A life insurance medical exam is used by a life insurance company to assess your health and medical risk.
Usually, an insurance medical exam is performed by a nurse or other qualified healthcare professional, and not a doctor. The examination consists of two stages, and the information is used to determine your acceptance for life insurance as well as your annual premium.
What Happens In A Life Insurance Medical Exam?
In most instances, you won't need to worry about visiting a hospital or other medical center in order to complete your life insurance medical exam.
These days, it's often the case that a medical professional will come to you, in order to perform the exam in the comfort of your own home. This includes both the exam questions and the sample-taking portions of the checkup.
First Stage
The first stage of a life insurance exam consists of a verbal questionnaire.
This is a standard medical questionnaire that is routine and familiar to everyone from medical checkups. Typical life insurance questions include:
• Are you a smoker?
• If so, how much do you smoke?
• Do you drink alcohol, and how much?
• Questions about your diet
• Whether you exercise, and how much and how often
Second Stage
The second stage of a life insurance exam involves sample collection, as well as medical tests and measurements.
These tests are not particularly invasive or intrusive, and they're hard to screw up. Their purpose is to assess your overall health picture, and they often include:
• Blood and urine sampling
• Height and weight measurement
• Blood pressure check
• Waist measurement
What Does a Life Insurance Exam Test For?
The purpose of a life insurance medical exam is to assess your risk for certain types of health problems. These include diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease, as well as other common health issues.
If the test determines that you do have a health problem, it's also a good time to receive practical advice and tips about how to minimize or control the issue. This is another reason to get a life insurance health checkup—it keeps small health problems from growing larger. See our Insurance section for more about life insurance exams and buying life insurance).
Why Do Life Insurance Companies Require An Exam?
Life insurance companies require medical exams for a variety of reasons. Primarily, the purpose is to verify the information submitted in your policy application.
The life insurance company also needs to generate a thorough assessment of your medical history. The main reason is to determine how long you're likely to live, and therefore how high your premiums should be.
Then there's the need to establish whether you have any hidden health conditions that even you may not be aware of.
Don't Sweat Your Life Insurance Exam
There's no reason to dread a life insurance medical exam more than any other health checkup. Even if your life insurance policy application is rejected, the info from your exam can help you develop healthier habits and try again.
We hope this article answered your most pressing questions on life insurance medical exams. If you've found it helpful, please check out our other great posts in the Insurance or Healthcare sections of the Frugal Finance Blog.