Insurance medical exams may not be as certain as death and taxes, but they're not far behind. You'll probably take one when you apply for nongroup life insurance.
You might also have to take an exam if you want nongroup disability, health or long-term care insurance.
Just because such exams are common, don't take them lightly. If you flunk the test, you could be denied vital coverage.
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Some basic steps can help. Take life insurance. Many of its rules apply to other types of coverage as well.
Life insurers typically put applicants into one of four broad categories. "These categories are based on the risk you'll die soon," said Dr. Craig Davidson, assistant vice president and senior medical director at the Hartford.
People in the best health are "preferred" risks. The next category is "standard."
Below standard, applicants are rated by the severity of their health problems. These substandard categories are called tables.
If you're slightly below standard, you're in Table 1. If you have a slightly higher risk of dying early than people in Table 1, you're in Table 2. Some companies go up to Table 10.
Someone with diabetes might be put in Table 2 for determining premium payments. Someone who has had a heart attack may be in Table 4. With a shorter life expectancy, he can expect higher premiums.
Some people won't be offered insurance at all, at any price.
"About 18% of our applicants are rated or declined," Davidson said.
The other 82% are preferred or standard risks. More people pay preferred rates than standard rates. The difference can be substantial.
Premium Prices
Suppose a 50-year-old male wants to buy $500,000 of life insurance. He chooses term life, which charges relatively low premiums and accumulates no cash value.
He wants a policy that will stay in effect for 10 years.
If he is a nonsmoker who is a preferred risk, he might pay $750 a year for that coverage. (Anyone who smokes will pay much more for life insurance.)
If this nonsmoking 50-year-old is a standard risk, he may pay nearly $1,300 a year for the same amount of insurance.
He'll pay much more if he's rated. With some hypertension or cholesterol issues, he could be classed in Table 2 and be charged $1,900 a year.
Obviously, the best way to hold down your costs is to watch your health regularly. Stop smoking if you're a smoker. See your doctor and follow suggested treatment if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, excess weight or other cardiovascular risks.
You can do other things at the last minute to get a better grade on an insurance test. If you're on the borderline, these actions might push you into a lower-cost category:
• Eat carefully. Davidson suggests not eating for at least eight hours before a physical exam. That can keep blood sugar and triglycerides down.
For a day or two before your test, avoid steaks and other fatty food.
• Watch what you drink. Limit your consumption of alcoholic beverages before the physical.
Minimize your intake of caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea and cola. Alcohol and caffeine can raise your blood pressure. Even juice might hurt your result.
Water and more water might help, can't hurt.
• Schedule your test smartly. Let's say your exam is set for late afternoon. You run out of a heated business meeting to make the appointment. The stress might send your pulse and blood pressure sky high.
Taking a physical early in the morning probably is better. After a night's sleep and before you go to work, your stress level may be low.
• Exercise care. Keeping in shape is a good long-term strategy. But a strenuous workout before your exam can be a bad idea.
"Playing squash or running five miles before a physical can affect tests of liver function," Davidson said. That might put you into a lower health class than you deserve.
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