few simple lifestyle changes could have a huge impact on your health, and it could save you thousands of dollars on your insurance policy. Your doctor and your bank account will both thank you.
An additional tip for improving your health is to cut out any tobacco that you currently use. If you’re a smoker, you can expect to pay higher premiums. One of the biggest factors that the insurance company is going to look at is if you use tobacco. Smokers are going to pay at least twice as much for insurance coverage. If you’re wanting to improve your chances of getting affordable coverage, then you’ll need to kick those bad habits once and for all.
Cutting out cigarettes is even more important for anyone that’s been diagnosed with diabetes. Because of your health condition, you’ll already be considered a high-risk applicant, but when that’s coupled with smoking, there is a good chance that you’ll be charged ridiculous premiums, or even be declined for insurance coverage.
Tip 3: Get A Recent Letter From Your Doctor
If you have diabetes it is important that you visit your doctor regularly. Some recommend that diabetics get a checkup every 3 months, to check their A1C and ensure that the regimen they are following is working. In fact, underwriters will specifically want to see a history of regular checkups, especially if you are over 50.
If you are planning to apply for life insurance you should see your doctor and have him or her write a letter, which you can attach to your life insurance application.
The letter should contain information about your history, what your current regimen and prescriptions are, as well as any assessment that your doctor wants to give. Having this letter from the beginning just further assists the underwriter in understanding your health.
Tip 4: A Denied Application Will Make It Harder for You to Get Approved Elsewhere
Just like you have a credit report, where companies who have extended loans or credit cards to you report on your payment history, you also have a medical report where hospitals, doctors, and pharmacies report about your health conditions, treatments, and prescriptions. This report is just an additional way for an insurance company to assess your risk and eligibility.
If you just start applying for different policies online without doing the necessary research, it is quite possible that you can end up with multiple denials.
When an insurance company declines your application, it gets notated on your MIB file. So when you go to apply to another life insurance company an insurance underwriter will see those denials, which will automatically raise a red flag. They will want to know why you were denied and be hesitant to offer you coverage. This is where the next tip comes in.
If you’ve been denied in the past for a life insurance policy, don’t worry, there are still several options to get the protection that your family will need. One option is to buy a no medical exam life insurance plan. As you can guess from the name, these policies will allow you to buy insurance coverage without having to take the medical exam. These plans are a great option for anyone that is in poor health or has several pre-existing health complications.
Some of the advantages of these plans is that you can be approved for life insurance much faster than you can with a traditional policy that requires an exam. With a normal plan, you could wait up to a month to get insurance coverage, but with a no medical exam, you can be approved in a matter of days.
Tip 5: Work With An Independent Agent
Some companies will add 50% to 100% extra to your life insurance premium just because you are diabetic, while there are other companies that will offer preferred rates if you meet the criteria. The difference between the two means hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in savings.
Because every insurance company is different, it’s vital that you get dozens of quotes before you decide which plan is going to work best for you. Some insurance companies have more experience working with applicants with diabetes, and those companies are going to offer you much better rates for your life insurance. Instead of wasting your time calling all of those companies yourself, let one of our agents do all of the hard work for you.
You can’t predict the future, which means that you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. If something tragic were to happen to you, and your family were left with a mountain of debt, they would probably struggle financially to pay off those bills. Your life insurance policy will give your family the money that they need to get through the difficult time. Nobody wants to think about his or her death, but we can make it quick and easy to ensure that your family will have the coverage that they need. Get started now and get a free rate quote by filling out the form on this page. An agent will work with you to match you with a company that will meet your needs for life insurance coverage.
If you have any questions about life insurance or about getting lower insurance premiums, please contact one of our agents today. We would be happy to answer those questions and ensure that you’re getting the best plan possible.