How Does Life Insurance Work for Seniors Over 80?

For many people, life begins after 80. They’re busy staying active physically, socializing with friends and family, and taking care of their personal affairs. One of these personal affairs is making sure their family isn’t responsible for medical or funeral costs after they pass away. They look to life insurance as the way to make this happen.

Jump ahead to these sections:

Can You Get Life Insurance If You’re Over 80 Years Old?
What Types of Life Insurance Are Available for Seniors Over 80 And What Are The Rates?
What Are Popular, National Life Insurance Companies for Seniors Over 80?
Tips for Buying Life Insurance for Seniors Over 80

While using a permanent type of life insurance policy, like whole life or universal life, is not a way seniors over 80 use to accumulate cash value or save money inside a life insurance policy, they use these policies to meet other needs.

In this article, we’ll look at what options seniors over 80 have regarding buying life insurance, what it costs, where they can buy it, and more.

Can You Get Life Insurance If You’re Over 80 Years Old?

While they typically won’t qualify for a term life policy over 10 years in length because of their life expectancy, seniors over 80 can still be eligible for a permanent type of life insurance policy.

Permanent policies are often a better choice for seniors because it can be incredibly challenging for them to purchase coverage after age 90 if they still have financial obligations they want to ensure are covered when they pass away.

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What Types of Life Insurance Are Available for Seniors Over 80 And What Are The Rates?

Many highly-rated life insurance companies provide life insurance coverage for seniors over 80 years of age. These companies vary in which types of policies they offer seniors, but this gives seniors options, allowing them to buy the coverage that best meets their needs. Let’s look at the different types of policies available to them:

1. Final expense life insurance

Many seniors who are in their 80s no longer need to purchase life insurance policies with face amounts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In many instances, the mortgage has been paid off, their children are no longer dependents, and they have no sizeable long-term debt. What they want and need is life insurance to pay their final expenses, such as funeral expenses, to help those responsible for funeral costs, and medical bills.

Final expense life insurance, also known as burial insurance or funeral insurance for seniors, is an excellent option for many seniors over 80. In addition to reasonable rates, there are several pros to getting burial insurance over 80:

The policy won’t expire as long as you pay your premiums
The premiums will remain the same as long as you continue to pay them
The policy accumulates cash value that can be borrowed if needed
There are usually only a few health questions asked on the application, and no medical exam is required
It’s quick and easy to apply, and a policy can be issued within just a few days

There are two types of final expense life insurance: simplified issue and guaranteed issue. Let’s look at both.

Simplified issue life insurance

Simplified issue life insurance is for seniors that are in good health. There are just a few health questions on the application, compared to dozens of questions on an application for traditional life insurance, like term or whole life insurance. These questions usually concern:

Medications you take (prescription and over-the-counter)
Surgeries you’ve had
Your families medical history, including cases of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure
Your tobacco and alcohol use (failure to provide factual answers on the application can void the policy)
Your age
Your driving record (traffic violations, speeding tickets, and DUIs can all cause your life insurance premiums to go up)

Simplified issue policies generally have only these questions, and a medical exam is never required. The death benefit may be graded for an initial period of time.

Guaranteed issue life insurance

Guaranteed issue life insurance is an option for seniors that are not in good health and have a lengthy list of pre-existing medical conditions. With a guaranteed issue life insurance policy, there are:

No medical questions on the application
No medical exam is required

Because there is no information provided to the insurance company concerning an applicant’s health status, insurers charge higher rates for guaranteed issue policies than they do for permanent policies or simplified issue policies.

Guaranteed issue life insurance is usually limited to people 50-85 years old, and the death benefits are generally smaller, only up to $25,000 compared to $50,000 with simplified issue life insurance. The death benefit may be graded for the first few years.