Guide
Health classes explained
Preferred Plus, Preferred, Standard Plus, and Standard: what each tier is called, what puts you in one, and how to shift between them.
Insurance companies set price on term life with underwriting tiers. Names shift between companies, but the order is steady: Preferred Plus (sometimes called Super Preferred or Preferred Best), Preferred, Standard Plus, and Standard, with extra charges added for greater risk. Smokers sit on a separate scale, with higher costs across the board.
What underwriters look at
Frame (height and weight), blood pressure and cholesterol, whether heart disease or cancer ran in your family before age 60, your driving past, what you take for prescriptions, what you do for work or play, and whether you use tobacco or nicotine. The top tier wants clean results nearly everywhere; Preferred gives a little room; Standard Plus and Standard are okay with managed conditions like controlled high blood pressure.
How to use the quote tool
On the quote form, the health field tells you to pick a box honestly: Excellent points to Preferred Plus, Very good to Preferred, Good to Standard Plus, and Average to Standard. Your quote pulls from that choice; the underwriter makes the final call. In doubt? Run a quote on two different tiers and check both. You don't get a lower premium for guessing high; you just get a quote that's off.
Susman Insurance Agency knows which companies have softer rules for what you've gone through, which often counts more than the advertised rate.