Best Life Insurance Options for Senior Citizens With Diabetes

Trying to find affordable life insurance as a senior with diabetes can be very difficult. Some companies are very unfavorable to those with diabetes and others won't offer the same types of policies the older you are.

But, with the right tools and assistance, you can still find life insurance coverage that is affordable, and dependable.

At JRC Insurance Group, we work with some of the best life insurance companies for seniors and diabetics. In this guide, we explain everything you need to know in order to find the best coverage for your situation, regardless of health or age.

Quick Article Guide

Here’s what we'll cover in this post:

Can I Get Life Insurance With Diabetes If I Am A Senior?

The short answer is yes. However, it is important to note that as you get older, there are less policies available to you, and rates go up. It is also important to understand that health condition largely affects life insurance rates, so the worse your condition, the higher premiums you will pay.

With that being said, there are still plenty of life insurance companies that offer affordable life insurance for seniors in your situation. Working with an independent life insurance agent can help you get access to quotes from dozens of the best providers on the market, and can help you customize the best policy for your needs.

How Does My Diabetes Affect Life Insurance Rates?

For Type 2 Diabetics, you have high blood sugar (or A1C levels). That means your body cannot use the insulin it creates, so you end up with too much sugar in your blood. This can damage your nerves and your blood vessels eventually resulting in a stroke or heart disease.

For Type 1 Diabetics, you have a genetic condition where your body doesn't produce insulin at all. In these situations, you end up insulin-dependent and have to take regular medication in order to keep your blood sugar levels functioning.

Typically, rates for Type 1 Diabetics can be higher, just because there is more of a risk from not taking insulin, along with more health risks related to your diabetes. However, life insurance rates for seniors with well managed Type 1 Diabetes may actually be lower than for someone with Type 2Diabetes who does not manage their condition well, or who has additional health problems.

Fortunately, the way life insurance companies determine rates is not black and white. The better you manage your health, the lower risk you are, and the lower your rates will be. Plain and simple.

In either case, you can still get coverage, even in poor health. If you have control over your diabetes, you can potentially land in the “preferred” risk category, but in more severe cases you will land in the “standard” risk category. Rates will change accordingly.

Want to learn more about life insurance for diabetics? This complete guide has everything you need to know and more.

Finding Affordable Life Insurance for Seniors With Diabetes

Are you a senior looking for quick life insurance rates for diabetics? This free quoting tool will compare rates from some of the best life insurance companies for you in just seconds.

What Kind of Life Insurance Policy is Best for Seniors With Diabetes?

Life insurance policies fall in one of two categories:

Permanent Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance

Without going in depth about each policy, term life insurance lasts for a specific period of time (the term), which is usually 10 to 30 years in length. Once it expires, you can usually renew it as Annual Renewable Term (ART) life insurance, but rates increase each year at a very quick rate.

Permanent life insurance lasts a lifetime, or until the maximum policy age (usually 101, or 121). This type of policy can be broken down into various types, depending on the goals of the policyholder, and what they can afford.

Looking to learn more about the differences between term and permanent life insurance? These resources should be able to help:

Term Life Insurance for Seniors With Diabetes

For most seniors with diabetes, term life insurance is probably the best policy option. Unless you need coverage that lasts for your whole life, in which case, burial or no exam coverage (which we will talk about next) is probably right for you.

Question	Answer
Who is it best for?	Term policies are best for people who only need coverage to coincide with a specific length of time. They are also better for people who don't want to take out a permanent policy or want to supplement retirement.
What are rates like?	Term life insurance rates will be the cheapest in terms of dollar value. But, if you have health problems, or are older than 75, this may not be the case.
Limitations	There may be limitations in terms of the features you can add and the term lengths. As you get older the lengths available to you get shorter. Most companies will only provide term policies for 10 years to people who are 80 and will not provide insurance beyond age 85 the new applicants.
Coverage options	There is flexibility from one company to the next in terms of the length of the term. Some companies will offer terms on an annual basis, so you can choose to take out a 10-year policy and then renew that policy each subsequent year as necessary. Others will let you take out a policy that coincides directly with the years left on something like an existing mortgage, and so on.

If you are in your 60’s, some term life insurance companies will allow you to take out 30-year term policies. But for the most part, you will be limited to 20 and 10-year policies. Most life insurance companies do not offer term policies past age 85, though a few like Mutual of Omaha offer term life policies for people that are 95 years old.

Another benefit of term life insurance is that it can be converted into permanent coverage, though this is usually required before the age of 75 by most companies.

Lastly, term coverage allows for a lot of Policy Riders, which are additional benefits that you can add onto your policy in order to secure more specific coverage. Some of the most important life insurance policy riders for seniors with diabetes are:

Long Term Disability Rider
Long Term Care Rider
Grandchildren’s / Children’s Term Rider
Accelerated Death Benefit Rider

When browsing for the best life insurance as a senior, you want to make sure that riders are ABSOLUTELY something you factor into the policy you are purchasing.

Want to learn more about what types of policy riders are most important, what they do, and which companies have the best ones? This helpful guide should do the trick.

Final Expense Insurance for Seniors With Diabetes

Final expense insurance is a type of permanent life insurance policy that is meant to cover end of life expenses and burial costs. These types of policies are best for people who need additional coverage, or for seniors who either do not qualify for other types of life insurance, or for people in need of coverage quickly.

Note: This type of policy should be a last case scenario because this is guaranteed issue life insurance. This means that everyone qualifies for coverage, making the average risk much higher for insurance providers. As a result, the premiums for burial insurance policies are quite high in terms of cost per thousand.

Question	Answer
Who is it best for?	Final expense insurance is best for those who only want to cover their end of life expenses. It is also good for people who cannot afford other types of coverage, but don't want their family to shoulder additional debt when they pass.
What are rates like?	Rates are higher, but for seniors with bad cases of diabetes, or health conditions from diabetes, it may offer more affordable rates than most term policies, and all other permanent policies.
Limitations	The limitations of final expense insurance are the face value and the waiting period before full coverage begins. Most companies only offer $25,000 in of final expense coverage, though a few companies offer more for individuals that are still working. The policy's full death benefit doesn't being until the policy has been active for at least 2 years.
Coverage options	The coverage options range from one company to another, but most policies offer the same basic benefits. During the first two years, your policy offers a full coverage for any accident-related deaths. If you pass away from a health issue during this time, your beneficiary will recieve a refund of all the premiums you've paid plus 10-20% interest depending on the provider.

Overall, final expense insurance is better than nothing if you have dependents that rely on you. For seniors with diabetes, if your health is properly managed, without too many additional health conditions, you should be able to find better rates for term insurance.

However, if you are over 75, affordable life insurance may become hard to find, as less options exist. In this case, you may want to consider burial insurance.

Also, for seniors with diabetes that are in poor health, or who need life insurance coverage quickly, burial insurance is the perfect option for you, as it will likely be the most affordable option.

Want to learn more about burial insurance and how it compares to traditional life insurance? These resources outline everything you need to know:

Permanent Life Insurance for Seniors With Diabetes

Permanent life insurance policies come in many different variations. Each one accumulates cash value over time from the premiums paid in. This cash value can be borrowed against as a loan, interest free - as long as it is paid back over the life of the policy. If it is not paid back, any money owed is usually subtracted from the death benefit, though some companies terminate these policies.

Based on how a permanent life insurance policy accumulates cash value, there are different types of permanent coverage. Some common ones include:

Variable Life Insurance
Universal Life Insurance
Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance
Variable Universal Life Insurance
Indexed Universal Life Insurance

The list goes on. Going into more depth about the policies requires its own article in order to be thorough, so we wrote about it here.

Question	Answer
Who is it best for?	Permanent policies are best for people who want to leave an inheritance, guaranteed income, and don't want to deal with taking out another policy later in life. They are also good for people who want to use their life insurance policy as an investment tool.
What are rates like?	The rates for permanent plans are going to be much higher, especially for seniors with health conditions. The older you are the more expensive they become. But the trade-off is the policy never expires, and it accumulates cash value.
Limitations	These life insurance policies are not offered at all ages, so it is important to evaluate your needs sooner rather than later. For most companies, you cannot purchase permanent life insurance (besides burial) after age 65.
Coverage options	Permanent policies have the largest coverage options in terms of the face value amounts, insuring well past $1,000,000. They also allow you to create estates, and trusts, as well as protect them.

At the end of the day, traditional permanent life insurance has its place. BUT, these policies are not recommended for senior diabetics because the rates are extremely high, and cash value accumulation can take years to make a substantial difference. Similar coverage can be obtained for a fraction of the cost in term policies, or burial policies, especially for those in good health.

For those who are interested in using life insurance to establish and maintain a trust or estate, permanent life insurance is the best option. This is a very safe and affordable way to manage your wealth, and make sure that it is properly distributed in the event of your death.

Interested in learning more about permanent life insurance and estate planning? These helpful resources were created just for you:

Life Insurance Rates for Seniors With Diabetes

In the following tables, the rates for seniors are for those with:

Type 1 diabetes.
A last A1C reading of 5.4
Average reading of 5.6
No current health complications
Undergoing treatment with a daily dosage of 30 insulin units

Note: It is important to note that after age 80, only 10 year term policies are offered and after 85, very few companies will offer any permanent life insurance coverage except for guaranteed issue burial policies.