Am I Required to Take a Medical Exam?

As you shop for life insurance you will start to understand that medical exams are par for the course with certain types of policies, certain consumers, and if you want to obtain a high amount of coverage. The best way to understand who will be required to take a medical exam is to put yourself in the insurance companies place and ask what occurs in a medical exam? If you were an insurance company and your sole purpose was to make a profit, what circumstances would you think call for a closer look?

Lifestyle and Chronic Disease

Not to make light of something as serious as a medical exam, but if you are considered obese, you smoke two packs a day, and your favorite snack is anything fried in animal fat, you are likely going to have to prove to the insurance company that you are not as big of a risk as you seem to be. They will want to put you through a medical exam to ensure that they know as much as they can about your health.

In all seriousness, obesity and smoking are considered to be lifestyle choices. They greatly influence your health. You are asking an insurer to cover your life in exchange for premiums. Their bottom line, they want to cover customers with the lowest risk profile as possible. Now, they now that there are people who smoke, or are carrying a few extra pounds, that are still healthy. They are for the most part managing their health well, they are younger, and all indications are that they will live a good 40 additional years. Over that 40 years they are going to pay premiums for their insurance coverage. That adds up to a good deal for the insurance company and the consumer.

If you have a chronic disease such as diabetes and you are in your 40s, most insurers are going to want to have the opinion of a doctor on record as to how your body is faring. This may not be the case with affordable term life. You might be able to get a decent amount of coverage without a medical exam. It is really up the provider. Each insurance company has a formula they use to determine how risky each customer is. This formula is not perfect but they are perfecting it with each policy they sell.

The Important Factors

One of the most important factors that insurance companies look at when determining if they should cover you and for how much is age. Insurance companies have to obviously look at your age. There are good, concrete number out there that give good estimates at how long a person will live depending the circumstances of their life. Obviously, this is not a 100% accurate. There are accidents and other factors that cannot be known. Every successful insurance company has found a formula that tells them with some accuracy just how long people with certain lifestyle choices and/or chronic diseases should live. The medical exam is just another way they can confirm that you fit the profile.

When you begin the process of buying term life insurance you will find out soon enough if you are considered risky. If you are considered risky, you will likely be required to take a medical exam for certain kinds of policies and for higher amounts of coverage. There are usually many options for people looking for some kind of protection. You can sometimes find smaller, more affordable term life policies that do not require a medical exam at any age.

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