Life Insurance if You Have High Cholesterol
If you have high cholesterol, you might think getting life insurance could be difficult or unaffordable. Life insurance companies use different criteria for determining how they will rate applicants with high cholesterol. The good news is many life insurance companies will give you their best rating if you are currently being treated for high cholesterol but are within the normal range. If you have high cholesterol and are not on any medication, you may still be able to get a decent rate if you shop around. Here is what you need to know about life insurance if you have high cholesterol.
Cholesterol 101
Cholesterol is a type of fat or lipid in your blood. Your body creates cholesterol on its own but you also get cholesterol from the food you eat. If you have too much cholesterol, it can build up in your arteries and create blood flow problems. High cholesterol could lead to issues such as hardening of the arteries, heart attack or stroke.
The two different kinds of cholesterol are HDL (high-density lipoprotein) and LDL (low-density lipoprotein). HDL is considered good cholesterol and higher levels can lead to lower instances of heart disease. LDL is bad cholesterol and can raise your risk for heart disease. Your overall cholesterol is derived by an equation using your HDL, LDL and triglyceride levels (overall cholesterol = HDL+LDL + (triglyceride level ÷ 5) for those of you who are interested). The good news is that your doctor should be able to tell you everything you need to know about your cholesterol levels by conducting a simple blood test and no math on your part will be required!
How Life Insurance Companies Assess Cholesterol Levels
When a life insurance company assesses your cholesterol level during the underwriting process, they take two main things into consideration – your overall cholesterol level and your HDL level. They divide your overall cholesterol level by your HDL level in order to get a ratio. A lower ratio is more favorable. For instance, if your overall cholesterol is 225 and your HDL level is 50, the ratio would be 4.5 (225÷50). Lower overall cholesterol levels coupled with a lower ratio will obviously get you the best rating. Higher overall cholesterol levels and ratios will start to push you into lower ratings classes. Here is an example of how a life insurance company might show its criteria for cholesterol with regards to health ratings.
Again, this is just an example of how criteria for cholesterol would be illustrated and does not represent the criteria of a specific insurance company. It does however give somewhat accurate guidelines as to the ratios that might be expected for each rating class. There might be cases where you can get better than standard ratings if your cholesterol level is 300 but your ratio is below a certain level such as 5.5. Many companies also offer separate cholesterol tables for older applicants that might allow more liberal levels.
Conclusion
Do you know your cholesterol levels? Before you start shopping for life insurance, it makes sense to know your cholesterol levels. You should easily be able to get the data from your doctor. An independent agent will be able to take that data and shop your policy for the best coverage option. It’s ok if you take medicine for high cholesterol as many of the largest and most reputable insurance companies will still allow you to qualify for their best rating. If you don’t know your cholesterol levels, that’s ok. The insurance company will have a blood panel done using the blood drawn during the paramedical exam. If you have high cholesterol and need life insurance, we can help. We have access to over 40 insurance companies and will use all of our resources to get you the best coverage option available. Please feel free to give us a call at (888) 687-9444 or email us at info@archstoneagency.com if you have any questions.
About Us
Archstone Insurance Services, LLC is an independent agency that shops over 40 of the top life insurance carriers to provide huge savings on life insurance coverage for our clients. We are happy to answer any questions you might have about any of the insurance products we offer, your planning needs or your existing coverage. Feel free to call us directly at (888) 687-9444 or email us at info@archstoneagency.com. You can also visit our website at www.archstoneinsurance.com.
