If you’re trying to get life insurance with high blood pressure (or hypertension), you should be aware of how insurance companies determine who gets approved and what factors they use to determine your premiums.
It’s not always a straight forward path, but that’s what we’re here to help you navigate.
To better understand how life insurance works, you should consider the different health ratings, and which insurance companies to use.
Let’s talk about them.
How To Save On Life Insurance With High Blood Pressure
Your tobacco habits are going to play a huge role on your coverage price. Insurers will break down people into other sub-categories. If you don’t have any pre-existing health conditions, you will fall into one of their standard health ratings.
For non smokers, the categories are: preferred plus non tobacco, preferred non tobacco, standard plus non tobacco and standard non-tobacco. Those who currently smoke or who have only recently quit smoking will fall into either preferred tobacco, standard tobacco.
It goes without saying that if you use tobacco products, you will pay higher premiums than a non-smoker. Obviously, the better your health, the higher your chance of qualifying for a “preferred” policy, which gives you lower premiums.
Therefore, even if you have high blood pressure but are otherwise in good overall health, you might qualify for Preferred or Standard rates.
However, if you do not qualify for a standard tobacco or standard non tobacco policy, you may be able to get a “rated” policy.
Insurance companies commonly use a table which has letters that go from A to H. A higher letter means that you represent a higher risk for the insurer and will therefore need to pay higher premiums.
There are numerous health conditions which may exclude you from a standard policy and would push you into the “rated” category, such as diabetes or Crohn’s disease.
While the exact policies will vary from one insurance provider to the next, these are the standard guidelines in use by the majority of insurance carriers nationwide.
What Rating Will You Receive If You Have High Blood Pressure?
This is actually a common question that people living with high blood pressure ask when they apply for life insurance. You should know that as everyone’s health condition is unique, there is no “standard” answer to this question.
In general, if you take medication and are able to control your blood pressure very well, you may not even need to get a rated policy. In fact, some individuals have even qualified for the Preferred Plus category despite suffering from some blood pressure problems.
If your blood pressure is controlled moderately by taking medication, you may receive a rated policy with a health rating varying from A to C.
But if your blood pressure is poorly controlled, you may get a rating of D or lower. In some cases, insurance companies may deny you a policy altogether.
If you want the best possible prices for life insurance, you should try your best to treat your blood pressure, which is typically done with medication.
Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance
Let’s say you’ve been rejected for life insurance (hopefully not), but luckily, there are still choices. One of those options is to buy a guaranteed issue plan. We only suggest these as a last resort, but they are better than nothing.
With these guaranteed plans, you don’t have to take the exam or answer the questions.
One disadvantage of guaranteed acceptance is the restricted on policy size. Most guaranteed issue policies will only let you get around $25,000 worth of coverage.
If you want cheap coverage, keep looking. No exam and no health questions means higher premiums.
Getting Cheaper Life Insurance
Your high blood pressure is going to cause your rates to go up (which could cause your blood pressure to go even higher), but that doesn’t mean that your plan has to break your bank every month. Before you start applying, we suggest you making lifestyle tweaks.
The first suggestion we make to our of our clients is to toss any tobacco straight in the trash. Smoker’s rates are double non-smoker’s rates. Yes, quitting smoking is hard, but just imagine the thousands of dollars you’ll save.
The next thing we tell our clients if they want to save money is to make some health improvements.
You have high blood pressure, but in most cases, that can be fixed with some healthier choices. Eating healthier and getting more exercises can work workers on your blood pressure and waistline.
Some companies are going to be harsher on your high blood pressure than others.
If you spent the time to get 100 different quotes, they would be all across the board. There are some companies which are wary to give a plan to anyone with high blood pressures, while others don’t care.
This is why you should consider working with us. We aren’t your traditional agency which represents one single company. We are partnered with all of the best companies.
Some Final Tips
A life insurance company will want to see that your blood pressure has been stable in the past 12 months and that you are taking any necessary medication or doctor’s orders to keep it under control.
It’s our mission to ensure that your loved ones have the protection that they need. If you have any questions about getting life insurance with high blood pressure, please contact one of our agents today.
We would love to answer those questions and connect you with the best plan possible.
We hear a lot of people who say they are going to buy life insurance “next year” or “soon,” but that could be an awful mistake.
Nobody plans on something tragic to happen to them. You can’t protect yourself from everything, but you can set up a financial safety net, and life insurance is the best way to do that.
You can compare life insurance rates right on this page using our quote tool, or call us at 800-712-8519 to discuss your life insurance needs and apply for coverage.
