Can you get life insurance if you have type 2 diabetes?

Yes. Type 2 diabetes is a common and well-understood condition in life insurance underwriting, and a wide range of carriers will issue policies to buyers with type 2. The rate class you qualify for depends on several factors: age at diagnosis, current A1C readings, whether the condition is managed by diet, oral medication, or insulin, and whether there are any related complications. Many well-controlled type 2 diabetics qualify for standard or even better-than-standard rates.

Can you get life insurance with high blood pressure?

Yes, and for most people the impact is smaller than they expect. If your blood pressure is well-controlled — whether through medication, lifestyle, or both — many carriers will issue at standard or near-standard rates. Uncontrolled or recently-diagnosed elevated blood pressure may result in a higher rate class while the condition stabilizes, but it's almost never a reason to be denied entirely.

What's the difference between standard and table-rated life insurance?

Standard is one of the main rate classes — roughly the middle of the underwriting spectrum, sitting below preferred and preferred-plus but above table-rated. Table-rated (often called 'substandard') applies when a condition adds risk above standard. Tables are graded — table A, B, C, D and so on — with each step adding a percentage to the standard premium. A buyer with controlled type 2 diabetes might land at standard or table B; a buyer with poorly controlled diabetes and complications might land further down the table.

Should I disclose health conditions on a life insurance application?

Always. Honest disclosure is a contractual requirement, and it's also self-protective. Carriers verify information through the MIB (Medical Information Bureau), prescription history databases, and your medical records — undisclosed conditions almost always surface during underwriting. More importantly, if a beneficiary files a death claim within the two-year contestability window and the carrier discovers undisclosed health information on the original application, the claim can be denied. Disclose everything; let the underwriter decide what matters.

Can you get life insurance with diabetes or high blood pressure?

The most common reason people put off applying for life insurance is the assumption that a health condition will get them denied. For type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure — two of the conditions buyers worry about most — that assumption is almost always wrong. Both are absolutely insurable. The real question is which carrier, in which rate class, on what kind of underwriting path.

This guide walks through how underwriting actually works for these two conditions, what carriers look at, and the honest framework for getting the best possible offer.

Rate classes, briefly

Life insurance pricing is built around rate classes — buckets the underwriter sorts each applicant into based on overall health risk. The exact names vary slightly between carriers, but a typical structure looks like:

Preferred Plus (sometimes called Super Preferred) — the healthiest rate class. Excellent labs, no significant medical history, ideal weight, no tobacco, clean family history.
Preferred — strong health profile with minor or controlled issues.
Standard Plus — between preferred and standard.
Standard — average health for the applicant’s age. Most insured Americans land somewhere around standard.
Table-rated (substandard) — conditions that add risk above standard. Tables are graded A, B, C, D, and so on. Each table adds a percentage (typically 25%) to the standard premium.
Decline — risk profile the carrier won’t take at any price. Rarer than people fear, especially for common chronic conditions.

For diabetes and hypertension, the realistic outcome range for most applicants is somewhere between Preferred and table B or C — wide range, but well within “insurable.”

Life insurance with type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions in the U.S. and one of the most well-understood by underwriters. There’s substantial actuarial data, and carriers have specific underwriting niches for it.

What underwriters look at:

A1C levels. This is the single most important number. A1C is a blood test that reflects average blood sugar over the past 2-3 months. Underwriting bands typically look something like:

A1C under 7.0 with no complications: many carriers offer standard or near-standard rates, and a few specialty carriers may offer better.
A1C 7.0-8.0: standard to mild table-rated is the typical range.
A1C 8.0-9.0: usually table-rated, with the specific table depending on other factors.
A1C above 9.0: more significant table-rating, and some carriers may decline at this level.

These bands vary by carrier — the same A1C can land at very different rate classes depending on which carrier you apply with. This is where shopping the market actually matters.

Age at diagnosis. Carriers generally view a diagnosis at age 50 with strong control more favorably than a diagnosis at age 30. The actuarial reasoning is straightforward — early-onset diabetes has more time to develop complications.

Treatment type. Diet-controlled diabetes typically rates better than oral-medication-controlled, which typically rates better than insulin-controlled. The progression isn’t a moral judgment; it reflects the underlying severity the treatment level signals.

Complications. Neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney involvement, cardiovascular disease — any diabetes-related complication moves you down the rate class scale. Conversely, clean kidney function, healthy lipid panels, and good cardiovascular markers move you up.

Lifestyle. Tobacco use compounds with diabetes meaningfully — both conditions stress the same systems, and the combined rate impact is more than either alone. Weight and BMI also matter, particularly for type 2 specifically since weight management directly affects the underlying condition.

The practical takeaway for diabetic applicants: A1C matters more than any other single factor, and applying with a carrier that has a favorable underwriting niche for your specific A1C band can mean the difference between standard rates and table B or C.

Life insurance with high blood pressure

Hypertension is the most common chronic condition in the underwriting population, and for most applicants the impact on rates is small — particularly if the condition is controlled.

What underwriters look at:

Current readings. The actual blood pressure numbers at the time of underwriting matter more than the diagnosis itself. A buyer on medication with consistently controlled readings (typically below 140/90, with carrier-specific thresholds) often qualifies for the same rate classes as a buyer without hypertension at all.

Treatment history. Single-medication control reads well to underwriters. Multi-medication regimens read less well — not necessarily because they’re worse for the patient, but because they signal underlying severity. A buyer well-controlled on one medication generally rates better than a buyer well-controlled on three, all else equal.

Time since diagnosis. Recently-diagnosed hypertension that hasn’t fully stabilized may result in a slightly higher rate class while the carrier confirms the condition is responding to treatment. After 12-24 months of stable readings, applicants can sometimes re-underwrite into a better class.

Related conditions. Hypertension by itself is often manageable from an underwriting perspective. Hypertension plus diabetes plus elevated cholesterol plus a BMI in the obese range — the cumulative load is what matters, and each condition compounds the impact of the others.

Family history. Underwriters do consider family history of cardiovascular events (parent or sibling with heart attack or stroke before age 60 is a common threshold). A clean family history can offset some of the impact of personal hypertension; a heavy family history compounds it.

For most controlled-hypertension buyers, the realistic outcome is standard or better. The condition is so common that carriers have developed competitive underwriting niches for it.

Fully underwritten vs simplified issue

Two underwriting paths matter for buyers with chronic conditions:

Fully-underwritten policies. These ask detailed health questions, typically require a paramedic exam (blood draw, urine sample, blood pressure check, height/weight), and pull medical records, MIB data, and prescription history. The underwriting takes 4-8 weeks. The upside: you get the best rate class your actual health supports, often dramatically better than alternative products.

Simplified-issue policies. These ask a shorter list of health questions, skip the medical exam, and often skip the medical records request. Underwriting can be completed in days. The upside: speed and accessibility. The downside: rates are higher per dollar of coverage than fully-underwritten products, because the carrier is assuming higher average risk across the simplified-issue pool.

For a buyer with controlled diabetes or hypertension, the fully-underwritten path is almost always the right choice. The conditions are well-understood, the underwriting outcome is generally favorable, and the rate savings are meaningful. Simplified-issue makes sense for buyers who genuinely can’t pursue fully-underwritten — significantly uncontrolled conditions, recent diagnoses that haven’t stabilized, or other factors that would result in declines or steep table ratings on the fully-underwritten side.

There’s also a middle path — accelerated underwriting — that some carriers offer to a subset of applicants based on age, coverage amount, and health profile. Accelerated underwriting uses electronic health and prescription data to make a decision without a paramedic exam, often within days. Eligibility depends on the carrier’s criteria, but it’s worth asking about if you’d otherwise hesitate on the paramedic-exam step.

The carrier-niche question

Here’s the part that matters most and gets discussed least: carriers have very different appetites for different conditions.

Two well-controlled type 2 diabetics with similar profiles can get very different offers depending on which carriers they apply with. One carrier might be aggressive on diabetes underwriting and offer Standard Plus. Another might rate the same applicant at table A or B because their actuarial book is overweighted in similar risk.

The same is true for hypertension, particularly for buyers on multi-medication regimens or with borderline readings. Some carriers have built specific underwriting niches around controlled hypertension; others rate it more conservatively.

An independent agent who represents multiple carriers can submit your profile to a few of them (sometimes informally, before a full application) to see which one has the most favorable view of your specific situation. This is one of the strongest arguments for working with an independent agent if you have any chronic condition — the shopping work is meaningful, and it’s the kind of work a captive agent structurally can’t do.

What to do before applying

A few practical steps that can improve your underwriting outcome:

Get your numbers in good shape, if you can. If your A1C has been trending up, work with your doctor on getting it back under 7.0 before applying. If your blood pressure has been recently uncontrolled, give it a few months on a treatment regimen to stabilize. You don’t need to be perfect — but stable, controlled numbers underwrite far better than recent volatility.
Know your current readings. Recent labs and a current blood pressure reading help your agent set expectations realistically before you apply.
List your medications accurately. Carriers pull prescription history electronically; discrepancies between your application and the database create underwriting friction.
Disclose family history honestly. Some buyers minimize family cardiovascular history on the application, thinking it’ll help. It doesn’t — and discrepancies can be flagged.
Apply with the right carrier the first time. A decline or steep table rating from one carrier doesn’t follow you forever, but it does get flagged in MIB and can complicate future applications. Better to have your agent shop the profile informally before formal submission.

Bottom line

Yes, you can get life insurance with diabetes or high blood pressure. Both are common, well-understood conditions in underwriting.
Rate classes vary widely depending on your specific numbers (A1C for diabetes, BP readings for hypertension) and overall health profile.
Carrier niches matter. The same applicant can get meaningfully different offers from different carriers — shopping is real work that produces real savings.
Fully-underwritten is almost always the right path for buyers with controlled chronic conditions, despite the longer underwriting timeline.
Disclose everything honestly. Carriers verify; undisclosed conditions surface and can cause real problems at claim time.

Want to know what your specific profile underwrites to before you formally apply? Call (480) 322-7400 or request a quote on the contact page. We’ll talk through your current numbers, identify which carriers tend to underwrite favorably for your situation, and run a few illustrations so you can see what realistic offers look like.