If you\u2019re packing on a few extra pounds or even more than just a few, you\u2019re in good company.<\/p>\n
In this blog post, I\u2019ll cover how being overweight or obese can affect your life insurance rates.<\/p>\n
In another article, I wrote about understanding life insurance health ratings, and I\u2019ll give a quick recap here. When you apply for life insurance, you are typically eligible for one of four possible health ratings – Preferred Plus, Preferred, Standard Plus, and Standard.<\/p>\n
As you can imagine, someone who gets approved at Preferred Plus gets better pricing than someone applying for the same coverage who gets approved at Standard.<\/p>\n
There are several factors that determine which health rating you will get.<\/p>\n
Factors include any pre-existing health conditions, your blood pressure<\/a>, cholesterol, height & weight, as well as family medical history are just a few.<\/p>\n Assuming that someone is otherwise very healthy, let\u2019s take an example of a male and a female and see where you would fit in based on your height & weight in terms of health rating.<\/p>\n According to the Centers for Disease Control<\/a>, over 42% of Americans over age 20 are obese, while 73% are considered overweight or obese.<\/p>\n The average male is about 5\u20199.<\/p>\n As a 5\u20199 male, you could be:<\/p>\n The average female is about 5\u20194.<\/p>\n As a 5\u20194 female, she could be:<\/p>\n What happens if you are obese and don\u2019t fit into one of these categories?<\/p>\n You can still get approved for life insurance, however, you will be paying higher rates – also called \u201cSub-Standard rates\u201d.<\/p>\n These are either numbered from 1 to 8, or from letter A to H and are reserved for those that don\u2019t qualify for regular Standard rates but can still get approved for coverage.<\/p>\n If your weight doesn\u2019t qualify at Standard pricing or better, you may be able to get approved, but at a higher substandard rate.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go back to our example of the 5\u20199 male.<\/p>\n Once he weighs over 230lbs he can not qualify for Standard (also called regular) pricing anymore.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say he is 259lbs – in this case, he would qualify for a Sub-standard Table 2 rating, paying about 25% higher rates than at Standard Pricing.<\/p>\n Our 5\u20199 male, could probably still get approved up to about 330lbs or so – assuming he is generally in good health – although, at 330lbs, he would be facing much higher rates for coverage.<\/p>\n What if our 5\u20199 male was over 330lbs?<\/p>\n In this case, it is unlikely that he could get approved for a regular life insurance policy.<\/p>\n We would have to look at high-risk life insurance options or buy a policy that would cover him for accidental death only.<\/p>\n With a high-risk policy <\/a>– or a Graded benefit policy – there would be an initial waiting period before the coverage was in effect.<\/p>\nLife Insurance for Overweight Ratings<\/h2>\n
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Sub-Standard Rates<\/h3>\n
High-Risk Life Insurance for Obese<\/h2>\n