Diabetes and Life Insurance

In America, 5.7 million people do not know that they have diabetes, 23.6 million are diagnosed with the disease, and 57% have a pre-disposition to Type 2 diabetes. These figures were released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Among the people who currently have diabetes, an estimate of 65% will die from stroke or cardiac arrest.

President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010.  This law makes the insurance companies more accountable for more comprehensive reforms on policies.  The implementation will be done in stages.  Eventually, its goal is to offer more choices and improve health care for all citizens of the Unites States.

A diabetic person is able to manage his or her disease.  Most of the time, the insurance company can cover supplies expense like insulin, test strips, and meters. These are essentials in regulating a diabetic’s sugar levels.

Affordable life insurance is made possible, even for people diagnosed with the disease if they practice “control”. These practices include regularly visiting your physician, routinely taking prescribed medicines, and responding satisfactorily to suggested treatments.  With these in tow, it is possible to get a decent rate, despite the diagnosis.

Insurance companies would want to take a look at blood-sugar levels and the hemoglobin A1C count, to find out how the treatments are working for you.  When levels are between 6 and 7, it often means that a diabetic is managing the disease well. If the values reach double digits, a more expensive plan is usually offered.  If the value is more than 12, the offer of the policy will likely be postponed until the value gets lower or it may be completely declined.

There are certain grades or rating classes that insurance providers use in order to help them facilitate a diabetic’s insurance policy application.  These are categorized into: Super Preferred or Preferred Plus, Preferred, Standard, and Substandard.  Typically, the industry standard states that the older the person is when they had diabetes, the easier it is to purchase a life insurance policy.

If a person is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, even if he or she is responding very well to treatments, will most likely be quoted with a “high substandard” policy which has expensive premiums or payments. This also holds true for someone who was diagnosed with juvenile-onset diabetes for the past 10 to 15 years.

Type 2 diabetes is more common and is responsible for 90-95% of all cases, claimed by CDC.  For this type, insurers will assess how well an individual responds to treatment because disease management is possible through proper diet, medication, and exercise.  Diabetics under type 2 can be given a “standard” or even a “preferred” class rating, depending on the company.  Six months of good medical history and progress is usually enough to convince insurance carriers.  If at present, a person has poor control of the disease, it is recommended to wait a year in order to establish good control, prior to reapplication for insurance.