The two products, side by side

What the purchase data says

Of the policies in our records that report the underwriting type, 549 were simplified issue (including non-tobacco variants) and 289 guaranteed issue. Two lessons hide in that split. First, the questionnaires are more forgiving than people fear — two-thirds of real buyers, most of them seniors with ordinary health histories, passed them. Second, the guaranteed-issue minority is real: for some health profiles it's the correct and only product, and it exists precisely for them.

We don't publish a head-to-head premium comparison between the two groups — guaranteed-issue policies also tend to have smaller face amounts, which would make a raw premium comparison misleading. The honest statement is structural: at the same age and coverage, guaranteed issue always prices above simplified issue, because the carrier is accepting unknown risk.

The graded period — the fine print that matters

Guaranteed-issue policies don't pay the face amount for non-accidental death during the first two years; they return premiums plus interest (typically 10–30%). Accidental death is usually covered in full from day one. This isn't a scam — it's how carriers can accept everyone — but it means a GI policy bought at 82 protects fully from 84 on. If day-one protection matters to you and you can pass a questionnaire, that alone decides the question.

A worked example of the price gap

Structural example at a common profile — woman, around 70, $10,000 of coverage. Simplified-issue buyers of that profile in our records pay a median of about $64/month with full day-one coverage. A guaranteed-acceptance unit product at the same age prices near $9–$11 per $1,000 — roughly $90–$110/month for the same $10,000, with only returned premiums payable during the first two years. Same person, same coverage: the difference is which questionnaire she was willing to answer. (Unit-priced TV products are the extreme of GI pricing; conventional GI policies land between the two.)

Quick answers

Does "no medical exam" mean guaranteed issue? No — almost all final expense is exam-free. The dividing line is questions, not exams: simplified issue asks a few; guaranteed issue asks none.

Can I switch from GI to SI later? Sometimes. If your health stabilizes and you can pass a questionnaire, requalifying into level coverage can beat keeping the GI policy — compare per $1,000 before moving, and never cancel first.

What's "NTSI"? A non-tobacco simplified-issue class — the best-priced tier, and the reason quitting tobacco 12+ months before applying pays for itself.

How to choose in practice

Step 1: try the simplified-issue questionnaire first — always. Two minutes, no commitment, and a "yes" saves you a full price tier. Step 2: if one carrier declines, don't jump to guaranteed issue — underwriting differs, and another carrier may accept the same health profile. Step 3: only when the questions genuinely fail you, compare several guaranteed-issue offers against each other (they differ more than the TV ads suggest), and treat the graded period as part of the price.

All figures are medians of real policies purchased through our partner carriers (July 2024 – July 2026 unless noted), aggregated with minimum sample sizes — never individual records. Your rate is set by the carrier at application.