Archive for July 26th, 2007
Hep C is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States. The insidious nature of the disease is such that often people will not experience symptoms for years, even decades, after they are infected. Life insurance underwriting for Hep C is a careful process and is really broken down into two parts.
The first part is the obvious. You have the disease and it was treated. What medical problems did the disease cause while you had it and what is the current status of the disease and it’s main target, the liver. Current status can be summed up with lab tests that show liver functions and the viral load. To determine potential problems that a person may have incurred from the disease it is very common for a liver ultrasound or biopsy to also be done to see what damage the liver has incurred.
The other underwriting factor is the impact of the treatment . The most common treatment today is interferon. While it is successful in reversing about 50% of Hep C cases, it’s side effects are not light weight. Along with things you might expect like fatigue, interferon can cause flu like symptoms, loss of appetite and in some case large fluctuations in blood sugars which can lead to diabetes.
From an underwriter’s point of view, better than standard rates can be given if liver functions are within the normal range and you have a negative viral load. There also should be a liver biopsy that shows little or no permanent damage to the liver. The concern is that in prolonged untreated cases, cirrhosis can be an issue.
Once the issue of the liver is hurdled, any residual effects from the treatment have to be considered. Generally there will be a waiting period after the completion of interferon treatment before a good offer can be made. The waiting period will vary depending on the level of the disease upon diagnosis, the agressiveness of the treatment and how well your body handled the treatment.
The waiting period can be from 1 to 10 years depending on all the variables before the best possible rates can be approved. That doesn’t mean insurance can’t be obtained, but it may cost more for an interim period.
Bottom line. Know all the test results before contacting an independent agent. Actual copies of the lab and pathology reports are helpful. If, given your situation, you don’t qualify for the best possible rates right now, put what you can in force and work with your agent each year to review and try to improve on the rates until you get what you need locked in.
July 26th, 2007
I promised myself and my wife that I would try to remain calm about my opinions, even when my face is turning red, but AARP, the advocate for us old folks, is plain and simple giving bad life insurance advice. And frankly, giving bad advice if you are holding yourself out as an advocate is oxymoronic, and wrong.
AARP has been in bed with New York Life forever. New York Life is an overpriced cash cow of a company. I am thinking that if they wanted to, New York Life could actually afford to give away all the little policies through AARP, although why do that when they can instead rip off the elderly and become an even fatter cash cow.
Because the New York Life policies are absolute junk and overpriced, I have believed for some time that the only possible reason AARP advocates the products is that they must get some kind of a kick back each time someone signs up.
And so why do I think the policies are so bad? Remember that AARP is all of us folks over 50. Most of the people that actually buy into the policy are over 60. The average life expectancy of someone in their 60’s who is healthy is their mid 80’s. The term policy that New York Life provides for AARP is a five year renewable term. That means that the price will increase every five years……until age 80 when the coverage ends. You heard me right. If you turn 81 you don’t have life insurance. What are New York Life and AARP missing here? They are selling a product that is overpriced, increases in price every five years and ends before the average person needs it.
They also offer a whole life policy. This an overpriced simplified issue whole life policy whose selling point is that it “can help build up a survivor’s nest egg…tide a beneficiary over until Social Security or pension benefits begin…or pay final expenses and funeral costs” according to AARP. Then they go on to say “Rates are not guaranteed”.
AARP is supposed to be an advocate for folks on fixed income. So, they offer a term insurance product that increases every five years and a whole life product that doesn’t have a guaranteed price at all.
My opinion and this is just my opinion as a member of AARP, is that New York Life and AARP aren’t missing anything. They intentionally advocate products that will make a lot of money and not pay out many benefits for the sake of profit. If there is a better explanation, I am certainly willing to hear it.
Bottom line. Just because a group claims to be an advocate for you, don’t take what they say at face value. Do your homework on their advice. Get a second opinion from an independent agent .
July 26th, 2007
According to the Prostate Cancer Research Institute about 220,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year. About half of those will choose to have seed implant therapy, also called brachytherapy. Life insurance underwriters have a slightly different set of guidelines for determining how to treat seed implant therapy as opposed to other treatments such as a radical prostatectomy.
Seed implant treatment is one of the options for a lower stage, usually stage 1 or 2, and a low to moderate grade, Gleason 4 to 6, prostate cancer. According to Prostate Cancer Research Institute, seed implants are gaining in popularity ” due to (1) the fact that five- and ten-year disease control rates of brachytherapy equal those of the top surgical and radiation series, (2) the toxicity and side-effects are perceived to be lower, and (3) the brachytherapy involves just a single outpatient treatment.”
Life insurance underwriters look at the same factors in the beginning no matter what treatment course is chosen. Usually a low stage and low grade prostate cancer as described above, coupled with a diagnosis level PSA of 10 or below, can expect better than standard rates from several companies as long as the treatment results achieve results that fall within certain guidelines.
With a radical prostatectomy the desired treatment result is a PSA of 0. Absence of the prostate should have this result. With brachytherapy underwriters want to see the PSA at .5 or below. I have been following a case for the last six months. At the time of diagnosis his PSA was 5.3. In January he had a seed implant. We spoke today and his PSA is .48. Time to start shopping for the rates he wants to lock in.
When you have a cancer with a Gleason grade 7, the underwriters will still likely appove your insurance, but they will usually add an extra charge to the policy for several years due to the perceived increased risk. I have likened the underwriting difference between Gleason 6 and 7 in the past, to the Richter scale for earthquakes. On the Richter scale a 6 will shake everything up real good and a 7 will knock a lot of things down. When the Richter scale measures an earthquake at 8, there is mass devastation.
Bottom line. Get your information together. Know your diagnosis level PSA, your post treatment PSA, and if you don’t know the stage and grade of your prostate cancer, get a copy of your pathology report. Find an independent agent with experience in shopping prostate cancer cases. It is a matter of matching the medical information to the right company and underwriting to get you the best possible prices.
July 26th, 2007
