Non-Medical Life Insurance
Terms related to how insurers evaluate and price risk.
What Is Non-Medical Life Insurance?
Non-medical life insurance refers to policies issued without a traditional physical examination. Instead, underwriting relies on answers to health questions on the application, database queries (MIB, prescription history, motor vehicle records), and other non-invasive sources of information. Simplified issue policies typically ask between 5 and 20 health questions; guaranteed issue policies ask none. The trade-off for the convenience of no medical exam is generally higher premiums per dollar of coverage and lower face amount limits compared to fully underwritten policies. Advances in accelerated underwriting have allowed many carriers to offer fully underwritten-equivalent rates without an exam for applicants below age 60 in good health.
Nevada Context
Several A-rated (A.M. Best) carriers in Nevada offer accelerated underwriting programs that approve applicants for coverage amounts up to illustrative $1,000,000 or more without a medical exam — using algorithmic risk assessment.
How It Affects You
If you want coverage quickly or prefer to avoid a medical exam, no-exam options are available at a range of benefit levels. For larger coverage amounts, fully underwritten policies typically offer better pricing — ask your agent to compare.
Non-Medical Life Insurance in Practice
A 52-year-old Nevada applicant in good health applies for a $500,000 term policy through an accelerated underwriting program; the carrier reviews her prescription database and MIB record and issues the policy in three days — no exam required.
Dollar amounts shown are illustrative. Actual amounts vary by carrier, applicant age, health status, and individual underwriting.
Related Glossary Terms
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