First the bad news: If your blood pressure has never remotely approached 120 over 80, an underwriter will wonder why.
"High blood pressure that's not well-controlled can lead to a lot of end-organ diseases like coronary artery disease, stroke, kidney damage, peripheral artery disease -- a lot of different vascular complications," says Goldstein.
The good news: "The industry underwrites very favorably individuals who have high blood pressure that is well-controlled and well-managed," Goldstein says. "Every company would have different criteria, but if your physician started you on some medication and it shows by a couple of readings that you're in really good control, most carriers would look at that very favorably."
Could someone with high blood pressure qualify for a preferred policy?
"Yes, they could," she says. "Different carriers have different categories of preferred, but yes, high blood pressure that is well-managed, most carriers would have that qualified for preferred."