Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea: Learn What Underwriters Will Ask & How to Apply

Last Updated: April 2021

Over the past few years, life insurance rates for people with sleep apnea have been declining because life insurance companies are giving better health classifications.

Below, you’re going to learn all about getting life insurance with sleep apnea. We’ll show you how the underwriting process works, questions you need to know, and tips to secure affordable life insurance.

• Can You Get Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea?
• Underwriting: What Life Insurance Companies Will Ask About Your Sleep Apnea
• Case Studies for Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea
• How to Apply for Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea

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Can You Get Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea?

Yes! People with sleep apnea have never been able to get more affordable life insurance than they can today.

Back in 2009, a “standard” health classification used to be the best-case scenario. Now we’re seeing “preferred” and “preferred plus” offers consistently!

If you’ve purchased a policy within the last 5 years and were rated “standard” or worse for sleep apnea, you can secure a less expensive policy if your sleep apnea is under control and documented by your physician.

Even if your condition is uncontrolled, you can still find companies that offer affordable rates. You just need to know how to compare the right life insurance carriers.

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Underwriting: What Life Insurance Companies Will Ask About Your Sleep Apnea

Life insurance underwriters consider your sleep apnea either controlled or uncontrolled. For those with uncontrolled apnea, it’s going to mean drastically higher rates.

If your sleep apnea is being treated (directly or indirectly), and you have completed a recent sleep study (within the last 3 years), you can get “preferred” to “preferred plus” rates!

If your sleep apnea is untreated, that’s when you’ll see “standard” to “standard plus” rates.

Life insurance underwriters consider “indirect treatment” as:

• Weight loss
• Non-use of sleeping pills
• Abstinence from alcohol prior to bedtime

“Direct” treatments usually consist of using a CPAP since it’s the most effective tool. If you’re controlling your sleep apnea with any of these treatments, the best life insurance rate class is available.

If you can’t demonstrate control of your sleep apnea in sleep studies, that’s when you’ll be paying more for your life insurance.

Added concerns and increased rates include cardiovascular risks such as your build or high blood pressure.

If your medical records show that your doctor recommended a sleep study and it wasn’t completed, you won’t be able to obtain coverage until you complete it.

You will need to Answer Health Questions

The goal is to find a life insurance carrier that has the lowest rates for your sleep apnea condition. A good independent agent should be able to help you compare the top life insurance companies for sleep apnea.

Here are some of the questions the agent is going to ask:

• Age at diagnosis
• How is your sleep apnea being treated? (CPAP, weight loss, surgery, observation, etc.)
• What type of sleep apnea do you have? (obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea or mixed sleep apnea)?
• Have you had any surgeries? (UPPP or tracheotomy)
• When was your last sleep study? Results?
• Height and weight
• All medications being taken
• Do you smoke or use tobacco products?
• Any other underlying health issues?

Answering these questions for your agent will give them a good idea of what types of life insurance will be best for you.

The key is fitting your specific risk into their underwriting guidelines for high risk life insurance.

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Case Studies for Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea

Below are real examples of people who we have helped find affordable life insurance with sleep apnea.

Case Study #1

Our advantage was that we knew which carriers would look at this case most favorably and we also know how to “pitch” the underwriter your sleep apnea case in the most favorable way possible.

Case Study #2

We recently obtained a 55-year-old male, $1 million of life insurance who had a 6-year history of well-controlled sleep apnea using a C-PAP machine and no other health issues a “preferred plus” offer.

This means they will get the lowest premiums possible.

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How to Apply for Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea

As you can see from the case studies above, the health and rate class you get put into are a huge factor in your premiums.

Work on a Healthier Lifestyle

If you want to save money, you need to be healthy.

Switching out some of the junk food for healthier options can work wonders on your health. It can help lower your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and much more. Not only will it help you improve your health, but it could improve your apnea condition as well.

Additionally, you’ll need to start getting regular exercise. Similar to starting a healthy diet, exercise can help you shed those extra pounds as well as lower your blood pressure and a whole host of other benefits.

Get Quotes from Multiple Companies to Secure Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea

Never purchase life insurance until you see quotes from multiple companies. After you know the term and coverage you need, find out which companies offer the best rates for that type of policy.

You should also consider which companies offer lower rates for your situation. Some companies are more lenient for certain high-risk conditions but have higher rates for healthy people. Other companies are the opposite.

Start by filling out our quote tool to see rates for the top life insurance companies. If your sleep apnea is under control and you’re healthy, we recommend using “preferred” health.

Consider All Options when Shopping Life Insurance with Sleep Apnea

When you apply for life insurance with sleep apnea, you may run into a situation where you are either declined for coverage or the life insurance company may tell you to postpone your application until a later date or until after a sleep test has been performed.

If this is the case, and your family absolutely needs coverage then you should be considering options such as guaranteed issue life insurance.

These policies are issued with no questions asked.

While stipulations do apply with these policies, they are still a completely viable option to consider to get the ball rolling with coverage.

I would personally be considering a company such as American General for this kind of life insurance.

You can also consider Gerber Life or Great Western.

All 3 of these companies offer excellent options if you do happen to fall into this group of individuals.

Use an Independent Agent

If you’ve been diagnosed with a severe health problem, like sleep apnea, life insurance is more difficult than a traditional policy.

With a good life insurance agent, it doesn’t have to be a long process.

They will represent you against the best life insurance companies at no cost to you.

Start by filling out our quote tool, or giving us a call to find the best life insurance with sleep apnea today!