Many life insurance policies require a medical exam before you are approved for coverage, but there are some options if you prefer not to take a medical exam. Maybe you’re worried you won’t qualify. Maybe you don’t feel like taking the exam. Whatever your reason, you have options.
You may have heard that in order to qualify for life insurance you need to first take a medical exam. This isn’t always true. In fact, a variety of life insurance policies (e.g. term and whole life) that require no medical exam.1 Both term and whole life insurance policies are designed to provide coverage for the insured, but their death benefits may differ.
As mentioned, several different types of life insurance do not require medical exams, including guaranteed issue life insurance, simplified issue life insurance, instant-approval term life insurance using accelerated underwriting, and employer-paid group life insurance.2 To summarize the above mentioned policies in a few words:
Guaranteed issue life insurance policies
are typically small, whole life insurance policies marketed to older people and may have additional benefit waiting periods than other life insurance products
Simplified issue life insurance
policies don’t often require a medical exam but may ask several health related questions on the application – and approval isn’t guaranteed
Instant-approval term life insurance with accelerated underwriting
can be offered as both term and whole life, and often includes health questions where the insurer gathers third-party-data about the applicant and algorithms determine the coverage qualification and rates
Group life insurance
usually offered through work, does not typically require a medical exam or the completion of health questions to qualify, and rates are often set for the closed group rather than the individual
A financial advisor or a licensed insurance agent can help you determine your life insurance needs. You should consider your finances, your future plans and needs, and your health and other personal circumstances when considering what kind of life insurance you should look into, and whether a policy that does or does not require a medical exam is right for you.
Categories: Insurance, Life Insurance, Term Insurance