Can you get life insurance with diabetes?
Short answer
Yes. Most applicants with well-managed type 2 diabetes are approved, often at standard or mildly substandard rates. Carriers weigh your A1C, age at diagnosis, treatment, and any complications. Type 1 is harder but insurable. Guaranteed issue is the fallback if fully underwritten coverage is declined.
What the underwriter is actually looking at
Diabetes is not one risk. Underwriters separate type 1 from type 2, then look at four things: your most recent A1C, how old you were at diagnosis, what you take to control it, and whether there is evidence of organ damage.
A1C carries the most weight. Applicants holding a reading in the low-to-mid 6s with no complications are frequently offered standard rates. Readings above roughly 8, or a pattern of rising values, push toward a substandard table or a postpone.
Diagnosis age cuts the other way from what people expect. Being diagnosed young is generally treated as worse, not better, because it implies more years of cumulative exposure. A type 2 diagnosis at 55 is priced more gently than the same diagnosis at 30.
The complications matter more than the diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy, kidney involvement, or a cardiac history will move you further than the A1C number alone. Diabetes with clean labs and no organ findings is a manageable file.
Why this is a large and normal underwriting category
Diabetes is common enough that every carrier has a defined program for it. The CDC's National Diabetes Statistics Report puts prevalence at roughly one in ten U.S. adults, with a substantially larger share prediabetic.
You are not an edge case, and you should not accept being treated as one. Carriers differ widely here — the same file can come back standard at one and table 4 at another, because their diabetic mortality assumptions differ. Shopping matters more in this category than in almost any other.
If instant-decision underwriting declines you
Accelerated underwriting engines are conservative. A decline from an instant-issue product is not the same as being uninsurable — it usually means the algorithm could not resolve your file without human review.
The realistic ladder is: fully underwritten with a diabetes-friendly carrier, then simplified issue, then guaranteed issue. Each step trades price and face amount for certainty of acceptance. Do not start at the bottom of that ladder if you do not have to — guaranteed issue is the most expensive coverage per dollar of benefit.
Never answer a health question inaccurately to get a better decision. A misstatement about a diagnosis is exactly what the contestability period exists to catch, and it can void the policy when your family files the claim.
Frequently asked
Will I be declined for life insurance because of diabetes?
Usually not. Well-controlled type 2 diabetes without complications is routinely approved, often at standard or slightly substandard rates. Declines are more common with very high A1C readings, recent diagnosis instability, or existing organ involvement.
Does type 1 diabetes make life insurance impossible?
No, but it narrows your options and raises the price. Some carriers specialize in type 1 files and price them far better than generalist carriers, so comparing offers matters.
Do I have to disclose prediabetes?
Answer whatever the application asks, accurately. Prediabetes is generally viewed far more mildly than diabetes, and concealing it risks the policy for a disclosure that likely would not have changed the outcome much.
See your own numbers
A no-obligation quote takes about a minute and does not affect your credit.
Related questions
- Can you get life insurance without a medical exam?
- What are living benefits on a life insurance policy?
- What is guaranteed issue life insurance and who should buy it?
- How much life insurance do I actually need?
- What is the difference between term and whole life insurance?
- What is final expense insurance and how much does a funeral cost?
- Is accidental death insurance worth it?
- Does life insurance pay out for suicide?
- Can you get life insurance while pregnant?
- How much more does life insurance cost if you smoke?
- Can a life insurance claim be denied?
- What happens if you miss a life insurance payment?
- Who can you name as a life insurance beneficiary?
- Can you get life insurance with high blood pressure?
Where this information comes from
General insurance concepts on this page reflect standard industry practice. For neutral consumer background, see the Insurance Information Institute and your state insurance department, listed via the NAIC. Specific policy terms are governed only by the contract issued to you.