What Is a Life Insurance Medical Exam?
What is the life insurance medical exam?
The life insurance medical exam is part of the underwriting process. It’s a way for the provider to better understand your risk level based on various health factors before issuing you a life insurance policy.
- What: Often involves tests like a blood and urine test
- Who: Usually completed by a third-party nurse
- Where: At your home or a clinic
Many life insurance companies will require you to complete both a medical interview and a medical exam as part of your application process. If you’re in good health, your premiums will be lower thanks to your medical exam than someone with health conditions.
Sometimes, the company will conduct a medical interview rather than an exam. In this case, you can expect a phone call (about 45 minutes) where the medical underwriting company will ask you a standard list of questions about your health history, lifestyle habits, and medical background for verification.
How long does it take? The exam and the interview for a potential policyholder can take anywhere from a day to three weeks to schedule, complete, and process.
Life insurance companies require medical exams to assess your health and calculate your individual risk level. The results lead to fair premiums for you, so you don’t overpay or under-insure compared to your actual health status.
How does the life insurance medical exam process work?
The life insurance medical exam process can take weeks, and it works like this:
- Schedule: Once you apply for a policy, the insurer will arrange a free medical exam at your home or a clinic.
- Examine: A nurse or paramedic will record your height, weight, blood pressure, and collect blood and urine samples.
- Review: The insurer will review your health results alongside your life insurance application to determine approval and your premium rate.
Take a look at this walk-through of the process by Tobin Tuff, Certified Life Insurance Advisor.
While a medical exam can add time to your life insurance application process, medical exams and full underwriting can lead to more coverage and lower premiums for people in stable health.
Many Canadians are surprised to learn that applying for fully underwritten life insurance doesn't automatically mean you'll need a medical exam. Today, many applicants qualify based on their health questionnaire alone, with a medical exam requested only when additional information is needed.
Can I get life insurance without a medical exam?
Yes. Some life insurance policies don't require a medical exam. But it's worth knowing that many people who apply for fully underwritten life insurance won't need one either. If your insurance provider does require an exam, there are alternative options that skip it altogether.
For example, there’s a type of life insurance called no medical life insurance. While simplified and guaranteed issue policies don’t require an exam, they have a few important considerations.
For many Canadians, term life insurance is the first option to consider because it generally offers more coverage at a lower cost. If you don't qualify, don't want to complete medical underwriting, or need an alternative, simplified issue or guaranteed issue life insurance may be better suited depending on your situation.
Prefer no medical exam? If traditional underwriting isn't the right fit, PolicyMe's Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance offers coverage with no medical exam to eligible applicants. If you’ve been denied for fully underwritten coverage, guaranteed issue can be an accessible alternative. Keep in mind these policies generally come with lower coverage limits and higher premiums, making them better suited for final expenses and other immediate financial needs than income replacement.
What to expect from a life insurance medical exam
You can expect a life insurance medical exam to be thorough but brief. They’ll ask enough questions and conduct enough tests to give the insurer a snapshot of your overall health.
- Length: 20 to 30 minutes
- Location: At home, work, or a clinic
- Tests: Basic measurements, blood pressure, small blood and urine samples
It’s important to prepare correctly for a life insurance medical exam.
How to prepare for your life insurance medical exam
To prepare for your life insurance medical exam, you first need to know which type of appointment you have:
- Over the phone (known as the tele-interview)
- In-person at your home or workplace (known as the paramedical exam)
Sometimes, you might start with a tele-interview and then move onto a paramedical test depending on your situation. This exam is more comprehensive and it involves collecting fluids from you.
A paramedical exam is typically requested if:
- You’re over 50 years old
- You’re buying a larger insurance policy
- You have a condition that was flagged in the application
What are they looking for in a paramedical exam?
- Accuracy: They may test for nicotine and drugs in your blood to ensure what you reported on the phone lines up with the truth
- Cholesterol & blood pressure: If they discover you have high blood pressure, you might be riskier to insure because of the associated illnesses
- Glucose: This can indicate whether you have diabetes, which is a risky health condition.
- Heart issues: You may be asked to submit to an EKG (electrocardiogram) to gather health information about your heart.
Many senior Canadians who still have temporary financial obligations may benefit most from term life insurance. Others with lifelong insurance needs or estate-planning goals may want to consider permanent coverage instead.
How to prepare for your tele-interview
Here’s the information to have on hand for your tele-interview:
- Dates of diagnoses (if any)
- Dates of treatments (if any)
- Dates of procedures (if any)
- List of any prescription drugs you’re currently taking
The tele-interview will take about 20 to 30 minutes and it will take place over the phone.
How to prepare for your life insurance paramedical exam
Here’s a step-by-step guide to prepare for your life insurance paramedical exam.
You can expect the health technician from your insurance company to measure your height, weight, blood pressure, and pulse. You’ll also provide a blood sample and a urine sample to the paramedical professional.
24 hours before the exam
- Avoid caffeine, sugar, and alcohol
- Limit salt and high-cholesterol foods
- Avoid over-the-counter drugs, which could interfere with your test results
- Have photo ID handy (like driver’s license, passport, or health card)
- Reschedule the exam if you’re sick
10 hours before the exam
- Fasting is recommended (try to avoid eating or drinking)
- Avoid exercise or excess activity to keep your blood pressure and heart rate in a your typical range
- Avoid smoking or other nicotine intake
Right before the exam
- Drink a glass of water to help ensure you can provide a urine sample
- Undressing is not necessary, but wear a garment with sleeves you can easily roll up
Be honest during your life insurance medical exam. If you think you may have forgotten a key piece of information, let your insurance advisor know so you can get an accurate quote. Never lie about your medical history as it could result in a denied payout later on.
What to do if you don’t pass a life insurance medical exam
If you don’t “pass” a life insurance medical exam because of health risks, you can shop around other life insurance companies for other options.
What can impact your approval? Pre-existing conditions such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, smoking, liver/kidney issues, heart disease, and cancer.
Your exam results do not go on permanent record. Here are your options for life insurance plans if you don’t pass a medical exam:
- Shop around and apply for a new policy
- Re-apply after your health improves
- Choose a no-medical or guaranteed issue policy
- Accept partial coverage
Even if your health makes traditional coverage harder to get, there are alternative policies and flexible options in Canada that can still provide your family with protection.
What else do life insurance companies look for?
Here are some of the main factors to consider for to get the best life insurance in Canada:
- Height and weight: Insurers use your body-mass index (BMI) as part of your health risk assessment. People with “average” height and weight classes can expect to get lower rates.
- Tobacco use: Tobacco use is a red flag for insurers. This includes the use of any product containing nicotine (cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, etc.) within the last 12 to 36 months. Marijuana use is treated differently.
- Medical history: Any history of cancer, diabetes, HIV, or heart disease may affect your monthly premium.
- Family medical history: If both of your parents passed away at relatively young ages or had health issues, you could be classified as a higher-risk candidate.
- Alcohol and drug use: Heavy alcohol use (an average of one or more drinks per day) or drug abuse—excluding marijuana—could impact your monthly rate.
- High-risk occupations: Higher-risk occupations like scuba instructors and professional mountain bikers will pay more for life insurance than lower-risk professionals.
- Dangerous hobbies: If you like to parachute off of high cliffs, for instance, accidental death is a real risk (and accidental death coverage may be better than term coverage). Insurers may “exclude” these activities from your coverage, meaning that if you pass away while performing your dangerous hobby you won’t be covered.
- Driving record: DWI/DUI convictions or other driving violations in the past few years could affect your insurance rates, depending on the insurer.
- Travel plans: Past travels and future travels matter, especially if they include any country for which the government has issued an advisory. These trips may be excluded from your life insurance policy.
Many policies don’t require comprehensive medical exams, just basic questionnaires.
But if you’re interested in a policy with absolutely no medical exams because you have health concerns or you want quick coverage, you should expect to pay higher premiums than the average cost due to greater risk and uncertainty.
FAQ: Life insurance medical exam
Bonnie Stinson is an insurance writer and researcher in Toronto with a decade of experience producing helpful, accurate content for Canadians. They have published resources for some of Canada's most innovative and consumer-trusted companies in the health, legal, and fintech sectors.
Bonnie Stinson is an insurance writer and researcher in Toronto with a decade of experience producing helpful, accurate content for Canadians. They have published resources for some of Canada's most innovative and consumer-trusted companies in the health, legal, and fintech sectors.