Life Insurance With High Blood Pressure: Buyer’s Guide

Why Do Insurance Companies Care About High Blood Pressure?

Life insurance companies take hypertension seriously because it significantly increases the risk of complications such as heart disease and stroke. Therefore, if you have high blood pressure, you’re often seen as a greater risk to insure.

Life insurance companies are all about managing risk. The more risk they take on by insuring you, the higher your policy premiums will be.

Underwriting High Blood Pressure

During the application process, the insurance company will assess your overall health, lifestyle, family history, occupation, and other factors. This helps them gauge your likelihood of passing away during the policy term. This evaluation process is known as underwriting.

Learn about the different individual factors your life insurance company will look at.

Once you’re evaluated, you’ll be categorized into a specific rate class. These rate classes, also called risk classes, determine the cost of your life insurance policy.

The most common risk classifications fall into one of three groups: preferred, standard, and substandard.

Preferred classes are reserved for the healthiest individuals and offer the best pricing.
Standard risk classes are for people with average health and life expectancy.
Substandard classes are for high-risk individuals.
Tobacco users have their own standard and preferred classes.

Substandard applicants are typically given a table rating. Being table rated means you’re required to pay a specific percentage extra on top of the standard rate.

Learn more about table rating pricing here: What Is a Substandard Risk in Life Insurance?

Can I Get Life Insurance With High Blood Pressure?

Yes, you can still obtain life insurance if you have high blood pressure. The risk class you qualify for will depend on how well you manage your condition, along with other personal factors.

It’s not just your hypertension that life insurance underwriters will consider. They’ll also take into account your age, gender, family medical history, any other health conditions you may have, and lifestyle habits like alcohol, tobacco, and drug use.

To give you a clearer understanding, let’s look at some real-life examples that show how high blood pressure can affect both your ability to get life insurance and the cost of your policy.

Real Life Case Studies*

To give you a better idea of pricing and getting life insurance with high blood pressure, review the examples below.

Case Study #1

Applicant 1 applies for a 20-year term policy with $250,000 in coverage.

She’s a healthy 48-year-old executive who had her insurance exam performed towards the end of an unusually busy day. Her blood pressure was noted to be elevated at 150/100.
Follow-up with her doctor showed a repeat blood pressure of 116/72, which is consistent with measurements on multiple prior visits.

She can qualify for Preferred Plus ratings and pay monthly premiums as low as $27 per month.

Case Study #2

Applicant 2 applies for a 20-year term policy with $250,000 in coverage.

He’s a 56-year-old truck driver who has been treated for hypertension for the past 10 years.
His blood pressure during his life insurance medical exam was 154/94. After reviewing his medical records, it was discovered that those measurements are consistent with those of past doctor physicals.
Compliance with his medication has not always been ideal, but the applicant has never smoked nor been treated for any other medical conditions.

He can qualify for Standard ratings and pay monthly premiums as low as $122 per month.

Case Study #3

Applicant 3 applies for a 20-year term policy with $250,000 in coverage.

He’s a 25-year-old office worker who is slightly overweight and uses an inhaler about 3 times per week for asthma.
He had surgery in the past to clear his esophagus because of dysphagia (difficulty swallowing).
His blood pressure is 125/85 on average.

He can qualify for a Table 2 rating and pay monthly premiums as low as $31.50 per month.

(Table 2 rating price is calculated as 50% on top of the Standard pricing.)

Case Study #4

Applicant 4 is a 62-year-old retiree.

She smokes a pack of cigarettes each day.
She has not seen a physician in many years, but her exam notes that she has been treated for hypertension and had a stroke many years ago.
Her exam blood pressure was 180/120, her EKG showed left ventricular hypertrophy, and her insurance labs revealed elevated blood glucose, HGA1C, cholesterol, creatinine, and nt-proBNP levels.

She would likely be declined for traditional life insurance, but eligible for guaranteed-issue life insurance.

*The examples shown are for illustrative purposes only. Your rates may be higher or lower.