Getting Life Insurance with High Blood Pressure

If you’ve found this page, then that means you or someone you love has high blood pressure and you’re worried about your (or their) chances of getting life insurance.

If so, then you are in luck. We are here to tell you that not only CAN you get life insurance with high blood pressure, but you can qualify for some of the BEST rates out there!

Of course, other health factors come into play when determining the rate you will be approved for, which we will touch on in this article.

Let’s take a look at what high blood pressure is, how it affects your life insurance application, and tips for getting the best rates available to you.

What is High Blood Pressure?

If you think you are alone in having high blood pressure, think again. According to the American Heart Association, almost half of American adults have high blood pressure and many don’t even know it! It isn’t called the “silent killer” for no reason.

Just knowing you have high blood pressure is more than half the battle, because then you can take measures to treat and regulate it so you can live a long, healthy life. Be sure to keep reading until the end, where we give you tips to get your hypertension back to normal levels.

When someone is diagnosed with high blood pressure or hypertension, that means that their blood pressure stays higher than the normal range. The normal range for a healthy person is anything less than 120/80.

But what do those figures mean?

When getting a blood pressure reading, there will always be two numbers included in that reading. The top number is the systolic blood pressure and the bottom number is the diastolic blood pressure.

• Systolic blood pressure – how much blood is being pumped against your artery walls during heartbeats
• Diastolic blood pressure – how much blood is being pumped against your artery walls in between heartbeats

If left unchecked, high blood pressure that is not regulated or controlled could cause a host of health issues, including:

• Stroke
• Cardiovascular disease
• Angina/chest pain
• Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
• Vision loss
• Heart failure
• Kidney disease/failure
• Sexual dysfunction

How is Hypertension Diagnosed?

Whenever you go in for a doctor’s appointment, part of the preliminary health checkup is to take your pulse, temperature, and blood pressure. The doctor will use a blood pressure cuff or sphygmomanometer to do the reading and determine your numbers.

Don’t worry if your numbers are high when you first get there. Most doctors will retake your blood pressure at some other point in your visit to see if the numbers have changed. This is due to many people getting stressed waiting for their visit but relaxing while they are there.

If your numbers are still high, they will likely have you monitor your blood pressure at home at different times of the day – when waking up, before and after exercising, and before you go to sleep. This can be done with an at home blood pressure cuff, which they may provide or you.

Treatment Prescribed

Once they’ve determined you do indeed have hypertension, they will look at your overall health and make suggestions. You will likely have to make some lifestyle changes (see our tips coming up a little later) and may need to go on medication to help regulate your numbers.

There are a number of different types of medications that can be prescribed. What will work for you is dependent on your numbers, other health issues, and any other medications you might already be taking.

Preparing for the Life Insurance with High Blood Pressure

When completing the life insurance application, you will be asked some routine questions that everyone gets asked.

If you are applying for life insurance with high blood pressure, there will be additional questions you will need to answer. Make sure you have the answers ready for these questions to be able to complete your application quickly and easily:

• What is your doctor’s information? This is your regular doctor as well as a cardiologist and any other specialist you are seeing
• When were you diagnosed?
• What are your numbers from the last month?
• Medications are you taking?
• What treatment has your doctor prescribed?
• Oher health issues?

What Rate can I expect with Hypertension?

Preferred Plus

Highly improbable unless you have no other health issues. This includes not being overweight, along with no other negative factors in your underwriting report. Don’t expect to get this rate.

Preferred

Possible. While it is difficult to get this rating, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. If you have mild hypertension that is well controlled with medication (or you aren’t on medication) and your readings have been in the normal range for the past 12 months, plus you have no other health issues, you might qualify for this rate.

Standard

Most likely. This is going to be the rate that most people who have mild hypertension fall into. You will still need to be healthy with a normal BMI and have no other risky health issues to get this rate.

Substandard (Table Rating)

Probable. If you have any other health issues and aren’t at the best weight, you could find yourself getting a substandard rating that is more expensive. Follow our tips below to make sure you don’t fall into this category when getting approved for life insurance.

Denied

Depending on your health, there is a chance you can be denied. If you are in stage two or above, or have any other health issues, then you run the risk of being denied for life insurance.

What if I get Denied?

If you happen to be someone who gets denied for life insurance with high blood pressure, don’t panic. There are a couple of things you can do.

You can apply for simplified issue or guaranteed issue life insurance. Both choices are more expensive and might have other limitations, but they offer at least some protection. This might be a good way to get life insurance in place now and then once you are ready to reapply, you can choose to keep this policy in place.

We usually don’t recommend waiting to get life insurance, but if you are making some of the lifestyle changes we’ve outlined below in this article, it might be a good idea. If you work hard within the next year and make real changes, apply again and chances are you will receive a better rate.

Before you reapply though, be sure to reach out to a knowledgeable agent to discuss what improvements you’ve made so they can get you a quote with the greatest chance of approval. I would recommend speaking with an agent in the first place, as they will know the life insurance companies who will most likely get you approved.

Tips for Getting the Best Rate

You may see some of the same tips here as in our other articles, but that just goes to show how important they are for your health!

These first three tips are the most important ones to follow regardless of the health issue you are facing. Just doing these three things can significantly better your health and increase your chances of getting an insurance rate with pricing you can afford.

After all, you’ve worked hard to get where you are, you might as well enjoy it and reap the benefits with cheaper rates!

Lose Weight

If you have some pounds that you’ve been wanting to get rid of, now is the time!

Not only can losing weight help lower your blood pressure numbers, it can also help eliminate or reduce other health concerns. And of course, losing weight can also reduce your life insurance rating and premiums as well.

If you don’t already do so, make sure you are being active by walking, at the very least. Just 150 minutes (that’s two and a half hours out of your entire week!) of moderate exercise each week is all it takes to get yourself on the road to better health.

Get your family involved and walk together – take a walk to the park for a healthy picnic or to play a game. Not only is it good for your physical health, but it’s also great for your mental health as well. And you can’t beat doing healthy activities together as a family!

Choose to Eat Healthily

This goes along with losing weight, but it just makes sense to eat healthy along with being active.

Choose heart-healthy foods to replace anything you are eating that makes it harder for your heart to work and clogs your arteries.

If you need help trying to figure out what you should eat and what you should avoid, we’ve got you covered with this below.

EAT

• Leafy green vegetables
• Avocadoes
• Whole grains
• Fatty fish
  • Salmon
  • Mackerel
  • Tuna
  • Sardines
• Beans
• Tomatoes
• Dark Chocolate
• Seeds
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Green tea

AVOID

• Processed Meats
• Soft drinks
• Sugary drinks
• Starches
  • Potatoes
• Refined carbohydrates
  • White rice
  • White bread
  • Processed cereals
• Saturated fat
• Trans fat
• Anything high in sodium

Don’t risk letting your kids form unhealthy habits at a young age! Providing them a framework of healthy eating and staying active will set them up for a lifetime of better choices – and great life insurance rates!

Learn to Relax

Stress is a contributing factor to any heart-related condition, and hypertension is no exception. Try to remove as many stressors from your life as possible so that your heart has the best chance at keeping you going for years to come.

Get outside regularly, meditate, sit in silence, listen to relaxing music, or get a massage. If work is stressful, find ways to take a break when possible to do something relaxing. These are all things that might work for you.

Find something that you enjoy and can continue to do to reduce the amount of stress you feel in your life.Your heart will thank you.

Quit Smoking

We really hope there comes a day where we can stop urging people to stop smoking. But, until that day comes, we will keep mentioning this important tip.

Not only does quitting smoking add years to your life, but it can also help eliminate your high blood pressure and other heart issues. This includes vaping. Even though vaping and e-cigarettes are still too new to know the long-term effects, nicotine in any form is not good for your health.

Think about all the ways you will save money by not purchasing cigarettes or vape juice and getting better life insurance rates. With that money, you can buy better quality food, pay for activities to keep you and your family healthy, and even invest in your future – whatever that means for you!

Follow your Doctor’s Orders when applying for life insurance with high blood pressure

Once you’ve been diagnosed with hypertension, it’s not the end of the world for most people. Those (like you) who take it seriously and follow their doctor’s orders will be rewarded.

Not only does following your treatment plan give you a better chance at potentially reducing your blood pressure and getting off medication, it also shows favorable to the underwriters assessing your application. When you can show that you are doing everything you should be, you are more likely to get a better rate on your life insurance policy.

If the underwriters see that you have a regimen put in place by your doctor and you aren’t following it, they are likely to flag your application. That flag could get your application denied.

Don’t let this happen to you – follow your doctor’s orders (and the tips we laid out above) to get the best possible life insurance rate you can!

If you haven’t done so already, make sure to speak with one of our agents to get a quote based on your health and lifestyle. We work with some of the best insurance companies that specialize in people like you who have some health issues but still don’t want to pay higher premiums.