Can you get burial insurance with health conditions?

The two kinds of policy

Simplified issue asks five to ten yes-or-no health questions by phone. No exam, no blood test. If you can answer no to the serious ones, you get the lower price and the full coverage amount from day one. Many common conditions still qualify.

Guaranteed acceptance (also called guaranteed issue) asks no health questions and accepts anyone in the eligible age range, usually 50 to 80 or 85. It costs more per dollar of coverage, and it has a graded death benefit: if you pass away from natural causes in the first two years (three with some insurers), the insurer returns the premiums you paid plus interest instead of the full amount. Accidental death is usually covered in full from day one.

The practical rule: if you can qualify for simplified issue, take it. It's cheaper and it pays in full immediately. Guaranteed acceptance exists for people who can't.

What the health questions ask

The questions focus on serious or recent conditions, and on timing. Typical topics:

• Currently in a hospital, nursing home, or hospice, or receiving home health care

• Diagnosed with a terminal illness, or told you have less than 12 to 24 months to live

• Cancer diagnosis or treatment within the last two to three years

• Heart attack, stroke, or heart surgery within the last one to two years

• Oxygen use for a breathing condition

• Kidney dialysis

• Alzheimer's or dementia

• HIV/AIDS

• Insulin use before a certain age, or diabetes with complications

• Alcohol or drug treatment in the last few years

Answering yes to one of these doesn't always mean no. Many insurers offer a middle option — a graded or modified policy with a shorter waiting period and a price between the two — and different insurers draw the lines in different places.

Common conditions, condition by condition

General patterns across the final expense market. The agent will confirm which applies to the policy you're offered.

Diabetes. Usually fine. Type 2 controlled with diet or pills typically qualifies for day-one coverage. Insulin use often still qualifies, though some insurers ask when it started. Complications like amputation, kidney disease or insulin shock in the last year push toward a graded or guaranteed policy.

High blood pressure and high cholesterol. Almost never a problem. Most insurers don't ask about them at all if they're treated.

COPD, emphysema, asthma. Depends on severity. Mild to moderate COPD treated with inhalers often qualifies for day-one or graded coverage. Oxygen use, or hospitalization for breathing in the last year, usually means guaranteed acceptance.

Heart disease. Timing matters most. A heart attack, bypass or stent more than a year or two ago often qualifies for standard or graded coverage. Within the last year, expect a graded or guaranteed policy. Congestive heart failure is treated more strictly.

Cancer. Most insurers want two to three years since the last treatment for day-one coverage. Within that window, a graded policy is common and guaranteed acceptance is always available. Basal cell skin cancer is usually ignored.

Stroke. Similar to heart disease: after one to two years, many insurers offer standard or graded coverage; more recent strokes go to graded or guaranteed.

Kidney disease. Early-stage disease often qualifies for graded coverage. Dialysis almost always means guaranteed acceptance.

Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's. Dementia generally means guaranteed acceptance, and a family member usually needs to help with the application. Parkinson's is often accepted on a graded basis.

Depression, anxiety. Rarely an issue on their own. Recent hospitalization for a mental health condition may be asked about.

Tobacco. Not a health condition in underwriting terms, but it raises the price 25% to 50%. If you've quit, say when — some insurers use a 12-month lookback, others longer.

What to tell the agent

Be complete and specific. The agent isn't trying to decline you; they're matching your history to the insurer that treats it most kindly, and the differences between companies are large. Have these ready:

• Each diagnosis and roughly when it was made

• Current medications (the bottle is fine)

• Any hospital stays in the last two years

• Whether you use oxygen, insulin, or have had dialysis

• Tobacco use and when you stopped, if you did

Answer honestly. Insurers can check prescription history and, within the first two years, can contest a claim if the application was inaccurate. The policy that pays is the one that was answered truthfully.