Life Insurance with COPD and Asthma (2026)

You can get life insurance with COPD and asthma, though coverage options and rates vary based on your health condition and insurer's underwriting guidelines.  Mild asthma that's controlled with occasional inhaler use has minimal impact on coverage options. Moderate to severe COPD requires more specialized underwriting, but doesn't eliminate your options. 

Traditional policies, such as term and whole, work well for well-controlled cases. No-exam life insurance doesn't require a medical exam, but approval can still depend on your health history and the insurer's underwriting requirements.

Each insurer has different underwriting guidelines, so an application that one company declines another may approve. Compare multiple insurers to find the best policy and premiums.

Pulmonary function tests provide objective data that life insurance underwriters use to evaluate respiratory risk. Insurers review FEV1 (Forced Expiratory Volume in one second, which measures how much air you can exhale in one second), FVC (Forced Vital Capacity, which is the total amount of air you can exhale), and the FEV1/FVC ratio, along with percent predicted values adjusted for age, sex and height. A post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio below 0.70 indicates airflow obstruction under the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD)'s diagnostic criteria for COPD. FEV1 percent predicted helps assess the severity of airflow obstruction, with lower values indicating greater impairment.

Severity depends mainly on FEV1 percent predicted. An FEV1 below 50% of predicted shows advanced airflow limitation and often leads to higher rate classifications, postponement or possible decline, depending on stability and treatment history.

Chest X-ray or CT findings showing emphysema, fibrosis or structural lung damage factor into risk assessment. Emergency room visits or hospitalizations within the past 24 to 36 months signal unstable disease and increase underwriting concern.

Asthma underwriting depends on severity, control and treatment history. Many insurers consider mild intermittent asthma with rescue inhaler use under two days per week eligible for standard rates, provided there are no recent hospitalizations or oral steroid use. Moderate or severe asthma requiring daily controller medication often results in table ratings or higher premiums. Table ratings refer to the risk classification carriers use to set coverage prices for applicants with elevated health risks.

Attack history carries weight. Applicants with no exacerbations, emergency visits or steroid bursts in the past 12 months receive better classifications than those with frequent episodes.

Medication patterns also signal risk. Infrequent albuterol use indicates well-controlled asthma. Daily inhaled corticosteroids with long-acting bronchodilators indicate persistent asthma and lead to higher rate classes.

Which life insurance policy type is best depends on how severe your COPD or asthma is. Mild, well-managed cases of either condition often qualify for standard term or whole life. Severe COPD, oxygen dependence or frequent asthma attacks that require hospitalization usually rule out traditional underwriting. No-exam or guaranteed issue coverage becomes the main option in that case.

Term life insurance covers you for a set period, usually 10, 20 or 30 years. It's a good fit for people with mild to moderate respiratory conditions who can pass medical underwriting.

Whole life insurance covers you for as long as you live, as long as you pay premiums. Part of each payment builds cash value at a guaranteed rate, which you can borrow against. Your premium is locked in from day one and stays at that level for the life of the policy.

No-exam life insurance comes in two types: simplified issue, which asks health questions but skips the exam, and guaranteed issue, which skips both. Both work well for people with severe COPD or poorly controlled asthma who can't qualify for traditional coverage.

Life insurance riders add benefits beyond the basic death benefit. Some riders come standard at no extra cost, depending on the insurer. For people with COPD, the most relevant among the common riders are accelerated death benefit, terminal illness, chronic illness and waiver of premium.

The right insurer depends on how severe your condition is. Physicians Mutual, Pacific Life, Banner Life and Transamerica each cover a different severity level, from guaranteed issue for oxygen-dependent COPD to near-standard pricing for well-managed mild conditions.

Physicians Mutual requires no medical underwriting for its guaranteed issue life insurance, so a COPD or asthma diagnosis doesn't affect approval, and coverage reaches $30,000, though a limited-benefit period applies before the full payout is available. Pacific Life's tiered underwriting provides well-controlled cases a path to its no-exam program, which covers up to $2 million. 

Banner Life offers the lowest term rates in MoneyGeek's analysis and can extend its top rate class to well-managed asthma. Transamerica's final expense policy costs $33 to $43 a month for $10,000 in coverage, with a first-day payout available to many applicants and a graded alternative for higher-risk cases.

Banner Life's term rates start at $37 a month for a 40-year-old woman, the lowest in MoneyGeek's analysis for mild COPD. Physicians Mutual doesn't ask health questions and doesn't require a medical exam, which makes it the direct path when COPD severity rules out traditional underwriting.

Individual applications receive different outcomes based on FEV1 results, hospitalization history and tobacco status.

Standard life insurance applications require in-person medical exams. A paramedical examiner collects health information, measures vital signs and draws blood samples. Blood tests measure cholesterol levels, blood sugar and liver function. Insurance companies may require breathing tests or pulmonary tests for people buying COPD life insurance or those with asthma. Simplified issue and guaranteed issue policies waive medical exams entirely.

Insurers request attending physician statements when applications involve complex medical histories. These statements provide detailed medical records directly from your doctors.

After you submit, call your doctor's office and let them know an insurer will be requesting your records. It speeds up the process.

Life insurance with COPD or asthma costs an average of $32 to $1,321 a month for a 20-year term policy. This depends on your age, gender and health rating.

Rates are based on average quotes for a $500,000 life insurance policy for nonsmokers with a fair health rating. Actual costs will vary by insurer and specific condition.

No-exam term coverage costs 3% to 11% more than standard term, with the price gap narrowest at age 60 and widest at age 50. The whole life premium over term narrows steadily from age 30 to 70. At 30, whole life costs 12.3 times more than term. By 70, that price gap drops to 2.9 times.

This content is educational only and isn't medical advice.

You can get life insurance with COPD or asthma, but your rate and options depend on how severe your condition is and how well you manage it. Mild to moderate cases qualify for traditional policies. Severe cases have fewer traditional policy options and usually do better with coverage that doesn't require medical exams.  

A well-managed condition improves your insurability. Regular medical care and taking medications as prescribed strengthen your underwriting profile, and quitting smoking can improve your rate class even further. Get quotes from at least three insurers. If you use daily oxygen or need frequent steroid treatment, start with a no-exam quote instead of a traditional application, since a traditional application is likely to be declined.