The 8 Best Life Insurance Companies for Diabetics
- Mutual of Omaha: Best for Type 1 Diabetics
- John Hancock: Best for the Health Conscious
- Protective: Best for Type 2 Diabetics
- AIG: Best Term Life Insurance for Diabetics
- Prudential: Best for Complex Health History
- American National: Best Affordable Life Insurance for Diabetics
- Brighthouse Financial: Best for Qualifying Easily
- Ethos Life: Best for Guaranteed Coverage
Mutual of Omaha: Best for Type 1 Diabetics
Mutual of Omaha offers two life insurance products for people with diabetes: a whole life insurance guaranteed issue policy for older adults and a term life insurance simplified issue policy for young and middle-aged adults.
Neither requires a medical exam as a condition of underwriting, although the simplified issue policy does take into account information about your health history. For this reason, it is not ideal for type 1 diabetics who may be denied coverage because of their pre-existing condition – even if their diabetes is well controlled.
Fortunately, if you have type 1 diabetes, you don’t have to worry about your guaranteed issue life insurance application being rejected. If you’re between 45 and 85 (50 and 75 in New York State), you’ll qualify for up to $25,000 in guaranteed issue coverage, regardless of your health condition or medical history.
Pros
High customer ratings
Guaranteed issue policy available
Provides coverage options for Type 1 diabetics
Changes can be made online, over the phone, or through email
Cons
Slower approval time
Expensive premiums for older customers
Fewer policy customizations than competitors
John Hancock: Best for the Health Conscious
The John Hancock health app works in conjunction with Onduo to help you make the best health and lifestyle choices.
Maintaining your end of the deal means you can avoid the underwriting pitfalls that diabetics often face.
Up to $2 million of term life can make it all worthwhile. It may sound like an invasion of privacy, but getting affordable life insurance protection for your loved ones. Plus you can optimize your health in the process.
Pros
Discounts for healthy life choices
Specifically designed for diabetics
Resources and aids for diabetics
Cons
No online quotes for Aspire
Not available in New York, Idaho, and Puerto Rico
Protective: Best for Type 2 Diabetics
Protective Life attracts older adults with diabetes because it offers a robust term-to-permanent conversion option.
Suppose you qualified for term life insurance when you were young and relatively healthy, but developed type 2 diabetes before your policy expires. In that case, you can cancel your policy without having to apply again. Might be able to convert to lifetime coverage. This is good as cancellation and reapplication bring the certainty of a higher premium and may result in complete denial of coverage.
Pros
High maximum coverage
Rate reconsideration after the first year
Policies are usually up to 43% less than the competition
Cons
Slower approval time
Customer satisfaction ratings have room for improvement
AIG: Best Term Life Insurance for Diabetics
AIG isn’t known for friendly underwriting for diabetics, but the company is well established for diabetics anyway. How is this possible? AIG specializes in customizing term life insurance.
When you have that much control over your coverage options, you can find other ways to save. This means that anyone with health challenges can benefit from considering AIG.
You’ll hear some bad things about AIG on blogs and online reviews. This is all based on weak customer satisfaction ratings from surveys like JD Power.
For most policyholders, however, AIG provides what they need: dependable coverage at competitive rates.
Pros
Living benefits
Competitive prices
Customizable term policies
Can convert term life insurance into permanent insurance
Cons
Minimal no-exam policies
Covers only Type 2 diabetes
Lower customer satisfaction
Prudential: Best for Complex Health History
This huge, well-known firm is a preferred choice for diabetics who also have other complicated underwriting factors.
In fact, we sometimes doubt that Prudential does better with more complex clients than it does with regular cases. Prudential offers a complete range of life insurance products – from term to whole.
And the company maintains consistently strong financial ratings from AM. Best and others. Prudential is not a budget-friendly option. If you’re relatively healthy, you can probably find better rates elsewhere.
But if you have a particularly complicated medical history and need reliable life insurance protection, this may be your best bet.
Pros
Option to file claims online
Covers both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes
Option to update your information online
No minimum age of diagnosis prescribed for Type 2
Cons
Higher premium costs
Slower turnaround time for applicants with some policies
Maximum coverage of $500,000 for no-exam policies
American National: Best Affordable Life Insurance for Diabetics
In our experience, American National Life Insurance looks more favorably on applicants with diabetes than the broader market.
It is a large company that covers all bases, providing term, whole and universal life insurance coverage to buyers in all 50 states.
Aside from our experience of seeing better-than-expected rates for diabetics, American General is no different.
One of the biggest complaints people have relates to customer service – especially having to wait half an hour when they have a question.
Still, when you are diabetic and looking for low premiums and you do not expect to interact with the company regularly, this company should make your shortlist.
Pros
A rating from A.M. Best
A simple, basic insurance company that happens to underwrite favorably for many diabetics
Cons
Slow customer service response times
Slow turnarounds (month+) on new policies
Brighthouse Financial: Best for Qualifying Easily
Brighthouse Financial Life Insurance is the best option for those who want to easily qualify for a term life policy. They won’t require you to take a medical exam or provide lab results and they provide a quick response, usually within 24 hours.
Pros
Easy application
No-medical exams for SimplySelect term life
Affordable term life insurance premiums
Cons
A limited number of term length options
No-exam life insurance available only for ages 25 to 49.5
simply select the option available only through Policygenius
Ethos Life: Best for Guaranteed Coverage
Ethos is a technology company that offers whole life and term life insurance products through some of the best life insurance companies, including Legal & General America, Principal and TruStage. Their term policies range from $20,000 to $1.5 million in coverage, from 10 to 20 years in length for applicants ages 20 to 65.
Its streamlined enrollment process means most people won’t have to complete a medical exam, although answers to a few health questions may result in you completing one to be approved.
Through AAA Life, Ethos provides up to $25,000 in whole life insurance for diabetics ages 66-85. Coverage is guaranteed, with no health questions or medical exams required.
With guaranteed approval, senior diabetics can obtain life insurance coverage in just minutes using Ethos’ fully online application process. These policies come with a tiered death benefit, which means that if you die within the first two years of the policy, your beneficiary will get your premiums back plus 30%. However, accidental death is covered 100% from the time the policy is purchased.
Pros
Accelerated death benefit clause included in most policies
Completely online quotes and application process
Sell term and permanent coverage
Guaranteed issue policies are available
Cons
Limited permanent life insurance options
Little publicly available information on optional riders