What You Should Know

• Bipolar disorder does not automatically disqualify you from obtaining life insurance
• Life insurance companies may dig deeper into your mental health record to learn about treatments and issues caused by your diagnoses
• If you can't get a traditional life insurance policy for bipolar disorder, you will still qualify for a guaranteed issue life insurance policy

An important factor in determining your life insurance approval and rates is your health, which also includes any mental health diagnoses or issues. If you have bipolar disorder, finding life insurance is possible but may be more difficult than it is for people without bipolar disorder.

Your treatment plan and the effects of your bipolar disorder on your everyday life can also affect the types of life insurance you qualify for and what you might pay for coverage.

Enter your ZIP code into our free quote comparison tool above to find affordable life insurance rates for people with bipolar disorder.

Life Insurance Companies That Will Accept People With Bipolar Disorder

If your bipolar disorder doesn't hinder you from functioning normally, and you are following your treatment plan, you are likely to qualify for affordable life insurance for people with bipolar disorder from most major life insurance companies.

However, some companies may also charge more for life insurance if your bipolar disorder has a moderate impact on your life or if your treatment is more intensive. In some cases, you may need to apply for policies that have lower coverage amounts or guaranteed issue.

To give you an idea of how life insurance companies deal with mental health issues, let's take a look at the maximum number of medications that some companies allow to qualify for the best rates:

The table above illustrates the fact that life insurance companies are aware that some people struggle with mental health issues and do not automatically disqualify them from coverage. However, finding anxiety life insurance may be a little bit easier than finding life insurance for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

How does mental health affect life insurance?

While finding life insurance for bipolar disorder or some other mental health disorder, such as anxiety, depression, or schizophrenia, is possible, your rates and how much coverage you can obtain will depend on your specific situation.

If you are looking for less than $100,000 in coverage, you can likely get away with a simplified underwriting process. However, if you want more than $100,000 in coverage, you may need to go through the full underwriting process, which means the life insurance company will inspect your mental health diagnosis and treatment more thoroughly.

When you are applying for life insurance for someone with bipolar disorder, you may be more qualified for coverage if you are employed or work for income rather than receive SSDI payments. Being employed shows that you are able to still function at least semi-normally with your mental health disorders. However, that isn't to say that you can't find life insurance for people facing mental disabilities.

Hospitalizations due to your bipolar disorder could also affect your life insurance. If you were hospitalized because of sucidial ideation or an attempt, you may not qualify for fully underwritten coverage.

If you've been hospitalized in the past two years, you may be denied or receive a table rating. If you've been hospitalized in the two to five years prior to your application, you may receive a moderate table rating. Finally, if it has been more than five years, you may receive a low rating or none at all.

Life insurance companies generally don't have an issue with people taking one or two non-antipsychotic medications for their mental health disorders. However, if you do take an antipsychotic, you may be denied or given a table rating.

The company will also want to know your other treatment methods and if you follow them. A less intensive treatment plan, such as psychotherapy, will look better to a life insurance company than a more intensive treatment plan, such as electroconvulsive therapy.

Your life insurance options may also be affected by what type of bipolar disorder you have. Individuals with bipolar 1 disorder may have fewer options or pay higher rates than individuals with bipolar 2 disorder.

Other mental health disorders may have a different impact on your life insurance options. For example, anxiety and depression may have less of an impact than if you are a person with shizophrenia searching for insurance coverage.

What kinds of life insurance do people with bipolar disorder qualify for?

When you want to buy life insurance for people with bipolar disorder, your options may be limited based on the factors listed above, such as their diagnoses, recent hospitalizations or other issues, treatment plan, medications, and more. However, there are still many options available, especially for people living and functioning normally and responsibly with their mental health disorder.

If you have bipolar disorder that has not caused any recent issues, and for which you have a mild psychological or medicinal treatment, you will likely qualify for many different table-rated term life, whole life, or universal life insurance policies.

If you have mild bipolar disorder that has not caused any recent issues, your options may be limited to policies with a graded death benefit and some health questions asked. If you have bipolar disorder that is more severe and has caused recent issues or other medical concerns, you may only qualify for guaranteed issue life insurance with a graded death benefit.

Should I buy guaranteed issue life insurance?

If you are denied life insurance due to mental health concerns, you should still qualify for guaranteed issue life insurance. Guaranteed issue life insurance policies typically don't require a medical exam or health questions. You will have to answer a few basic questions to purchase your guaranteed issue life insurance, but you may be able to purchase your policy instantly and keep it as long as you pay the premiums.

However, because the life insurance company cannot assess your health with a guaranteed issue life insurance policy, you may have to pay higher rates. The death benefit is also likely to be significantly smaller than most other policies, possibly between $25,000 and $50,000.

Therefore, if you are okay with paying higher rates and having a smaller death benefit, a guaranteed life insurance policy may be a good option. It's also good for those who don't qualify for other types of life insurance and want to have enough to cover their death expenses. If you do qualify for another type of life insurance, you may want to consider getting a different policy to pay lower premiums and have more coverage.

Are you searching for a life insurance company for people with bipolar disorder? Enter your ZIP code into our free quote comparison tool below to get life insurance quotes for people with bipolar disorder now.