Lab Results And Life Insurance!

This post was written in May 2017, critical updates May 2020

Life Insurance Exams And Labs Have Changed. A lot!

When I broached this subject back in 2017 “no exam” life insurance was available through several companies, but at a significantly higher price than if you took the more traditional exam and labs direction. Since then several companies have started offering the best rates without an exam. This trend has escalated during the Covid 19 roller coaster since those who wanted to buy life insurance most certainly didn’t want a stranger coming to their house to invade their social distance bubble.

So, there are now two variations on the theme of not having an exam.1. Pre Covid 19 several companies would approve life insurance without an exam, best rate class, up to as much as $2.5 million. They felt comfortable with this route because all of us have so much online information that if there was a health problem, they would find it and then require an exam and medical records. 2. Since Covid 19 invaded our daily life, some companies are now accepting an exam from your medical records done within the last year. Criteria are pretty consistent to take this route. Acceptable labs must include lipids, liver function tests, kidney function, and glucose. Measured height and weight and blood pressure must be included in the exam/physical notes.

The Value Of An Exam And Labs

When I wrote on lab results and life insurance three years ago, I made several points about the importance of having an exam and getting labs done. Especially for those of you who have never had labs done or haven’t in quite a while, I had an upside argument for having an exam and labs versus “no exam” life insurance. My premise was that knowing your lab results is a good thing and finding out you have something out of whack is also a good thing.

I’m not suggesting that you apply for life insurance just to get lab results, but what I am suggesting is that to go the “no exam” route to avoid the labs may very well be a missed opportunity to know what’s really going on in your health. It’s not a small number of life insurance applicants that I’ve worked with that find out something on their lab results that is eye opening and immensely important. I’ve had clients who found out for the first time that their cholesterol was completely out of whack, that they had type 2 diabetes or were positive for Hep C. I had one client who didn’t just find out he had type 2 diabetes, but found out it was severe enough to keep him from getting insurance. That gets right to the heart of why people are attracted to no exam life insurance. They don’t want to get declined if something is looming in their labs. In the case above the client was grateful, went to his doctor, and within 6 months had his diabetes well controlled and was approved for life insurance.

So, when’s the last time you had a full physical including lab work with your primary care doctor? Have you ever had one? Do you even have a doctor? If you’ve never had a full set of lab results, you should. A lot of hospitals will allow you to have a men’s or women’s laboratory workup without a doctor’ s orders and with Google at hand you can easily look up and understand results, normal or abnormal. Life insurance companies generally test for the same things doctors do.

Bottom Line

If you are considering no exam life insurance, give these two things some thought. 1. You aren’t going to somehow fool the system and get life insurance without admitting to health issues and 2. You could very well miss an opportunity to find out something of great importance about your health. If you have questions or would like to discuss the two different directions toward approved life insurance, call or email me directly. My name is Ed Hinerman. Let’s talk.