| It's
no secret that having health problems can make it hard
for you to buy life insurance.
High blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease are
among the conditions that can make life
insurance companies balk at selling you a policy. But
what if you're healthy except for one condition: You're
overweight. If that's the case,
you still may have a hard time buying life insurance.
Even if you're not obese, there are
some cases where you'll have to pay more for life insurance
if your weight reaches a certain
level. And in most instances, the heavier you are, the more you'll pay. It's All About "Build"
Along
with age, medical history, and lifestyle, life insurance
companies take your "build"
into consideration on your application. "Build" is
your weight relative to your height. Life
insurers use tables that combine the two factors to
help determine what kind of risk you
pose. (See the American Medical Association's table at the end of this story.) The
more you weigh in relation to your height, the more
potential you have for health
problems. The ideal life insurance customer is someone
who is expected to live a long,
healthy life. But statistics show that overweight people
are bad insurance risks because
they are likely to develop health problems as they
grow older. According to a recent study
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association,
excess weight is linked
to 280,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. And
it appears the U.S. waistline is getting bigger and
bigger. From 1991 to 1998, the
number of obese Americans — generally classified
as at least 30 pounds heavier than the
ideal weight for their height — jumped from 12
to 17.9 percent, according to the AMA
study. The More You Weigh, The More You'll Pay
If
you're just a little overweight, say about 10 pounds,
you may see no difference in the
rates you are quoted. But if you're severely overweight,
you'd better budget more money for
life insurance. Steve
Zitney, a consultant in State Farm's life health underwriting
department, says that a
person can be denied life insurance at his company
if they are "grossly overweight or
dramatically obese," even if they do not have any other
health problems. The company will
also charge higher premiums if your weight is significantly
more than it should be in
relation to your height. For example, a 40-year-old
male who is six feet tall should ideally
weigh about 183 pounds. Zitney estimated that if he
weighed more than 265 pounds, he would
be charged extra premium. Zitney
confirms there is a direct relationship between increased
weight and increased
premium. If that 40-year-old, six-foot-tall male is
270 pounds, he will have to pay 15 to 20
percent more than a person of average weight, he says.
But if he weighs 300 pounds, that
figure jumps to 30 to 35 percent more. Many
other large life insurers take a similar approach to
underwriting. David Potter, a
spokesperson for Hartford Life, says that people who
are at 150 percent of their desired
weight will see an increase in premium. Again in these
cases, the more weight you carry, the
more your premium will be. "It's possible to be rejected
by weight, but it's rare," Potter
says. "Most of the people with weight problems do have
other health problems, like high
blood pressure and high cholesterol." David
Solie, president of RiskTutor, Inc. of Calabasas, Calif.,
which provides training for
insurance agents for screening and managing "substandard"
(or riskier) clients, says that if
some people are just moderately overweight, life insurance
could still cost them more. Solie
says that people who are slightly overweight can be
disqualified for a "preferred rate,"
which is a lower premium that rewards people who are
healthy. For example, a person who is
20 to 30 pounds overweight and does not have high blood
pressure or diabetes may garner a
normal rate, but they won't see the preferred rate.
"It means they may get a $600 rate
instead of a $300 rate," Solie speculates. Unfortunately,
your weight problems can dog you whether you are applying
for whole
(permanent) or term life insurance. "Underwriting is
based on survival mortality," says
Deanna Tillisch, a spokesperson for Northwestern Mutual
Life. "It wouldn't be different if
you were applying for term or perm insurance." Where
The "Uninsurable" Go
Where
can you go if you are rejected because of your weight?
There are companies that
specialize in insuring people with severe health problems,
such as Impaired Risk Specialists
Inc. of Glenview, Ill., which offers insurance to people
with such illnesses as asthma,
epilepsy, heart disease, and cancer. |
Companies That Insure Obese People Citizen Security Life Insurance Co.
1-800-843-7752
Empire
General Life Assurance Corp.
1-800-688-3518 Impaired Risk Specialists
1-800-285-3279 Presidential
Life Insurance Co.
1-800-926-7599 or
1-888-PRES LIF
|
Diane
Bobinas, an assistant vice president with Impaired
Risk Specialists, says that one way
her company is able to insure obese people is by offering
a "graded death benefit policy"
that pays out varying amounts depending on how long
you live. In short, the longer you live,
the more money your beneficiaries receive. For example,
if you die within the first year,
your beneficiary gets the premium you paid plus 10
percent interest of payout. If you die
within two years, your beneficiary gets 25 percent
of the death benefit; in three years, 50
percent; in four years, 75 percent; and in five years, the full 100 percent.Citizens
Security Life Insurance of Louisville, Ky., also offers
a graded death benefit for
obese people, but only in extreme cases Cheri Glenn,
vice president of underwriting at the
Citizens Security, says the company uses four "tables,"
or categories, that combine height
and weight to determine what kind of policy should
be issued. A person in "Table Four"
— the highest table in terms of weight —
would have to pay double the premium as a
person of ideal weight. For example, Glenn estimated
that a six-foot-tall male (who should
ideally weigh 183) in Table Four would likely weigh
about 320 pounds. If the person was even
heavier than that, he would be assigned a graded death
benefit policy, where he would pay
still higher premium. If
customers feels that premiums are too expensive, some
companies will advise them to seek
a lower death benefit to make insurance more affordable.
Still, there's no escaping the fact
that being obese is going to cost you if you're shopping
for life insurance. "Wherever you
go in these cases, you're going to pay for the risk," Bobinas says. How Much Is Too Much?
The
following table compiled by the American Medical Association
shows a desirable weight
range in both males and females. Keep in mind that
your insurance company may not use this
same data, but the chart should give you a sense of
how you measure up in relation to the
ideal weight for your height.
Source: American Medical Association, 1996| | Desirable
weight range | | Height | Small frame | Medium frame | Large frame | | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | | 5'1" | 4'9" | 123-129 | 99-108 | 126-136 | 106-118 | 133-145 | 115-128 | | 5'2" | 4'10" | 125-131 | 100-110 | 128-138 | 108-120 | 135-148 | 117-131 | | 5'3" | 4'11" | 127-133 | 101-112 | 130-140 | 110-123 | 137-151 | 119-134 | | 5'4" | 5'0" | 129-135 | 103-115 | 132-143 | 112-126 | 139-155 | 121-137 | | 5'5" | 5'1" | 131-137 | 105-118 | 134-146 | 115-129 | 141-149 | 125-140 | | 5'6" | 5'2" | 133-140 | 108-121 | 137-149 | 118-132 | 144-163 | 128-144 | | 5'7" | 5'3" | 135-143 | 111-124 | 140-152 | 121-135 | 147-167 | 131-148 | | 5'8" | 5'4" | 137-146 | 114-127 | 143-155 | 124-138 | 150-171 | 134-152 | | 5'9" | 5'5" | 139-149 | 117-130 | 146-158 | 127-141 | 153-175 | 137-156 | | 5'10" | 5'6" | 141-152 | 120-133 | 149-161 | 130-144 | 156-179 | 140-160 | | 5'11" | 5'7" | 144-155 | 123-136 | 152-165 | 133-147 | 159-183 | 143-164 | | 6'0" | 5'8" | 147-159 | 126-139 | 155-169 | 136-150 | 163-187 | 146-167 | | 6'1" | 5'9" | 150-163 | 129-142 | 159-173 | 139-153 | 167-192 | 149-170 | | 6'2" | 5'10" | 153-167 | 132-145 | 162-177 | 142-156 | 171-197 | 152-173 | | 6'3" | 5'11" | 157-171 | 135-148 | 166-182 | 145-159 | 176-202 | 155-176 | By
Mark
Cybulski
insure.com |