What Health Questions Are on a Simplified Issue Application?

What the Questionnaire Actually Looks Like

A typical simplified-issue final expense application asks 10 to 15 yes/no questions. Most are about specific medical conditions, current medications, and recent hospitalizations. There’s no medical exam, no blood draw, no needles — just the questions.

Carriers structure questionnaires in two tiers:

• Knockout questions — a “yes” answer disqualifies you from that carrier’s simplified-issue product entirely.
• Rate-class questions — answers affect your rate class (preferred vs standard vs graded) but don’t automatically decline.

Typical Question Categories

Most simplified-issue applications cover these areas:

Major active conditions:

• Are you currently in treatment for cancer (excluding basal-cell skin cancer)?
• Have you been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, ALS, or another terminal illness?
• Have you been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, dementia, or cognitive impairment?

Recent serious events:

• Have you had a heart attack, stroke, or coronary bypass in the past 12–24 months?
• Have you had an organ or bone marrow transplant?
• Are you currently on dialysis or awaiting a transplant?

Substance and lifestyle:

• Are you a tobacco user, and within the past 12 months?
• Have you been treated for drug or alcohol abuse in the past 5 years?

Functional health:

• Do you require assistance with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, eating, etc.)?
• Are you confined to a bed, wheelchair, or nursing facility?
• Do you use oxygen continuously?

Specific conditions:

• Do you have insulin-dependent diabetes? (Often a rate-class question, not a knockout)
• Do you have COPD or emphysema?
• Are you on multiple cardiac medications?

Knockout vs Rate-Class Questions

Different carriers have very different knockout lists. For example:

• Carrier A might knock out insulin-dependent diabetics from simplified issue; Carrier B might rate them up but still approve.
• Carrier A might knock out anyone on continuous oxygen; Carrier B might graded-rate them.

This is why shopping multiple carriers matters more than which carrier you apply with first. Same person, same answers, different outcomes.

Why Honest Answers Protect You

Carriers cross-reference your answers against:

• The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) — a shared insurance industry database
• Prescription history databases (Milliman, ExamOne, etc.)
• In some cases, motor vehicle records or public records

An undisclosed condition that shows up in MIB or prescription history can trigger:

1. Immediate decline (better than approval-then-claim-denial)
2. Approval at the wrong rate class (less protection than you paid for)
3. Claim contestation within the 2-year contestability period — meaning your family could be denied the death benefit they were counting on

Honest answers protect the policy. A carrier that approves you knowing your conditions is obligated to pay the claim. A carrier that approves you based on incomplete information has a basis to contest.

What Happens After You Answer

For most simplified-issue applications:

1. You submit the questionnaire (online, by phone, or paper).
2. The carrier reviews it against MIB and prescription databases (often within hours).
3. If clean, approval is automatic — typically within 1–3 days.
4. If a question flags review, the carrier may follow up for clarification.
5. Approval triggers a policy issuance — coverage starts as soon as the first premium clears.

The application process is genuinely fast for clean profiles. The work of qualifying is mostly about matching the right carrier to your specific health profile — which is where independent shopping wins.