Generally when you apply for a life insurance policy, you may be required to undergo a medical examination. Insurance companies require you to undergo a medical examination to more accurately asses the risk they are about to undertake. Insurance companies are generally most concerned if your health condition will affect your life expectancy and make you a high death risk. If you are buying a small policy at a younger age, you may only be required to answer a few medical questions. You will not be required to undergo any medical test. Medical examinations are generally required for larger policies and at older ages.

If you apply for a larger policy or at an older age, the insurance company may ask for an in depth medical examination or may be a series of examinations. During the medical examination, they will check your height, weight, blood pressure and pulse rate. The doctor will listen to your lungs and check out your eyes, your ears, nose and throat. You will be required provide the list of all medications you are using and the purpose. You will also have to provide information about any major illness you had in the past and any hospital stays. You may have to take an EKG or Chest X-ray. A urine specimen, an oral swab, or even a blood sample may be needed. Finally you will also have to sign an authorization form giving the insurance company the authority to request information on all examinations you may have had done in the past. Never give wrong answers to any medical question on the application form. You will be caught during the medical exam and you could be denied life insurance. Even if you manage to beat the medical exam but eventually die due to a medical problem which you had at the time you purchased the policy but did not reveal at the time of application, the insurance company can opt not to pay the death benefits defeating the very purpose of life insurance.

If you are not comfortable with a medical examination, you can opt for a guaranteed issue life insurance. When you apply for a guaranteed issue life insurance, there is no medical exam and no medical questions are asked. Guaranteed life insurance polices have a graded benefits clause which states that if the policyholder dies within two to three years of buying a guaranteed issue life insurance policy, a refund of the policy’s premiums, plus interest, will be paid instead of paying out death benefits. So if the insured dies within a specified amount of time, the beneficiaries only receive a portion of the death benefits. Most guaranteed issue life insurance policies only pay full benefits after the first two years of the policy. Most policies will still pay the full amount of death benefits if the insured dies in an accident.