What to Expect on the Life Insurance Medical Exam
What is the Purpose of the Life Insurance Medical Exam?
When a person is looking for life insurance, a life insurance medical exam is often a prerequisite. So what is a life insurance exam? Many insurance companies require a medical exam for all or some of their applicants. The purpose of the life insurance exam is to assess the risk of insuring a person and to determine whether there are any health conditions that could negatively affect an applicant's life expectancy. It's important to know what life insurance companies are looking for with a medical exam. During your life insurance medical exam, a medical technician will verify your medical history, height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, and collect urine and run a life insurance blood test.
Life Insurance Exam Advantages
Health
For many applicants, the life insurance medical exam should not pose any problems. Moreover, the results of the medical exam can assist an applicant in securing affordable life insurance. If an applicant proves to be in good health and demonstrates no negative lifestyle issues, such as heavy drinking or smoking, an insurance company will be more likely to rate the applicant in its preferred status and offer more favorable life insurance premiums.
Life Insurance Exam Disadvantages
The downside to the medical exam is that it can identify underlying health problems that could result in an applicant being denied coverage or placed in a less than preferred status. This will often be a major reason for a person being unable to obtain affordable life insurance. If an applicant for life insurance actually has health problems that could affect life expectancy, there is nothing to be done if the life insurance exam concludes that these conditions exist. However, a life insurance medical exam may actually report a "false positive" result, or something that appears to be serious but is actually an indication of something more benign. To help avoid such a result, there are several important elements to consider when preparing for a life insurance exam. Learn more about how to prepare for your medical exam.