Life Insurance and the Health Exam

April 9, 2009 12:06 PM

Is it possible to get term life insurance without the health exam?

I'm looking to fill a gap between what my employer gives me and my mortgage balance (I have no dependents or spouse)--it's mostly for my parents' benefit.

I'd like to get a total of 100k in term life for 20-25 year period.

I do not want to do the medical exam that most companies require. I'm healthy and don't have anything to hide, I just don't like the idea of a corporation having that information.

So my question to you is, can anyone recommend a quality, stable company that doesn't require the medical exam? If I have to get 2 50k policies from separate companies so be it.

Would it be weird for me ask my insurance agent "What's the highest level I can get without the exam?" I'd feel a little creepy asking that...ha!

Thanks in advance for your help!

posted by Zoyashka to Work & Money (9 answers total)

Can you get supplemental life insurance through work? I did that without the exam.
posted by dpx.mfx at 12:11 PM on April 9, 2009

Response by poster: Ah, good question...I can, but they require the exam as well....
posted by Zoyashka at 12:12 PM on April 9, 2009

My supplemental through work didn't require a medical exam. Apparently they could have asked for one but I guess they didn't see the need with me. i just filled out a lot of paperwork that included a medical history. It's through Liberty Mutual.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 12:20 PM on April 9, 2009

I would suspect that, for that amount, you'll not be able to secure insurance without an exam.
posted by HuronBob at 12:38 PM on April 9, 2009

For our insurance, first there was paperwork/questionnaire with medical history. That was much more thorough than the actual exam, which was just blood pressure, height, weight, waist, pee in a cup and take some blood. That's it.

Given that there's no way to get insurance without filling out paper regarding your medical history, if you're okay with giving up that amount of information, the exam itself is far less intrusive so I'm not sure what the objection would be.
posted by canine epigram at 12:57 PM on April 9, 2009

I called up Liberty Mutual and they offered Term to me without a previous exam. We ended up going with a different company that did require an exam, mostly because the premiums were a third of the cost of LM.
posted by Alison at 1:10 PM on April 9, 2009

No, that's exactly the kind of question for your agent, especially an independent agent - they probably have the various cut-offs memorized. $100,000 isn't a huge amount, but if you get term life without an exam, you're probably automatically thrown into the 'high risk' pricing. The degree of an exam for insurance varies; sometimes, it's just a pee and blood test, and the insurance company sends out a technician to do it at your work or home. You have to realize, though, insurance companies do the tests for a reason: they can't stay in business insuring people with liver damage for 50 years. That said, however, there are companies that specialize in high-risk insurance, and they advertise a lot on Game Show Network and/or late at night. Your best bet is to talk to an agent, or several agents, tell them exactly what you want (almost word for word as above), and they should be able to do well for you.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:52 PM on April 9, 2009

I just purchased life insurance through NY Life (great company), and their policy is that if it's less than $100k in benefits they do not require a medical exam.

Anything above that and they'll have a nurse come to your house or place of work to draw blood/pee in a cup etc.
posted by jdgdotnet at 5:10 PM on April 9, 2009

Hadley's site seems to consist solely of affiliate links to EFinancial products. The term life insurance with no exam goes to American Life Policy.
posted by JonB at 11:47 AM on April 13, 2009