Diabetes & Life Insurance - How to Get Better Insurance Rates

For someone with diabetes, life insurance can be difficult to get -- or insurance rates could increase to the point where many people would consider it unaffordable. However, diabetics need medication and testing supplies, which can be expensive. Insurance can help to cover all or part of these costs. If you don't have insurance through your employer, try the following tips.

• Keep your diabetes strictly controlled. Many doctors recommend getting an A1C test regularly (often at 3-month intervals) - a consistently good A1C will work in your favor. Good management of blood glucose levels, a healthy diet, and regular exercise can help to make you look like a more acceptable "risk" in the eyes of an insurance company.

• Find an insurance company that looks at your overall health, and not just a "laundry list" of what diseases or conditions you have.

• Look for an insurance agent or broker that specializes in assisting people with chronic diseases such as diabetes.

• Shop around. Even when you find an insurance company willing to provide you with a policy, don't stop -- try to find at least a couple more insurance quotes to ensure you get the best possible rate.

• Consider group health insurance. Group insurance covers a specific group of people (for example, people who work for one employer, or people who are part of a professional organization). Insurance rates are based on the group as a whole, rather than you as an individual. As a result, group health insurance rates are often higher since it may be assumed that the members of the group may be a worse-than-average health risk with more expenses to cover.

• Don't give up! Chances are, you'll run into a situation where you are declined for insurance. Keep looking! There are many insurance companies out there that you can contact.

It's important that you are able to show a history of good diabetes management. If you are unable to establish at least several months of good control (ideally, a minimum of the previous 6 months, but longer is better), consider waiting to apply for insurance until you can show this history of good management. If you get a hemoglobin A1C test every 3 months and the results are within normal range, that can help to demonstrate to the insurance company that your diabetes is well-managed.

Being able to demonstrate that you follow and have responded well to your diabetes treatment plan will help you to secure better insurance rates. How you treat the disease is probably not as important as how well you respond to your treatment for diabetes. Life insurance is available for people with diabetes - but you will need to be persistent, do your research, and manage the disease properly in order find an insurance provider and get the best possible rates.