Get a free Life Insurance quote from 20+ Canadian insurers
A diabetes diagnosis can be frightening. Some common thoughts are: Will I have to inject insulin? Do I have to give up all sugars? How will the disease affect my quality of life? While your doctor will help you navigate through steps you must take to live a rich, full life with diabetes, there is one question he or she cannot answer: Is there life insurance for people with diabetes? We will answer that question for you.
Rates of Life Insurance for People with Diabetes (non-smokers)
An overview below shows the approximate rates for non-smokers. We show three different rates depending on how serious your diabetes pre-condition is for a Term 20 life insurance product with coverage of $200,000.
Monthly rates for men who are 35 years old can range between $22 and $62; monthly rates for men who are 50 years old can range between $73 and $205.
Monthly rates for women who are 35 years old can range between $18 and $49; monthly rates for women who are 50 years old can range between $73 and $205.
Further below you will find life insurance rates for smokers. An experienced broker can help you to get a life insurance for people with diabetes.
Diabetes and Life Insurance – Key Factors
While diabetes can affect your ability to qualify, you will be happy to know about the options for life insurance for people with diabetes. Not everyone that has the disease will pay increased premiums. It all depends on several factors defining how serious is your pre-condition:
- Insulin dependency: In some cases, you can control your blood glucose levels through a combination of meal planning and physical activity. Not only will this greatly improve your health, you’ll save financially too since diabetics that are insulin-dependent have higher premiums.
- Well controlled blood sugar: Life insurance for people with diabetes is easier to obtain if your blood sugar is controlled. You can prove how well your sugars are controlled through a glycohemoglobin test or other measurements performed by your doctor.
- Being older: Age is usually seen as a risk factor for insurance companies, but not when it comes to life insurance for people with diabetes! The older you are, the more it shows you have the disease under control, and insurance companies like that.
- Desired insurance product: There are several insurance products that are geared towards life insurance for people with diabetes. Simple or guaranteed issue policies, for example, are specifically designed to cover people with pre-existing conditions and certain illnesses. If you need life insurance, going for one of these policies over a traditional policy may increase your chances of getting coverage. We’ll explore simple and guaranteed issue in greater detail below.
Diabetes and Smokers – Impact on Life Insurance
You already know that smoking has a very negative effect on the body, but if you are diabetic, it’s worse. Diabetic smokers have a much greater risk of heart disease, kidney problems, poor blood flow, blindness and nerve damage. It’s not easy to quit smoking but you should do so to lengthen your lifespan. There are over-the-counter options, such as nicotine replacement therapy, that can help. Check out life insurance rates for smokers as shown on these charts:
Monthly rates for male smokers who are 35 years old can range between $46 and $130; monthly rates for male smokers who are 50 years old can range between $184 and $515.
Monthly rates for female smokers who are 35 years old can range between $35 and $97; monthly rates for female smokers who are 50 years old can range between $105 and $294. An experienced broker can help you to get a life insurance for people with diabetes.
Life Insurance for Pre-Existing Conditions
Diabetes often falls under the “pre-existing condition” umbrella. In life insurance terms, pre-existing conditions are lifelong (or long term) medical ailments that affect your ability to qualify for traditional policies.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t be insured.
Depending on severity of your pre-condition, two types of policies are available.
- Guaranteed issue life insurance: This is expensive, but it can be never denied and it does not involve any medical questions or tests. The coverage is limit to $25,000. Why get guaranteed issue? The benefit will greatly reduce the strain of final/funeral costs or ease the burden of medical treatments. In many cases, the premiums costs less than the financial burden of not having coverage.
- Simplified issue life insurance: This type of insurance does not have medical test but does have a short medical questionnaire. The coverage is typically limited to $300,000 and the premiums are higher than traditional policies. However, once again, having even limited coverage can help to avert financial ruin.
Traditional life insurance policies are always the most affordable and if you are looking for life insurance for people with diabetes, you may qualify for a traditional policy based on the factors discussed above. However, if you do not, you can still get coverage.
This overview will provide more details about different life insurance coverage types.
There are also more specific life insurance product types that can be useful in some situations, e.g. insurance for funeral expenses.
How to Get Life Insurance for People with Diabetes
An experienced life insurance broker will help you get a life insurance quote for your diabetes case, and this quote will be tailored to your situation. You don’t have to make multiple calls and investigate different insurance providers. Brokers are not tied to one specific company so they shop the market for you. It doesn’t cost you anything. Brokers get commissions from the products they sell and since they have access to so many different ones, they get the best policy and pricing for your needs.
Learn More About Life Insurance and Pre-Existing Conditions
Here is more information on life insurance and heart attacks, life insurance and HIV/AIDS, life insurance and cancer, life insurance and multiple sclerosis, and life insurance and depression.
Our infographic of life insurance and pre-conditions provides a detailed overview across the most frequent pre-conditions.