Sign High Cholesterol

You wanna know the number one reason most healthy people don’t qualify for better life insurance rates?

It’s your cholesterol levels.

Getting life insurance with high cholesterol at a great rate is possible, if you apply to the right company.

If you have high cholesterol and need life insurance, we’ve got some great news for you…

There are quality insurance companies that have much more liberal cholesterol guidelines compared to the others (see master list down below).

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What's considered high cholesterol for life insurance?

That depends…

Your total cholesterol and HDL (good) cholesterol are what life insurance companies look at and are most interested in.

If you have heart disease or cardiovascular issue, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, family history of coronary artery disease or other health issues, then insurance companies may take a closer look at your LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides in addition to the total and HDL.

While a total cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL or less and an HDL of 60 mg/dL or higher is considered optimal.

A 300 total cholesterol level for Preferred Plus rate

The more aggressive insurance companies will allow you to have up to a 300 total cholesterol level to qualify for their “Preferred Plus” rate as long as your HDL cholesterol is good.

The cholesterol/HDL ratio is determined by dividing your total cholesterol by your HDL cholesterol.

Most insurance companies will offer you the following rates as long as your HDL ratio does not exceed:

4.5 or 5.0 for Preferred Plus
5.5 to 6.0 for Preferred
6.5 to 7.0 for Regular Plus
7.5 to 8.0 for Regular
8.1 and higher- Possible Table 2 to decline (must shop for individual consideration)

Sometimes it takes a little fight to get better offer

We have been able to negotiate to get otherwise healthy people exception on the above…

But we gotta put the pressure on.

For example, we’ve helped others get the best preferred plus rate class even when cholesterol/HDL ratio was as high as 5.9…

Or preferred rates for cholesterol/HDL ratio as high as 6.9.

If your overall health is pretty good otherwise, we’ll be more likely to get you an exception with the top life insurance companies regarding their guidelines for cholesterol.

Our system can’t be beat!

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Acceptable Cholesterol Levels for Life Insurance

Let’s take a look at some of the most competitive life insurance companies underwriting guidelines on maximum total cholesterol and cholesterol/HDL ratio to qualify for Preferred Plus, Preferred, Regular Plus and Regular rates:

                                                      Preferred Plus     Preferred     Regular Plus    Regular
AAA (all ages)                                325/4.5              325/5.5           325/6.5          325/7.5
Lincoln National (age 70+)           300/5.5             300/7.0            n/a                   n/a
Lincoln National (age 0-69)          300/5.0             300/6.0           n/a                   n/a
North American (ages 71+)           300/5.5             300/6.5           n/a                    n/a
North American (ages 0-70)         300/5.0             300/6.0           n/a                    n/a
Prudential (all ages)                      300/5.0             300/6.0          300/7.0              n/a
United of Omaha (all ages)          300/5.0             300/6.0          300/7.0              n/a
AXA (all ages)                                300/5.0              300/5.5          300/6.0              n/a
SBLI (males only)                           300/5.0              300/5.5          300/6.5          300/7.0
SBLI (females only)                        300/4.5              300/5.0         300/6.0          300/7.0
American National (ages 61+)      300/5.0              300/5.5         300/6.0              n/a
American National (ages 0-60)    300/4.5              300/5.5         300/6.0              n/a
Banner Life (all ages)                     300/4.5              300/5.5         300/6.5          300/8.0
Pacific Life (males only)                 300/4.5             300/5.5          300/6.5          300/7.5
Pacific Life (females only)              300/4.0            300/5.0          300/6.0          300/7.0
Symetra Life (all ages)                    300/4.5            300/5.5          300/6.5              n/a
American General/AIG (all ages)  300/4.5            300/5.5         300/6.5           300/6.5
American General/AIG (all ages)  215/5.0             245/6.0         260/7.0          260/7.0
Global Atlantic (ages 71+)              280/5.5            300/6.5           n/a                   n/a
Global Atlantic (ages 0-70)            260/5.0            270/6.0          270/6.5             n/a
New York Life (all ages)                 275/4.5             300/6.0         300/6.5           na/7.0
Protective Life (all ages)                275/4.5             275/5.5            n/a                  n/a
Nationwide (ages 71+)                    270/4.5            280/6.5           n/a                   n/a
Nationwide (ages 18-70)                240/4.5            250/5.5            n/a                   n/a
Principal (ages 65-85)                     260/5.0            280/6.0          300/7.0              n/a
Principal (ages 20-64)                     240/4.5            270/5.5          300/6.5              n/a
National Life (ages 65+)                 260/5.0            280/6.0          300/7.0              n/a
National Life (ages 18-64)              260/4.5            280/5.5          300/6.5               n/a
Security Mutual (ages 66+)           250/5.5            260/6.0          270/7.0               n/a
Security Mutual (ages 41-65)        240/5.0            250/5.5          260/6.5               n/a
Ameritas (all ages)                         250/5.0             270/5.5          285/6.5               n/a
Zurich Life (ages 51+)                     240/5.5             270/6.0         280/6.5               n/a
Zurich Life (ages 0-50)                   220/5.0             250/5.5         280/6.5               n/a
Minnesota Life (all ages)               240/5.0             260/6.0        300/7.0               n/a
Brighthouse/Met (ages 70+)        240/5.0             300/5.0        300/7.0                n/a
Brighthouse/Met (ages 55-69)     230/4.5             280/5.0        300/6.0                n/a
Brighthouse/Met (ages 0-54)       220/4.5             240/5.0        280/5.5                n/a
Cincinnati Life (all ages)                240/4.5             250/5.0        280/6.0                n/a
Transamerica (ages 71+)                230/5.5              260/6.0        300/6.7            na/7.5
Transamerica (ages 0-70)              230/5.0              260/5.5        300/6.2            na/7.0
Penn Mutual (ages 61+)                 230/5.0              270/6.0        290/6.5              n/a
Penn Mutual (ages 0-60)               220/4.5              260/5.5        280/6.0              n/a
Columbus Life (all ages)                230/5.0              250/6.0        260/6.5           290/7.0
Illinois Mutual (all ages)                220/5.0              250/6.0        280/7.5              n/a             

Ohio National (all ages)                 220/5.0              240/5.5        260/6.0             n/a
Foresters Financial (all ages)        220/4.5              230/5.0        260/6.5              n/a
Haven Life (ages 46+)                    220/4.5                 n/a               n/a                  n/a
Assurity Life (all ages)                   210/4.5               250/5.0           n/a                  n/a

Thrivent (all ages)                          210/4.5               240/5.0        250/5.0              n/a
State Farm (all ages)                      175/na                200/na          220/na             250/na      

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The “Total View” Approach

Companies Like John Hancock and Mass Mutual (not Haven), take the “total view” approach to their underwriting process.

What this means is that instead of focusing on your exact lipid levels, they’ll make an offer using a lot of different criteria…

like blood pressure, cholesterol, height/weight, blood glucose, etc.

So if you’re otherwise healthy, but cholesterol is or has been high in the past, you may want to look at John Hancock or Mass Mutual to see if their insurance costs are competitive at your age for amount and plan of insurance you're interested in.   

Sample Rates at Different Health Classes

Check out how your term life insurance monthly premiums can be affected if you're approved at Standard Plus or Standard rates compared to one of the Preferred health classifications.

These are $500,000- 20 year term rates for 50 year old male and 50 year old female from the top insurance companies:

                             Preferred Plus     Preferred     Standard Plus    Standard
Male Age 50           $72                     $85                $119                     $134
Female Age 50       $54                     $62                $85                      $99

So as you can see from above, a life insurance applicant that's approved for a Preferred Plus or Preferred rate compared to a Standard Plus or Standard rate can save a LOT of money over their term duration...

For example, a 50 year old male would save $14,880 and a 50 year old female would save $10,800 over 20 years by qualifying for Preferred Plus compared to the Standard rates. 

No Medical Exam Insurance With High Cholesterol

If you're concerned about being diagnosed with high cholesterol on a medically underwritten insurance application, you may want to first apply for a no medical exam life insurance coverage. 

Just remember that even the best no exam life insurance companies can order your medical records to verify info, and they'll check the MIB for your previous application history and pharmacy records database as part of the underwriting process. 

Insurance underwriters have many ways of finding out about any preexisting conditions, like past cholesterol and blood pressure issues, so your life insurance premiums could even be higher on a no exam life insurance policy.  

There are some competitive no exam term life and guaranteed universal life companies right now, like Pacific Life, Sagicor and SBLI.

Plus, many of the top insurance companies offer "accelerated underwriting" to some healthy people, meaning they could approve you without requiring an exam...but all of these reserve the right to require an exam if they deem it necessary. 

Finding Best Insurance with High Cholesterol

As you can see from above, the guidelines can vary greatly from company to company…

And depending on your gender and age bracket.

Keep in mind also, cholesterol levels can fluctuate based on lifestyle choices like diet and exercise.

If you eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, a philly cheese steak every day for lunch and then have blood test, chances are your cholesterol won’t be good.

BEWARE...The bait and switch is alive and well

Some companies that show up with lowest rates in any life insurance comparison have “teaser rates”…

In other words, these companies know you probably won’t qualify for best rates…usually due to cholesterol. 

Is this the bait and switch scam, to show you low rate and approve you for higher?

Probably, but…

It may not matter now that we’re providing you with all of the competitive companies cholesterol guidelines above.

What insurance companies should you avoid

If you haven’t had a blood test in a while and have no idea what your cholesterol levels may be, we’d recommend avoiding State Farm, Assurity Life, Thrivent Financial, Haven Life, Foresters and the others on the lower portion of the master list above…

This way you’re not unpleasantly surprised if your offer comes back higher than expected due to cholesterol.

Remember also, negotiation is always possible…

We’ve helped hundred’s of applicants with high cholesterol like you qualify for better rates even when their cholesterol was above the carriers life insurance underwriting guidelines.

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What To Do if Denied Life Insurance Due to High Cholesterol?

If your cholesterol is over 300 or cholesterol/HDL ratio is above 8.0, you may very well be declined or “rated” (and charged an additional premium).

If you’ve had an abnormally high reading on insurance exam, we’ll recommend you have a new blood test.

Then we’ll get the insurance company (or another one) to make you a better offer if cholesterol has improved.

Just remember the longer you fast and longer you can eat a low saturated fat/low cholesterol diet prior to your blood test, the better your cholesterol levels should be.

How to lower cholesterol if diet and exercise don’t work?

There are natural remedies like red yeast rice and plant sterols to help lower cholesterol. 

Not only that, but most insurance companies don’t care if you take prescription medication to lower your cholesterol…

They just want your cholesterol to be well controlled. 

As soon as your cholesterol levels are good, with or without medication, you could qualify for a better rate!!

Just keep in mind that any company may require more than one blood test over a period of time to verify you’re maintaining good levels before making you a better offer…especially if you just started taking prescription medication.

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Low Cholesterol Life Insurance

While much less of an issue, we’ve seen insurance companies decline or charge higher rates for having cholesterol that is too low.

Cholesterol under 120 mg/dL is considered too low and has caused an issue on past cases we’ve shopped…

And can negatively affect life insurance rates. 

Cholesterol being too low also affects life insurance 

When we’ve tried to negotiate for better offers for abnormally low cholesterol, we’ve been told the issues are possible malnutrition, potential for mental health issues and possible link to increase risk of some cancers.

So this is a real concern for life insurance companies.

If you have a history of low cholesterol, you may want to eat the bacon and eggs or cheese steaks for a few days prior to your blood test, just to be safe.

Bottom Line on Getting Life Insurance with Abnormal Cholesterol

Being diagnosed with high cholesterol or very low cholesterol will affect life insurance premiums.

Having “middle of the road” cholesterol levels is best for life insurance underwriting…not too low and not too high.  

You must deal with independent insurance agent  

If you’ve been offered a higher life insurance rate in past due to cholesterol or if you’d like to apply for the first time, you must deal with agent that can have you apply for life insurance with many different insurance providers. 

A captive agent will never get you the most affordable life insurance.   

You may be better off applying to companies like AAA, Lincoln National, NACOLAH, Prudential, United of Omaha, AXA, ANICO…

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Life insurance for high cholesterol quotes

If you’d like to see some instant insurance quotes, click on the "Compare Quotes" button on bottom or top of this page to see rates from every competitive carrier.  

Keep in mind that cholesterol levels are only one of many criteria that all life insurance companies will take into consideration.

If you’d like an accurate quote, just click the “Accurate Cholesterol Insurance Quote” link above and we’ll research exactly which insurance companies will make you best offer and provide best value.

Please also feel free to call us at 1-800-380-3533 or click here to email us if you'd like an insurance application, have any questions or if you need more information. 

We’ll give you more tips on how to get the best cholesterol reading and results from your insurance exam, if you decide to apply.

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