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You might assume you won’t be able to afford a life insurance policy if you have diabetes. The truth is that there are plenty of easy, affordable life insurance options for diabetics. Let’s learn a little more about how diabetes affects your life insurance rates and where you can find the best coverage.
Best Life Insurance for Diabetics:
- Best Overall Life Insurance: Prudential
- Best for Type 1 Diabetics: Mutual of Omaha
- Best for Young Diagnoses: Assurity Life
- Best for Bundling: Nationwide
Diabetes and Life Insurance
Why do life insurance companies care about whether you’re diabetic? Diabetes is a health condition that may cause you to die during the term of your policy, which might require your insurance company to pay your policy coverage amount to your beneficiaries.
Diabetes is a health risk and increases your risk as a policyholder, even when your disease is controlled with oral medication or insulin. You’ll pay more for health insurance as a diabetic compared to someone who isn’t diabetic.
Life insurance companies control their risk when they offer policies. Insurance providers do this through a process called “underwriting.” During underwriting, your life insurance company takes a look at multiple areas of your life and determines how risky you are as a policyholder.
Your insurance company may look at your family’s health history, your occupation and its mortality rates, your hobbies and your most recent blood work when the company decides how much you’ll pay for coverage. The more health and safety risks you pose, the more likely you are to die during your life insurance policy term and the more you’ll pay for coverage.
Diabetes and Other Health Factors Taken into Account
Not every diabetic pays the same amount of money for life insurance coverage. A number of other factors that play into your monthly premium calculation, including:
- Your age: The longer you’ve been diabetic, the more likely your insurance company will need to issue a life insurance payout. This means that if you’re younger when diagnosed, you’ll typically pay more for your insurance coverage. Many insurance companies have minimum ages of diagnosis. For example, some life insurance companies won’t offer coverage to anyone who was diagnosed as diabetic before they turned 50.
- The type of diabetes you have: If you have type 2 diabetes, you’ll have an easier time finding insurance coverage. Type 2 diabetes makes up the majority of diabetic cases and insurance companies consider it easier to control. You’re also more likely to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes earlier than type 2 diabetes, as many type 1 diabetics are born with their condition. Only select companies offer policies to type 1 diabetics.
Gestational diabetes is a type of pregnancy complication that sometimes causes a pregnant woman’s body to become resistant to insulin. In the vast majority of cases, gestational diabetes is temporary and resolves on its own shortly after birth.
Unfortunately, life insurance companies cannot predict whether you’ll get permanent diabetes after you give birth. This means that your insurance underwriter will consider gestational diabetes in the same way as type 2 diabetes when you apply for your policy. To get the lowest rates possible, you may want to wait to apply for your insurance policy until after you give birth and recover.
- Your A1C levels: Diabetics measure their blood sugar levels over time with A1C tests. The higher your A1C level, the less in control your diabetes is and the higher your chance of illness and complications.
If your diabetes isn’t managed, you’ll be seen as a riskier candidate for life insurance and you’ll pay more for coverage. You may want to wait until after your next doctor visit to apply for insurance if your A1C levels are currently high.
- How you’re controlling your diabetes. The type of treatment you use to control your diabetes will influence how much you pay for life insurance. You may be able to lower your A1C levels with a combination of lifestyle changes (for example, an improved diet and adding more exercise) so you’ll pay less for your coverage than someone who takes oral medication to control diabetes. You’ll pay less if you take oral medication than someone who’s dependent on insulin.
Every insurance company uses its own unique formula to determine how much you’ll pay for coverage. It’s completely possible to find the exact same life insurance coverage from 10 different companies at 10 totally different price points. Get a few quotes before you choose a policy to ensure that you’re getting the best rate.
Best Life Insurance for Diabetics
Let’s take a look at some of the best life insurance companies if you’re living with diabetes.
- Short-term policies
1. Best Overall: Prudential
Prudential Life Insurance is one of the largest life insurance companies in the United States and offers a variety of plan options for those with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Niche affordable life insurance options are available if you’re living with higher-risk illnesses like diabetes and HIV. Prudential offers both term and whole life insurance options and each type of policy includes a number of customization options.
There’s no set minimum age of diagnosis as long as your diabetes is under control and being treated by a medical professional. Plans are available with as little as $20,000 in coverage (up to $20 million), depending on your budget and needs.
- Those with Chronic Conditions
2. Best for Type 1 Diabetics: Mutual of Omaha
Type 1 diabetes is more difficult to control and more of a risk to your overall health so many life insurance companies don’t offer cheap life insurance to type 1 diabetics. Mutual of Omaha is one of the few life insurance companies that offers coverage to type 1 diabetics and doesn’t require a medical exam before your policy begins.
You can customize your plan with additional riders and enroll in a policy in as little as a few minutes online. Up to $250,000 of coverage is available and Mutual of Omaha offers both term life plans and whole life options. Your policy is also renewable up until age 94, which makes Mutual of Omaha an excellent choice for life insurance for seniors.
3. Best for Young Diagnoses: Assurity Life
Many life insurance providers have minimum diagnosis age requirements for diabetics requesting a policy. For example, your life insurance provider may not be able to extend you a policy if you’re diagnosed before age 50 — which can make it more difficult for younger diabetics to find coverage.
Assurity is one of the few life insurance providers that doesn’t have a minimum diagnosis age. Whether you’re diagnosed at 25 or 50, you can find a term, whole or universal policy. You can find a policy with up to $500,000 in coverage and you can also convert your term policy to a whole life policy after your term ends.
- Product Selection
4. Best for Bundling: Nationwide
You might already have an insurance policy from Nationwide if you own a home, business, car or even a pet. As one of the largest insurance providers in the country, Nationwide offers coverage for nearly anything you might want to protect. The company also offers an expansive range of coverage options for life insurance.
Policies are available for individuals with type 2 diabetes. You can save by bundling coverage together with another Nationwide policy. You can also quickly enroll in a policy online with term, whole or universal life insurance coverage.
Protect Yourself with Life Insurance Coverage
You might assume that life insurance for diabetics is prohibitively expensive. There are now more companies than ever that offer affordable life insurance options for diabetics.
The best way to ensure that you’re getting the best coverage for your money is to compare a few options before you choose a policy. Be sure to get at least 5 quotes from competing life insurance companies. You can get a quote in as little as a few seconds using our convenient quote calculator. You never know how much you’ll actually pay for insurance before you get a quote. You might be pleasantly surprised at just how affordable it is to protect yourself!
Can you get insurance if you are a diabetic?
Yes, you can get insurance if you are a diabetic. The premium you pay will depend on the type of diabeties that you have and whether or not you lead a healthy lifestyle.
Do I need to tell insurance about Type 2 Diabetes?
Yes, you must tell insurance companies if you have Type Two Diabeties becuase it is a material fact, and you must report those.
Can I get insurance with diabetiies and high blood pressure?
When you have diabeties, you must report all health issues when applying for insurance. If you have diabeties and another illness, such as high blood pressue, you may not be able to get insurance, and if you do, you may have to pay higher premiums.
Methodology
Benzinga crafted a specific methodology to rank life insurance. To see a comprehensive breakdown of our methodology, please visit our Life Insurance Methodology page.
About Sarah Horvath
Sarah is an expert in the insurance, investing for retirement and cryptocurrency space.