Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance, Answered

A permanent (whole life) policy with no health questions and no medical exam: acceptance is guaranteed inside the carrier's age band — commonly 45–85 or 50–80 — for amounts usually between $2,000 and $25,000. The trade-off is a graded death benefit for the first two or three years.

The graded period. If you die of natural causes in the first two years (three at Fidelity Life), your beneficiary receives your premiums back plus interest — 10% at Gerber, 110% of premiums at Mutual of Omaha and Great Western, 110–120% at Corebridge — not the face amount. Accidental death pays the full amount from day one at the carriers above that publish their rule.

Not for your health. You can be outside the age band, outside the states where a carrier sells (Gerber is not in Montana; Corebridge not in New York or Maine; Fidelity Life not in New York or Wyoming), or above a carrier's cap on total guaranteed-issue coverage ($25,000 at Mutual of Omaha, Gerber and Corebridge).

Published carrier charts for $10,000 of coverage: Mutual of Omaha, a 60-year-old man $56.90 a month, a woman $42.70 (California chart); Gerber Life at 60, $63.89 for a man and $51.06 for a woman (with bank-draft discount). Corebridge says rates start at $22 a month for a 50-year-old woman and $32 for a man for $5,000.

Yes if age or health rules out a policy with health questions. If you can answer a few questions and your conditions are managed, simplified-issue final expense usually costs less and pays the full benefit from day one — NerdWallet's 2026 example for a 60-year-old woman buying $20,000: $1,008 a year guaranteed issue versus $744 simplified issue.

Simplified issue asks a short set of health questions, no exam, and prices you on the answers. Guaranteed issue asks nothing and prices for the unknown. People who qualify for simplified issue get more coverage for less money.

Two years at Mutual of Omaha, Gerber, Corebridge, Colonial Penn, Great Western and CICA; three years at Fidelity Life RAPIDecision; Americo pays 75% in year three and 100% from year four.

Natural causes: a refund of premiums plus the stated interest or percentage. Accident: the full face amount at every carrier in our table that publishes its rule (Colonial Penn does not state one; Fidelity Life describes the natural-death payout as a "reduced benefit").

No. The carriers we list guarantee level premiums for life (Mutual of Omaha: "premium will never increase"; Corebridge: "guaranteed not to increase").

Yes — it is whole life. Gerber and Fidelity Life state cash value accrues and can be borrowed against (Gerber's loan rate is 8%).

Typically $2,000–$25,000. Great Western offers up to $40,000 and CICA up to $30,000; Colonial Penn sells fixed-price units whose coverage shrinks with age.

Yes — ages 50–85 with a two-year limited benefit — but $9.95 buys one unit, and a unit's benefit depends on age and sex (a few hundred to about two thousand dollars). Compare the price per $1,000 against the carriers above before you decide.

The NFDA's 2023 General Price List Study put the median funeral with viewing and burial at $8,300 and with viewing and cremation at $6,280. Social Security pays a one-time $255 lump-sum death payment to an eligible spouse or child.

Globe Life asks health questions on its life plans (so not guaranteed issue). AARP/New York Life offers a Guaranteed Acceptance product. Ethos places partner carriers' guaranteed-issue policies (ages 45–80) rather than its own.

No. Requests on this site go to the licensed agents of Vitality Health Advisors LLC (dba NovaVida Group) and are not sold or shared with other agencies. If that ever changes, the company would be named in the consent box first.