Doctors are famous for leaving out details. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to whose doctors only told them the feel good parts of their health issue.
It is fairly common for a heart attack victim to get stress test follow ups. When I ask them about the results I don’t believe I have ever heard one say anything worse than “the doctor was happy with it”. Of course the doctor is happy with it. He just made a bunch of money and you aren’t dead so he’ll probably get a chance to do it again.
I had one client who was told he was doing just fine with a left ventricular ejection fraction of 25%. The LVEF is a measure of how effectively your heart is pushing out blood. 25% is not “just fine”. It may be as good as can be expected considering how damaged your heart is, but just fine doesn’t accurately describe that result.
Diabetes is another area where doctors don’t all seem to want to burden their patients with too much information. In my experience probably 1 or 2 in 10 people with diabetes have ever discussed their hbA1c with their doctor on an ongoing basis. I’ll leave out the 2 and say that 1 in 10 I have talked to can tell you what the collateral risk factors are with diabetes.
This information and education is critical to the ongoing health of their patients and yet so many doctors don’t share the knowledge. I don’t know if they are afraid their patients won’t understand it, or possibly that their patients might be upset by hearing the truth.
My father has been undergoing treatment for bladder cancer and how refreshing and professional it has been to receive full and candid information from his doctors at Rocky Mountain Oncology . There is no lack of information or lack of education. It has been their stance that a well educated patient, well, they make a more concerned and proactive patient.
Bottom line. No matter what your health issue, ask your doctor to tell you all you need to know to be on top of it. Ask them if they have resources where you can learn more about it and how to manage it. If they aren’t real receptive, google up a bunch of questions and demand answers the next time you visit them.
August 22nd, 2007
The ABC show Fat March is meeting my expectations in that it is bringing attention to the fact that people can get life insurance at affordable rates even if they are overweight. It has also shown that dramatic impact that weight loss can have on life insurance rates. Feeling good is not the only benefit to weight loss.
Just to reiterate, the basis of the quotes are what one could expect due to weight alone, with no health issues. While we don’t have the luxury in a short program, there is also an assumption that the weight lost is kept off for more than a year. All quotes are based on $250,000 of 20 year term insurance. In all cases I am using the best possible underwriting in the industry to make sure the prices are as good as it can get.
There are, at this point, just 9 participants remaining with Wendy quitting. I am revising weights and life insurance quotes. Remember, last episode everyone’s rates came down and Will went from uninsurable to insurable. Keep in mind that to make it to the next lower rate class may not happen for everyone this week. I’m confident that those that keep going will still see substantial changes in their life insurance rates.
First is their starting weight and current weight. Then their beginning life insurance cost, 2nd episode cost and current cost.
1. Michael started at 319 and is now 273. Start $735, 2nd $605, now $420.
2. Chantal started at 250 and is now 228. Start $535, 2nd $471, now $421.
3. Will started at 472 and is now 424. Start uninsurable, 2nd $619, now at $560.
4. Anthony started at 433 and is now 378. Start $560, 2nd $500, still at $500.
5. Sam started at 382 and is now 336. Start $686, 2nd $620, now $553. ***
6. Jami Lynn started at 236 and is now 209. Start $430, 2nd $356, now $205.
7. Loralie started at 241 and is now 213. Start $381, 2nd $331, now $225.
8. Shea started at 289 and is now 265. Start $475, 2nd $410, still at $410. ***
9. Matt started at 389 and is now 354. Start $613, 2nd $525, still at $525.
The two participants with asteriks were errors I caught when I recomputed from the beginning. I promise to be more careful going forward, but you should know that I suffer from fat finger syndrome which can lead to an occasional error when myself and a keyboard meet. Please forgive the errors.
There were three participants that didn’t gain any ground on life insurance this week. With Matt only shedding one pound, that would seem obvious. I have a hunch that Matt will blow us away in the next episode the way he did in the 2nd. The other two just happened to barely make it into one rate class last episode and while they had significant loss, they didn’t make it through the spread in that rate class. I suspect we will see them move down next week.
For some participants it was time to do some shopping. I have been using one company as a baseline because they have the most liberal build chart on the upper end. Once a person meets a certain threshhold, it’s not about just finding someone to offer insurance, but who is going to offer the best rate. Jami Lynn was the first participant to break through to rates better than standard. She may actually reach preferred rates in the next episode.
Congratulations to all.
Bottom line. Underwriters reward weight loss and it takes a good independent agent in control of their fat finger syndrome to find the best rates.
August 22nd, 2007
