Nail the paramedical exam—your key to securing favorable life insurance rates. This guide provides a comprehensive roadmap to simplify the process.
Why Paramedical Exams Matter for Your Life Insurance
A paramedical exam for life insurance is a crucial step in the application process. They provide insurers with a detailed health snapshot, influencing your life insurance eligibility and premium rates. A well-prepared paramed exam can improve rates and a smoother application process.
What is a Paramedical Exam for Life Insurance?
A paramedical exam is a health screening that life insurance companies use to assess overall health and identify high-risk health conditions.
It includes:
- Measuring height and weight.
- Checking blood pressure and pulse.
- Sometimes, administering an EKG.
- Medical history questions.
- Blood and urine samples for lab tests
- Signing authorizations to obtain medical records and check the MIB.
The results determine your eligibility and rates, impacting the types of life insurance you can purchase, such as term life or universal life.
Bonus Tip: Explore no-paramed life insurance options for $500k – $3 million with no medical exam or instant life insurance approvals if you qualify.
Detailed Tips to Ace Your Life Insurance Paramedical Exam
Download a copy of our Foolproof Paramedical Examination Guide!
- Ask your Agent – Understand paramed exam requirements based on age and coverage amount.
- Know Your Dates – Have the dates of any surgeries, treatments, and tests.
- Physician’s Contact Information—Please provide the names and contact information of any physicians you have visited in the past five years.
- Medications and Dosages – Have the names and dosages of all medicines you take. Take your meds on exam day.
- Feeling Sick? Reschedule! Illness can lead to inaccurate lab results, affecting your life insurance medical exam results.
- Watch What You Eat: For a few days before the exam, limit salty, fatty, and sugary foods.
- Fast – For 6-8 hours before your exam for best results, but do not fast if your medical condition requires you to eat.
- No Alcohol – Don’t drink for at least 48 hours before the exam, as it may elevate GGT levels.
- No Tobacco – Avoid tobacco for a few hours before to avoid raising blood pressure.
- Accurate Answers – Answer questions precisely, without guessing or oversharing.
- Limit Exercise – Skip your workout on exam day – Working out temporarily raises your blood pressure and liver enzymes.
- Morning Appointments Only—Schedule a morning exam, as your blood pressure is typically lower. It will also be easier on you since you are fasting.
Company-Specific Paramedical Exam Guides
Download PDF guides to understand specific company requirements.
- Banner Life
- Corebridge Financial
- John Hancock
- Lincoln Financial
- Pacific Life
- Protective Life
- Prudential
- Transamerica
We’ll add additional companies as they become available.
Navigating a Failed Life Insurance Paramedical Exam: Steps and Alternatives
The paramedical examiner only collects data. The lab sends the results to the insurer, who makes the decision. Common reasons for failing include:
- Undisclosed marijuana use
- Elevated lab results (e.g., PSA levels, liver enzymes)
- High-risk medical conditions
Failing a paramed exam can result in a decline in insurance coverage.
Can you retake the paramed exam? No, the insurance company will not let you take the test again. It’s usually easier to move to a new company instead.
Frequently Asked Questions About Paramed Exams
The most common questions we receive from clients include the following:
Be Prepared: Common Paramed Exam Questions
Have you been diagnosed with or treated for:
- High blood pressure?
- High cholesterol?
- Any high-risk health conditions such as:
- Heart Conditions – Chest pain, murmur, heart attack, EKG
- Cancer History – Breast cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, etc.
- GI Problems – Ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Disease, Hepatitis?
- Endocrine Disorders – Diabetes, Thyroid Conditions
- Respiratory Problems – asthma, emphysema, sleep apnea
- Mental or Nervous Disorder? (anxiety, depression, OCD, suicide ideation/attempts)
- Brain Disorders? (Seizures, epilepsy, TIA, MS, strokes)
- Have you ever been diagnosed with AIDs?
- Any disorders of the blood or immune system? (anemia, leukemia, lymphoma, HIV, etc.)
- Do you drink alcohol?
- If yes, how often do you drink?
- Have you ever used illegal drugs? Marijuana is no big deal with the right companies.
- If yes, what did you use, and when?
- Drug addiction and/or alcohol abuse?
- Is there any other health history that was not mentioned?
- Do you smoke cigars or use other types of tobacco?
- What types, how often, and if you quit, when did you quit?
- They’ll also ask about your family history of medical problems with your parents and siblings.
Let the examiner know about all the physicians you’ve used so underwriting can order the correct medical records.
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We use Human API when available to speed up the medical records process.
With the increase in accelerated underwriting and instant life insurance approvals, insurers rely heavily on their life insurance statistics and data to determine if you even need a paramedical exam.
Detailed Breakdown of Life Insurance Lab Tests
The life insurance paramedical will require blood and urine samples for many of the following tests. 1
Blood Tests
- Serum HIV – tests for the presence of HIV
- Hepatitis C Antibody – Detects prior infection.
- Glucose – Assesses diabetes risk.
- HbA1c – Evaluates glucose levels for the prior 2-3 months.
- BUN – Used to evaluate and diagnose kidney disease.
- Creatinine – Used to assess kidney function.
- Estimated GFR – Measures the functions of the kidneys.
- Alkaline Phosphatase – Checks for bone or liver disorders.
- AST – Tests for liver, heart, or muscle disorders.
- ALT – Test for liver disease.
- GGT – Alcohol use, certain medications, and liver disease.
- Blood Alcohol – Tests for ethanol in your blood.
- Total Protein – Screens for kidney and liver disease.
- Albumin – Tests for advanced liver disease.
- Globulin – This may indicate infections, immune disorders, etc.
- Cholesterol – Measures the amount in your bloodstream.
- HDL Cholesterol – The “good” cholesterol.
- LDL – The “bad” cholesterol that clogs arteries.
- Cholesterol/HDL Ratio – Measures total cholesterol to HDL.
- LDL/HDL Ratio – Used to calculate heart disease risk.
- Triglycerides – This may indicate heart disease and alcohol use.
- PSA – Used to evaluate prostate cancer risk.
Urine Tests
- Glucose – A test for diabetes.
- Protein – Screens for kidney problems.
- Leukocyte Screen – kidney or bladder infections.
- Hemoglobin Screen – may indicate kidney or urinary tract disease.
- White Blood Cells – May indicate an infection.
- Red Blood Cells May indicate infection, kidney damage, or cancer.
- Granular Casts – Used to check kidneys.
- Hyaline Casts – Significant elevations may indicate kidney problems.
- Specific Gravity – Evaluates kidneys.
- Urine Temperature – This is taken to ensure false samples are not provided.
- Creatinine – is removed from the body by the kidneys.
- Protein/Creatine Ratio – Evaluates kidney functions.
- Cotinine – This is a metabolite of nicotine.
- Diuretic Agents – Screen for blood pressure drugs.
- Beta Screen – Looks for heart medications.
- Cocaine – Illegal Drugs
- Marijuana – Drug Screen
- Codeine – Illegal Drugs
- Hydrocodone – Illegal Drugs
- Morphine – Illegal Drugs
- Hydromorphone – Illegal Drugs
- Oxycodone – Illegal Drugs
- Oxymorphone – Illegal Drugs
- Fentanyl – Illegal Drugs
Lab Testing Advice
It’s hard, if not impossible, to undo the results of these tests.
Important Note about Marijuana and Certain Medications!
If you use marijuana medically or recreationally, you must disclose this during the application and paramed exam process. Not disclosing information may lead to suspicion and decline by the insurance company.
Do you take a prescription opioid? You must disclose this during the application and exam. If the use is temporary, the best advice is to wait until after you stop using the opioid.
When Further Testing is Needed: Reflexive Testing
Reflexive testing is more specific due to an elevation of one of the initial lab tests.
For example, if your labs test positive for marijuana, it may trigger tests for other illegal drugs.
Elevated liver functions related to alcohol use can cause a failed paramed exam. A CDT test for alcohol use (Carbohydrate-deficient Transferrin) test provides a better picture of alcohol consumption over the past 2-3 weeks.
A positive CDT is the “kiss of death” in underwriting.
The Future of Underwriting: How Insurers Verify Your Labs
As life insurance companies move away from requiring paramedical exams, underwriting teams have been looking for better ways to evaluate your application.
ExamOne released its LabPiQture product in 2022. It’s a game changer for companies wanting to get a look at all your lab results over the past seven years.
It’s not so good if you are one of those applicants looking to hide past lab results or maybe fail to disclose your tobacco use (a $4 billion problem for the industry).
LabPiQture gives life insurers access to the lab results from the last seven years that Quest and LabCorp completed. Quest and LabCorp represent approximately 98%2 of the lab testing market in the U.S.
Special Tests for Older Applicants
More companies are implementing senior life insurance underwriting requirements.
| Test Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Chair Stand Test | The examiner will ask you to sit in a chair and stand up. This test may be repeated a few times throughout the exam. |
| Clock Drawing Tes | The examiner will ask you to draw a clock with the numbers 1-12 on the clock. You’ll then be asked to draw a specific time. |
| The Gait Test | You’ll be asked to walk across the room and back. The test is used to assess your stability. |
| Word Recall | The examiner will tell you five words they want you to remember. During the exam, they will ask you to recall those words. |
We’ll let you know beforehand if your paramed exam may involve one of these tests.
If your spouse is applying for life insurance, make sure they pay attention while you complete your tests, as they will need to complete the same tests.
Final Thoughts
Paramed exams are often simpler than some agents make them out to be. That’s because some agents exaggerate paramed exam difficulties to get you to buy more expensive final expense policies.
We’ll schedule your exam with you, using ExamOne whenever possible for their convenience and consistency. We’ll also prep you to ensure you know what to expect. Our goal is to help you find the best term life insurance rate based on your medical history, while navigating the paramedical screening process effortlessly.
