By Karen Caffarini

Life Quotes, Inc.

Diabetes is a highly treatable, but potentially deadly, disease if left untreated or undiagnosed. According to the American Diabetes Association, both the death rate from heart disease and risk for stroke are two to four times higher for people with diabetes. It is the leading cause of kidney failure and new cases of blindness and is the reason for more than 60 percent of lower limb amputations.

Fortunately for many of the 23.6 million adults and children who have the illness, it is possible to obtain affordable life insurance at a standard rate. All it takes is keeping the disease under control through diet, doctor visits and medication, insurance experts suggest.

Indications you have the disease under control include if no other health problem such as kidney failure and your hemoglobin A1C count remains in the single digits, insurers say.

Insurers look at the age of the applicant, how long they’ve had diabetes, and other habits such as smoking and drinking, whether they are morbidly obese and whether they’ve had any other health complications when determining whether an applicant will get insurance and at what cost, says Michael Tessler, president of Brokerage Unlimited in St. Louis, Mo. Rates include super preferred (lowest cost), preferred, standard and substandard.

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