You can get life insurance with diabetes, and most people who apply are approved. Diabetes is one of the most common conditions underwriters see, and every major insurer has established rules for pricing it. What changes is the rate you are offered, which depends far more on how well controlled your diabetes is than on the diagnosis itself. Well-managed type 2 diabetes with no complications can qualify for standard rates at many companies, and even applicants with significant complications usually have options.
The mistake that costs people money is assuming they will be declined and defaulting to the most expensive product available without ever applying for anything better.
Type 1 Versus Type 2
Insurers treat the two conditions differently, because the risk profiles differ.
Type 2 diabetes is the more favorably underwritten of the two, particularly when it is diet-controlled or managed with oral medication such as metformin. Diagnosis later in life is viewed better than diagnosis in your thirties, because fewer remaining years means less time for complications to develop.
Type 1 diabetes requires more specialized underwriting. Insurers look closely at A1C stability, how often you experience hypoglycemic episodes, your insulin delivery method, and whether there is any organ involvement. Applicants with stable numbers and no complications often receive standard rates or a mild table rating, but the range of outcomes is wider, and a minority of companies decline type 1 applicants outright regardless of control.
This is the single strongest argument for working with an independent agent or broker rather than applying to one company. Underwriting guidelines for diabetes vary enormously between insurers, and one company’s decline is genuinely another company’s standard offer.
What Underwriters Actually Look At
The application and any medical records will be read for a specific set of facts.
- Your A1C. This is the headline number. Underwriters generally want to see it below 7.0%. Applicants in the 6.0% to 7.0% range with no insulin use and no complications frequently qualify for standard pricing, and some carriers offer better-than-standard rates below 6.5%. Above roughly 9.0%, many competitive carriers decline, though a few will consider higher readings in limited circumstances.
- Consistency over time. A single good reading proves little. Insurers typically want six to twelve months of consistent results, which means your doctor’s records matter as much as the lab work from your exam.
- Age at diagnosis counts too. Being diagnosed at 58 is viewed more favorably than at 28, because the total years of exposure are fewer.
- Complications. Neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney involvement, and any history of diabetic ketoacidosis or severe hypoglycemia move you down the scale quickly. Their absence is worth more than any single factor after A1C.
- Your medication matters as well. Diet-controlled is best, oral medication next, and insulin gets rated more heavily, especially in younger applicants.
- Everything else about your health. Blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, and tobacco use are all part of the same picture, and improving them can shift your offer even if your A1C does not move.
The Rate Classes You Are Likely to See
Insurers sort applicants into classes, and the labels are roughly consistent across the industry even though the underlying rules are not.
Standard or better. Realistic for type 2 diabetics with an A1C under about 7.0%, no insulin, no complications, and otherwise good health. Some carriers extend their standard plus class to this group. Diet-controlled type 2 diagnosed after age 50 tends to land here most often.
Table ratings. This is where a large share of diabetic applicants end up. A table rating is a percentage surcharge on top of standard rates, commonly around 25% per table, so table 2 might mean roughly 50% above standard. Well-controlled type 1, or type 2 with insulin use or a mild complication, frequently falls in the table 2 to table 4 range.
Decline. Reserved for uncontrolled diabetes with high A1C readings, significant organ damage, or recent hospitalizations. Even here, other products remain available.
A rating is not permanent. Most insurers will reconsider your rate class after a year or two of documented improvement, and some policies include a reconsideration provision that makes this straightforward.
When Full Underwriting Is Not the Right Path
If your control is poor, your complications are significant, or you simply do not want a medical exam, two fallbacks exist.
Simplified issue and no-exam policies
You answer health questions with no blood work. Many of these applications ask whether you use insulin, whether you were diagnosed before a certain age, and whether you have had complications, so diabetes alone is not disqualifying. Approval often comes within days, and premiums are higher than fully underwritten rates but usually lower than guaranteed issue. Our guide to no-medical-exam life insurance explains how these decisions get made.
One point worth knowing: because no-exam underwriting relies on prescription databases, your diabetes medications will show up whether you mention them or not. Disclose everything.
Guaranteed issue
No health questions and no possibility of being declined within the eligible age range. This is the last resort, not the starting point. It costs the most per dollar of coverage and nearly always includes a two or three year waiting period during which death from natural causes returns only your premiums plus interest. It exists for people who genuinely cannot qualify elsewhere, and our breakdown of guaranteed issue life insurance covers when that is actually true.
Many diabetics buy guaranteed issue when they would have qualified for a simplified issue policy at a meaningfully lower rate. Apply for the better product first. A decline costs you nothing but time.
Final Expense Coverage for Older Applicants
If you are past 60 and looking for a modest amount of coverage rather than income replacement, final expense insurance is often the practical answer. These are small whole life policies, typically $2,000 to $25,000, with level premiums that never increase and coverage that lasts for life.
Diabetes is so common in this market that most final expense carriers have built their health questions around it. Controlled diabetes without complications routinely qualifies for the best available class at these companies, sometimes with full coverage from day one rather than a waiting period. Insulin use and complications push you toward graded benefit versions. Our overview of final expense insurance for seniors explains the tiers.
How to Get a Better Offer
Several of these are within your control, and the difference between a table 4 offer and a standard offer over a 20-year term is substantial.
- Bring documentation. Give the underwriter your last two or three A1C results, your current medication list, and recent notes from your endocrinologist or primary care doctor. Underwriters price uncertainty conservatively, and evidence of stable control removes uncertainty.
- Time your application. If your A1C has been trending down, wait for another quarter of good readings rather than submitting on the strength of one result.
- Do not skip the exam if your numbers are good. Applicants with well-controlled diabetes usually do better with full underwriting than with a database-driven no-exam decision, because the lab work proves what the database cannot.
- Fix the adjacent risks. Losing weight, quitting tobacco, and getting blood pressure under control can each move your offer independently of your A1C.
- Shop several carriers at once. An independent agent can pre-screen your case with multiple underwriters before a formal application, which avoids leaving a trail of declines in the industry’s shared application database.
- Never omit the diagnosis. Prescription records, lab results, and claims databases make diabetes essentially impossible to hide, and a material misstatement discovered during the contestability period can void the policy when your family needs it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get life insurance if I take insulin?
Yes. Insulin use generally moves you into a table rating rather than a decline, particularly for type 2 diabetics with good control and no complications. Type 1 applicants on insulin are also insurable at many companies, though the range of offers is wider and a few carriers do not write type 1 at all.
What A1C do I need for standard life insurance rates?
Most underwriters want to see an A1C below 7.0% for standard pricing, and some offer better classes below 6.5% when there are no complications and no insulin use. Above roughly 9.0%, many carriers decline, though simplified issue and final expense options remain available.
Will my rates go down if my diabetes improves?
Often, yes. Most insurers will reconsider your rate class after 12 to 24 months of documented improvement, which usually means updated lab work and a formal request. Ask about the reconsideration process before you buy, and put a reminder on your calendar.
Does prediabetes affect life insurance rates?
Usually far less than diabetes does. Prediabetes with an A1C in the 5.7% to 6.4% range and no other risk factors is frequently accepted at standard or near-standard rates. It is still worth disclosing, since the reading will appear in your lab work regardless.
