A while back I was at a JDRF event and a parent mentioned that he had gotten life insurance for his child. I would never have thought of this.
Does it make sense to buy life insurance for a 6 year old? Of course the ONLY reason to do so now would be to avoid the possibility she might not be able to get it when she's older or she might have to pay exorbitantly for it.
Have any of you purchased life insurance for your T1D child (or been able to)? If so, what type and what company?
We have 2 with T1. We were able to purchase life insurance for our older son (when he was 12 I think), and the premium was higher than a child without medical issues, but not exorbitantly so. Our younger son was a different story. His A1C numbers are not good, and we struggle to gain control of his numbers. He has been denied life insurance on two separate occasions. Life insurance is a very personal choice, and not everyone (as you will probably soon find) believes it is necessary. The reason we decided to buy it for our kids (or at least try), is that, number 1, life insurance for a young child is inexpensive, and number 2, as they get older, not only could their diabetes impact them further, but they could develop other health problems that would prevent them from purchasing it. I have to admit, once State Farm turned us down, I put it on the back burner to find another company for our younger son.
I am an insurance broker, and I am pretty passionate about life insurance. It is my belief that pretty much everyone should have it and it is a great gift for your child, especially when they get older, get married, buy a house, have a family of their own, etc. The key is to make sure that they keep up with their payments (once you have turned it over to them), as young adults don't always see the value in it.
For young children, you can purchase either whole life or universal. We got a universal life policy for our son, as it is a little more flexible, but any good life insurance agent can explain the differences to you.
I was able to but life insurance for all of my children T1s and not, as a part of buying life insurance for my husband and myself. We are able to add them for a flat fee to our policy. We use Primerica.
Patti, thank you so much for your reply. The reasons you outline are why it does seem to make sense for T1D kids. Before there are any hospitalizations, complications, etc. that might prohibit them from being able to get it when they are older.
My husband and I have term life, but I know for a child you would want a policy that is also an investment tool. What $$ level of insurance do you need for a child and can they increase limits in the future?
We use Primerica too. I didn't ask our agent to look into adding our kids to our policy but he did, and they can't be added. We have a term policy, so not sure how that would benefit our kids anyway.
This is an interesting topic to discuss. The notion of protecting our child's future insurability is important for us all. Diabetes already got us once, we don't want it to get us again if it can be avoided!
There are many different considerations. Here are some that I've come across through discussions with my insurance agent.
The decision to apply for insurance should not be considered lightly. Someone mentioned that their child had been denied insurance. Unfortunately, that denial will be on record and accessible by future prospective insurers (unsure for how long). That's one risk of applying -- you may be denied and that denial may work against you in the future.
Another consideration: At the point that most of our children are grown and working, they would be eligible for guaranteed issue group life insurance through their employers. When they switch jobs, those policies would likely be convertible to individual policies. I've been told that the premium rates for those conversions will be more favorable than the rates our grown children would qualify for even if they are the paragons of health. In effect, our kids could stockpile individual insurance over the years as they change jobs in this way. Not a perfect solution, but one to consider.
One thing that I ponder is whether the underwriting and mortality assumptions around diabetes will become more favorable for this generation of diabetics, as the insurance industry adjusts their rates based on more favorable outcomes that will surely be found with intensive insulin therapy (and artificial pancreas, etc.).
Lastly, we all need to be planning for the future, whether we have kids with diabetes or not. There are estate planning vehicles for protecting and providing for our kids and subsequent generations, assuming they outlive us.
I'm sure there are other considerations, pro and con, that I have not covered, but these are some of the things that I'm mulling.
Hope this contributes to the discussion productively.
I have a small policy on both of my kids through work. I don’t think I pay anything for it. I just figured if something happened to one of my kids I am not sure I could work for a period of time and I would need it to be able to hold myself together. I did it years before I had any thoughts that I would have a child with diabetes.
I have not been able to get coverage except for the policy at work. Every year I increase it but just enough so I don’t need the physical. I have tried many, many times to extra as I’m the only one working but not going to happen. As soon as I say diabetes, I am denied. If you can get coverage, I’d do it. Because it is next to impossible to get it.
At the beginning let me say this . I am a life insurance agent. If you have a child with diabetes or you as a parent have diabetes I want you to know that getting life is not impossible. I see it often. Being a diabetic myself I was denied originally when I tried to get coverage. Most insurance companies will issue an explanation of why you were denied. When I looked at my denial letter I found my A1C was 8.5 at the time and my blood sugar was in the 250s as of the day I did the blood work. And they denied me on those grounds. I learned by talking to my company customer service that if those things were in a proper range I would be eligible. Now different companies have different standards for eligibility. Find out how you could qualify by talking to either your agent or someone in the company headquarters about your situation. Because I am in the industry I thought I would like to give some hope to those who seem to only be finding doors slammed in their faces. Still there is no guarantee that you will be covered. But do on your end what you can, because it starts with you.
I was able to get life insurance for myself when my daughter was born. I was 36. My premiums were higher than average but it was doable. It was a term policy. Now expired. If you have good a1c and normal weight, it’s not that difficult.
If you buy a whole life policy it’s going to be expensive because you are paying on a child who is not likely to die, but I guess anything is possible.
I look at insurance as a stop gap, if I die my income is lost and it needs to be replaced for my family. Kids don’t normally have income and no one is financially dependent on them. Except for the funeral expenses, which can be a lot.
I have a non diabetic daughter and I never purchased life for her.
My policy is expired, and I have a small amount from work.
There is zero chance I would get approved now but because of my age not my diabetes
Yes, Timothy, you have the right mindset about life insurance. Life insurance is not supposed to be a long-term purchase. Is merely there until you have built up your own pile of money. Everyone at every stage of their life needs access to a pile of money. When you were a child, your parents were your pile of money. When you became a young adult, you get life insurance to cover yourself so that even though your family may lose you, they won’t lose your income. That way, they only have to deal with the emotional loss, And not be financially strained as they are healing. When you have built up your investments so that they are large enough, you are then self insured.You can get rid of life insurance if you want at that point.
Ultimately, the key is to have access to a pile of money at all stages of your life. Life insurance is what I call renting a pile of money until you have your own pile of money.
I understand that money is tight for a lot of people. But like you said Timothy about yourself, buying a term policy is the best bang for your buck. Term life insurance cost the least amount of money, but gives the largest possible death benefit. Whole life, universal life, or indexed, universal life, Are all very very expensive. And honestly, they are only good for the agent that is selling them. For the client, they are actually very questionable products. So if you have what is called a cash value policy be very careful. You may not have what you think you do. As an example for anyone that would like to find out, Go look at your payment schedule in the back of your policy. It might scare you. And please note in case you forget, I myself am a life insurance agent. I know what I’m talking about. People please be careful.
I have seen cases where people have been been spending two and $3000 a month on their policies. I have been able to replace those products to where they are only spending $100-$175 a month( Not a Guarantee). And they actually have more Death benefit with term insurance then they had with their other policy. Like I said, Life insurance is made to be confusing to the consumer, but it doesn’t have to be. people like simplicity. Term insurance gives them that.
I’ve been periodcally reading topics on these forums, and this old post jumped out. We just obtained insurance for our Daughter with type 1 at diabeteslifesolutions.com.
Their brokerage was able to use health records to get her approved very easily. I just wanted to share this, and it’s truly possible to get life insurance that won’t break the bank.
I have purchased life insurance as an adult. No big deal. There’s gonna be the large life obstacle of health insurance. I would put your energy into that.
