Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance for Marijuana Consumption

One way to entirely avoid the drug use question on the life insurance application is to get a guaranteed issue life insurance policy. They don’t ask about marijuana and won’t test you either. 

Quick Summary

Guaranteed issue life insurance provides near-immediate life insurance coverage to anyone, regardless of medical history or recreational cannabis consumption. A few companies will ask about drug use, but our top three favorites do not care. 

Quick Links:

1. What is guaranteed issue life insurance?
2. Guaranteed issue life insurance quotes
3. Who is guaranteed issue for?
4. Application process
5. The 3 best companies
   • Protection PLUS
   • AIG
   • Gerber
6. How Marcan Insurance can help

What is Guaranteed Issue?

Guaranteed issue life insurance provides a smaller face amount than traditional policies. However, there is never a medical exam and no health questions are asked.

The tradeoff is the cost per $1,000 of coverage is significantly more expensive than even a term policy for the same benefit amount. 

The benefit structure is slightly different too. Insurers use what’s called graded benefits for GI policies. These are in place to make sure the insurance companies don’t lose money right out of the gate on new policies. That way, the insurer stays solvent and can pay out claims for people who survive longer. 

The graded benefits structure usually follows similar lines as the following schedule: 

• 1st year – 110% of premiums paid
• 2nd year -110% of the premiums paid
• 3rd year – 100% of the benefits

Accidental death is paid out in full from day 1. There is no graded period for accidental deaths.

Most of these policies are permanent rather than term, meaning they’ll last for your entire life as long as you pay your premiums on time. 

Typically, companies will do a drug screening during the life insurance medical exam. In this case, since there is no medical exam, there is no drug test. While you can still get traditional life insurance with some companies, this is another option. 

They also don’t ask about drug use on the application. Your beneficiaries will not get benefits withheld while the company looks into fraud if they think you lied about drug use on your application. 

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Quotes

To view guaranteed issue quotes (for all companies except for Protection Plus) use the INSTANT QUOTES form on this page. Protection Plus rates and application link are below.

Who is GI For?

Insurance companies designed guaranteed issue life insurance as a way for people with severe health issues to still get insurance coverage. For example, someone with stage 3 or 4 cancer will likely get declined for a traditional policy, but they can get a guaranteed issue one. 

While aimed at people with health conditions who might otherwise not qualify for traditional life insurance, it also offers an option for people more concerned with:

• Drug use
• Extreme sports
• Hazardous occupations

Application Process

Applications are as easy as heating a microwave dinner – and take about the same amount of time. They’re often a single page, and can usually be completed online or over the phone with your agent. 

The turnaround time to receive an offer from the insurance company is 24 to 72 hours. Most companies, particularly with online applications, will issue the offer within 24 hours. 

The longest part of the process is comparing the types and premiums on guaranteed issue policies. You can choose between term GI and whole life GI. Most companies offer whole life. Term will be cheaper, but the rates will increase if you want to renew it. 

Best Companies

Three companies provide great options for guaranteed issue life insurance for both recreational and medical cannabis consumption. 

The first one is a 5-year term and accepts anyone 18 and older. The latter two companies start their policies at age 50 and offer guaranteed issue whole life. 

Protection PLUS (5 Year Term)

Protection PLUS Life is available to anyone age 18 to 75 as part of a membership benefits package through the Wellness Association of American (WAOA). It offers a 5-year term certificate (which works just like life insurance but is classified differently because it’s a membership program) where you can choose the benefit amount between $10,000 and $50,000. 

The benefits are graded as follows:

To calculate your premium (monthly cost) for this policy, locate your age in the left column in the chart below. Locate your amount of coverage across the top. Then look at the cost where the 2 meet.

• Protection Plus 10 = $10,000 of coverage
• Protection Plus 20 = $20,000 of coverage
• Protection Plus 30 = $30,000 of coverage
• Protection Plus 40 = $40,000 of coverage
• Protection Plus 50 = $50,000 of coverage

Your rate will stay level for 5 years. Then to see your renewal rate, match your age and amount again. This rate will be locked in for another 5 years. You can renew the policy all the way up to age 75.

Protection Plus Life Insurance is available in the following states:

The membership plan includes a bunch of perks in addition to the term certificate: 

• Weight management with a naturopathic doctor
• Allergy management
• Vitamin & supplement discount
• Wellness resources & articles
• Prescription savings card

AIG Whole Life

AIG offers a guaranteed issue whole life insurance policy for anyone over 50, all the way up to age 85. The fine print requires the owner and the insured to be the same person, meaning it’s not a candidate policy for getting life insurance to cover aging parents unless your parents choose the policy. However, the payor can be different from the insured. 

The benefits range from $5,000 to $25,000, and the grading schedule is one of the more generous ones available. 

• First 2 years – 110% of premiums paid
• After the first 2 years – entire benefit amount

They include an accidental death option, which ignores the graded benefits schedule. However, several details would exclude benefits if the passing is a result of something like skydiving, motorcycle racing, or killed while attempting to commit a felony. 

AIG also includes a chronic illness and terminal illness rider. These riders allow you to access a portion of the death benefit, while living, if you are diagnosed with a qualifying chronic or terminal illness.

Gerber Whole Life

Gerber also offers a guaranteed issue (they call it guaranteed acceptance) policy. It ranges from $5,000 to $25,000 in benefits and lasts for your entire life. Once you set the policy, the premiums are locked in for life. Like the AIG policy, it becomes available at age 50, but 80 is the oldest you can take out a policy. 

It also has a cash value accumulation feature that grows as you pay the premiums. You can borrow the money from your cash value for any reason. Plus, they’ll work with you on paying back the loan in affordable installments. 

See quotes for Gerber, AIG and Great Western by using the INSTANT QUOTES form on this page.

Conclusion

Protection PLUS from WAOA offers a life insurance certificate to anyone over 18. There are added benefits through the association membership like prescription discounts and assistance from naturopathic doctors. 

Both AIG and Gerber focus their whole life guaranteed issue life insurance policies on people over 50. They don’t have the same additional perks as Protection PLUS. Still, the policy lasts for life rather than increasing the premiums every time you renew it. 

Guaranteed issue is best for people with concerns beyond smoking cannabis since there are over a dozen companies now that will issue traditional life insurance to people who smoke recreationally or for medical reasons.

How Marcan Insurance Can Help

At Marcan Insurance, we focus on helping people avoid the insurers that over-charge and decline people who take cannabis for either medical reasons or recreation. It’s absurd to charge people the same rates at tobacco smokers for an entirely different thing. 

We’ve made it our mission to keep tabs on the continually changing underwriting guidelines for each insurance company. Federal law protects your privacy. We just want to make sure that it’s as easy as possible to find the right life insurance for your family. 

Give us a call today at 888-987-8447 with any questions. We’re happy to help.