Final Expense Insurance for Diabetics: Your Options

Yes, many seniors with diabetes can buy final expense insurance. What you qualify for usually depends on your answers to a few health questions. If your diabetes is well managed and you don't have serious complications, you may qualify for a simplified issue policy that pays the full benefit from the first day. If you have complications, you may be offered a graded policy, or you may need guaranteed issue coverage, which typically pays a limited benefit for natural death during the first two years.

This guide explains how final expense applications treat diabetes, how graded benefits work, and how to choose between simplified and guaranteed issue. It describes common practice and published carrier examples, not a promise of how any company will treat you.

How common is diabetes among older adults?

Very common. The CDC's National Diabetes Statistics Report estimates that 28.8% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older had diabetes in 2021 to 2023, counting both diagnosed and undiagnosed cases. That includes 21.3% who had been diagnosed.

In numbers, the CDC estimates 17.1 million adults 65 and older had diabetes in 2023. For the full breakdown by age, see our data study on diabetes in America by the numbers.

What is final expense insurance?

Final expense insurance is a small whole life policy meant to cover a funeral, burial or cremation, and final bills. Coverage amounts are modest, premiums are usually level, and the policy lasts for life as long as you pay. Most are sold without a medical exam.

For the basics, read what final expense insurance is and how it works. To decide how much you might need, our guide to how much a funeral costs walks through typical expenses.

How do simplified issue policies handle diabetes?

Simplified issue policies ask yes-or-no health questions and check databases instead of requiring an exam. Your answers often sort you into a tier: full coverage from day one, a graded benefit, or a decline. Diabetes by itself often isn't disqualifying, but complications tend to move people down a tier.

Published carrier materials show how this works. Foresters' PlanRight consumer brochure, for example, says the policy comes in three plans: two that pay the full death benefit right away and one that pays a limited death benefit in the first two years. Foresters says your answers to the application questions help guide which plan is available to you, and that your insurability depends on those answers plus underwriting searches and review.

Which diabetes details trigger which tier differs by carrier and state, and questions change over time. That's why comparing several carriers matters.

Simplified issue vs. guaranteed issue: which fits you?

Simplified issue usually costs less per dollar of coverage and may pay the full benefit sooner, if you qualify. Guaranteed issue is the fallback when health questions rule you out.

Gerber Life's Guaranteed Life Insurance is one published example: it's for ages 50 to 80 (75 in New York), with a $25,000 limit on all combined Guaranteed Life policies ($15,000 in South Dakota). Our deeper guide to guaranteed issue life insurance explains the trade-offs.

How does a graded death benefit work?

A graded death benefit pays a reduced amount if you die of natural causes early in the policy, then the full face amount after that. An accidental death is typically paid in full from the start.

For policies filed through the interstate compact, the IIPRC standard for graded whole life requires that:

• The reduced benefit applies only to death from natural causes.
• The full face amount is paid for accidental death at any time.
• The reduced period lasts no more than the first three policy years.
• The reduced benefit is at least the premiums paid plus interest.

Carriers set the details within those limits. Foresters' PlanRight Basic plan, for example, bases the death benefit in the first two years on the premiums you've paid plus 10% annual interest, pays 100% of the face amount for an accidental death in those years, and pays 100% of the face amount from the third year. Gerber Life's Guaranteed Life policy pays 110% of earned premiums for a death from any cause other than an accident in the first two years.

For example, take a hypothetical 70-year-old with a $10,000 graded policy at an illustrative $80 a month, with a benefit of premiums plus 10%:

These numbers are made up to show the structure only. They aren't a quote.

Does taking insulin change your final expense options?

It can, but complications usually matter more than the medicine itself. Many final expense applications include a prescription check, so an insurer can see insulin in your prescription history whether or not a question asks about it. The CFPB, for example, lists Milliman IntelliScript as a company that collects prescription drug purchase history for life insurance applicants and provides risk scores for underwriting.

What tends to move people into a lower tier is diabetes combined with other problems, such as circulation disease, kidney failure or amputation due to disease, though each carrier draws those lines differently. If you use insulin and have no complications, ask an agent to check simplified issue carriers before you consider guaranteed issue.

What else should seniors with diabetes know before applying?

A few habits make the process smoother and protect your family's claim later.

1. Answer every question accurately. The Texas Department of Insurance explains that during the two-year contestable period, an insurer can deny a claim over wrong or missing information, even if it was a mistake.
2. Have your medicine list ready, including insulin, pills and any non-insulin injections.
3. Know your complications, such as kidney, eye, nerve, heart or circulation problems, with approximate dates.
4. Compare more than one carrier. One company's graded tier may be another company's level tier.
5. Don't cancel existing coverage early. Texas notes that a replacement policy restarts the two-year contestable period, and you'll probably have to answer health questions again.
6. Use the free-look period to read the policy. Texas policies have a free-look period of at least 10 to 20 days.

If you're shopping for an older parent, our guide to final expense insurance for seniors over 70 covers age limits and timing. You can find more guides on our final expense hub and our diabetes life insurance hub, including how insulin use affects your options.