Do you get nervous at the thought of taking a medical exam to get a life insurance quote? It’s a common reaction, and completely understandable. Many life insurance policies require that you are screened in your home or office by a licensed paramedical examination professional. Although you don’t have to pay anything for this exam, you need to take it seriously. The healthier you are, the better your chances of hearing a “yes” from your preferred insurance provider, as well as snagging the lowest policy rates on the market.
While you can’t completely change the way you’ve been living — meaning that if you’re unhealthy or have documented medical illnesses, you can’t do much to alter those facts before your life insurance medical exam. But you can take some steps to do as well as possible.
Life Insurance Medical Exam Preparation Tips
Below are some of the top life insurance health screening tips to keep in mind when you have an upcoming medical examination:
- Drink plenty of water the week before. Have you been slacking off on your eight glasses of water a day routine? Drink up for a week before your medical exam. When you’re hydrated, your system can flush out all the toxins, sugars and salts in your body. This should make a difference in your bloodwork results.
- Abstain from exercise the day before and of the examination. You might think that a sudden burst of exercise would give you a boost, but it’s more like to raise problems. When you exercise hard, your body’s composition naturally changes. This can lead to variations in bloodwork that may become red flags to insurers.
- Stop drinking alcohol for at least three days before. Even a glass of wine could detour you, so decline cocktails or other adult beverages.
- Avoid taking any drugs, including over–the-counter varieties. Obviously, you may need to take prescription medications, but if you can avoid other medications, do so. Drugs may temporarily raise your blood pressure, causing a spike that you don’t want to worry about.
- Wear lighter clothing. No, not lighter in color. We’re talking about lightweight items. You’re going to be weighed, so you might as well make sure that you trim as many pounds as you can. This will lower your body mass index (BMI), and the lower your BMI, the healthier you will seem on paper.
- Be honest. If you smoke, tell the examiner. Many people think they can just lie, but bloodwork will tell otherwise. Even if you don’t light a cigarette or take nicotine for a week, your blood isn’t going to be affected. The signs of nicotine use stay in your system for a long time. It’s better to just be upfront about everything.
- Fast the night before and day of the examination. Fasting is necessary, so don’t eat or drink anything except for water for about 12 hours. Avoid that cup of caffeine in the morning, too. Coffee can elevate your blood pressure and cause other concerns.
Obviously, you want to pass your health examination and get low insurance rates. Sometimes, though, the insurance quote you’re offered isn’t the one you wanted. In that case, it’s fine to try another provider. Just remember that you’ll have to go through the exam process again. With that in mind, you may want to start making healthier decisions now to give yourself a leg up.