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6 Key Steps On How to Pass Your Life Insurance Medical Exam

https://www.goodfinancialcents.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/MG_5503-150x150.jpg
  • Written By:
    Jeff Rose, CFP®

    Jeff Rose, CFP®

    Jeff Rose, CFP® is a Certified Financial Planner™, founder of Good Financial Cents, and author of the personal finance...

    Read More
  • Updated: September 2, 2021
  • 4 Min Read
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Before making a commitment to their clients, life insurance companies require you to take a medical exam in order to find out the best policy for you.

To get the best possible coverage without having to pay a stiff price, you must have an idea how to pass the life insurance exams.

You have a few options when getting your medical exam but most opt for a paramedic exam to be performed at their home or place of employment.

Whichever the case may be, you should follow the proper steps on how to pass your life insurance exam as it could significantly change the cost, quality and coverage of your life insurance.

1) Know What To Expect

If you have relatives or friends who have been into medical exams from the same life insurance company, ask what tests were included. You may also get information from the insurance company by asking what you would need to bring and what you can and cannot do on the day prior to the exam.

If applying for a life insurance policy through us, here’s what you can expect.  We will schedule a free medical exam (if required) at a convenient time and location for you. The qualified medical examiner will:

  • ask you medical questions;
  • measure your height, weight, blood pressure and pulse; and
  • collect blood and urine specimens.

2) Detoxify

Having a fiber-rich diet and taking a lot of fluids will really help in flushing out toxins from your body. Do not drink coffee, tea or soda as caffeine will make you look bad on the results. Stop smoking and drinking alcohol. Having high levels of nicotine or alcohol in your system will make them consider you a high-risk client and will certainly not help in getting the best insurance policy. If you have a pre-existing condition, reference our resource page on getting approved for high risk life insurance.

Warning: Do not smoke or chew tobacco a few days before the exam. I actually had a client that did this even though they aren’t typically a smoker and it more than doubled their rate. Life insurance rates for tobacco users is not cheap!

3) Watch Your Diet

Eat the right foods well ahead of schedule. Avoid eating foods that are abundant in salt, cholesterol, fats and sugar. Insurance companies will certainly be looking if you have kidney or heart problems, hypertension and diabetes. Showing health problems in any of these areas will have a major effect on the price of the insurance policy you will be getting.

4) Have Enough Rest

You should get enough sleep and avoid strenuous activities within 24 hours of the exam. Certain critical parameters could get affected by lack of rest, like high blood pressure. Although elevated readings maybe temporary, the effect on your insurance policy could be long-term.

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5) Avoid Pain Medications

Certain medications skew the results for tests aimed at evaluating the health of your liver. Under the guidance of a medical professional, avoid taking medications at the day of your life insurance medical exam. However, if you do take pain or other medications, inform the medical staff and insurance representative about the kinds you are taking. You may also have to provide the contact information of the doctors giving the prescription.

6) Fast

Stop eating 8-12 hours before the test. This will have the direct impact of lowering the amount of cholesterol and sugar in your bloodstream. For this reason, it is also best to take the medical exam for life insurance early in the morning, so you would not have to fast until lunchtime. Knowing how to pass life insurance exam will not only help you save and get the best insurance policy. If you have the willingness to apply the ways mentioned above for the long run, they will surely have a positive impact on your overall health and well-being; enabling you to enjoy life more.

Getting Better Results from the Medical Exam

Now that you understand how to pass your life insurance medical exam, you need to understand ways that you can get lower rates for your policy. The medical exam is the pivotal part of your premiums. If you have bad results on the exam, you’re going to receive expensive quotes.

To get started, it’s time to make some hard decisions. If your’e a smoke, the first thing to do is quit that bad habit. You can either continuing smoking or you can get cheap life insurance. You can’t do both.

After you’ve stopped those bad health habits, you need to get in shape. Losing weight will save you money. If you’ve been meaning to trim down your waist, it can also trim down your premiums.

No Medical Exam Life Insurance Policies

Now that you understand what’s going to happen during the medical exam and how to pass it, you may decide that you no longer want to go through the medical exam process. One option is to purchase a no medical exam policy.

Before you buy one of these plans, you need to weigh the pros and cons. In most cases, we think the cons outweigh the pros.

No exam life insurance is more expensive and you can’t get as much protection.

No exam means higher premiums and the insurance companies are going to cap your protection at around $300,000 worth of coverage.

Life Insurance and Medical Exams

There are a lot of people that are worried about the medical exam and everything that has along with that exam. If you’re applying for insurance, don’t worry about the exam. It’s easier than having to go to the doctor. The whole process will take less than an hour.

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About the Author

Jeff Rose, CFP® is a Certified Financial Planner™, founder of Good Financial Cents, and author of the personal finance book Soldier of Finance. He was a financial planner for 16+ years having founded, Alliance Wealth Management, a SEC Registered Investment Advisory firm, before selling it to focus on his passion - educating the masses on the importance of financial freedom through this blog, his podcast, and YouTube channel.


Jeff holds a Bachelors in Science in Finance and minor in Accounting from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. In addition to his CFP® designation, he also earned the marks of AAMS® - Accredited Asset Management Specialist - and CRPC® - Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor.

While a practicing financial advisor, Jeff was named to Investopedia's distinguished list of Top 100 advisors (as high as #6) multiple times and CNBC's Digital Advisory Council.

Jeff is an Iraqi combat veteran and served 9 years in the Army National Guard. His work is regularly featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Inc.com and Entrepreneur.

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