Archive for August, 2007
Episode 4, nearly 300 miles into their “march”, I continue to watch the progress both as an interested spectator and a life insurance professional. My goal in following this program has never been to be actively involved in it’s progress, but rather to use the real life examples of the weight loss to illustrate that overweight and obesity do not have to stand in the way of getting life insurance. Further I wanted all to know that it may not take a huge change in weight to make a huge change in life insurance rates.
Will was voted off last night. Will hit the wall and couldn’t work through it and the other participants decided that he was hurting their chances of reaching their own goals. While I understand the team aspect of the program, in real life, you pick your team and you pick a team that will offer you the best chance of success in regards to your own goals. You surround yourself with people whose goals are common, part and parcel, of your own, not money.
Whether it is weight loss, diabetes or cancer, you need to know that your team will be with you through ups and downs and there is no other agenda.
On to the results. Again, based on the best rates I could find for $250,000 of 20 year term insurance, assuming no health issues and also assuming that the weights achieved are kept off for more than a year. First is their starting weight and current weight. Then their beginning life insurance cost, 3rd episode cost and current cost.
1. Michael started at 319 and is now 258. Start $735, 3rd $420, still $420.
2. Chantal started at 250 and is now 221. Start $535, 3rd $421, still $421.
3. Will started at 472 and is now 413. Start uninsurable, 3rd $560, now $500.***
4. Anthony started at 433 and is now 367. Start $560, 3rd $500, now at $441.
5. Sam started at 382 and is now 323. Start $686, 3rd $553, now at $486.
6. Jami Lynn started at 236 and is now 202. Start $430, 3rd $356, now $165.
7. Loralie started at 241 and is now 206. Start $381, 3rd $225, still at $225.
8. Shea started at 289 and is now 255. Start $475, 3rd $410, nowl at $310.
9. Matt started at 389 and is now 336. Start $613, 3rd $525, now at $478.
***final weight
Jami, while not making her goal to break 200 this week, did become the first person to qualify for preferred rates. I understand her frustration when she didn’t reach her goal. No doubt it will come next week and she will no longer be “the 200# woman”.
I think it is important to note why life insurance underwriters seem to be rather heavy handed when dealing with weight, and why the rewards for weight loss can be so significant. From the Center For Disease Control website, the following list of health risks for overweight people was borrowed:
“Overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk for many diseases and health conditions, including the following:
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
- Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
- Type 2 diabetes
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Gallbladder disease
- Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
- Some cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)”
These are not health issues to be taken lightly by individuals or life insurance underwriters.
Bottom line. Don’t let your weight get out of control and if it does, seek help. I know there is nothing easy about weight loss, but there isn’t anything easy looking about the list above either.
Don’t go without life insurance just because of your weight. If you can’t afford $250,000, get $100,000. Provide the protection that you can for your family and increase it to the level you really want as your weight comes down.
August 28th, 2007
Thanks to a discount provided by Genworth Life and Annuity, since I have life insurance through them, and thanks to my wife who doesn’t want me to die because she likes my blogs more than anything she can find on Oprah.com, I had a screening today of my carotid artery for any blockage, the aorta for any sign of aortic aneurysms, and I had my blood pressure measured on both arms and both legs to check for any indication of peripheral vascular disease.
Now, any one of those things could be a silent killer. Certainly they are things that can get to the point of bursting, blocking or otherwise causing damage that can kill you, and do it in a very quick fashion, all with no symptoms to warn you to run for cover. The one that actually captured the nickname though is high blood pressure.
Why the silent killer? It seems that, according to the American Heart Association, one in three Americans have high blood pressure and one third of those aren’t aware of it because there are no symptoms and (probably because they are guys) they never get checkups. So why is high blood pressure a big deal?
Have I ever talked about risk factors? In case you missed it the most recent 100 times, the answer is yes. One instance of high blood pressure is generally not going to be much to write home about, but constant high blood pressure can cause a number of collateral health issues. The American Heart Association provides us a high blood pressure health risk calculator . Plug yourself in and find out where you stand when it comes to risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease. Play with the weight a few times and see how obesity affects things.
Life insurance underwriters aren’t concerned with the small picture and isolated incidents. They are concerned with what happens if you don’t know about your blood pressure problem, or if you do know but aren’t doing all you can to control it.
Bottom line. Give it some thought. If it is a silent killer and you don’t want to die unexpectedly, maybe you ought to learn more. Test your high blood pressure IQ and then plan on getting a checkup. Living life to the fullest sometimes means you have to check the oil (or something like that).
August 28th, 2007
I know when my father was undergoing radiation treatment for his bladder cancer, I was amazed at the computerized system they had for aiming the radiation exactly where they needed it. One of the down sides to the whole system is the fact that, inspite of the best effort on the part of the patient and doctor, movement can occur. When precision is a necessity, movement is the enemy.
There is now a system being used in the treatment of prostate cancer that can make automatic adjustments to compensate for small movements. Hopefully this type of system will be available for larger target cancers before long.
It is innovations like this that will make treatment more effective and anytime treatment is more effective, the end result is more acceptable to a life insurance underwriter.
Of course radiation is just one option for prostate cancer treatment. Depending on the aggressiveness of the cancer when it is diagnosed, determined by the stage and grade of the cancer, the treating physician may recommend a radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate), radioactive seed implant, radiation (as described above), or hormone therapy. An option that is being looked at more frequently with older men is to just watch and wait . In many cases, no treatment is OK as long as the cancer is in a fairly slow progression mode. In all likelihood, the patient would not succumb to the cancer, but at an advanced age, would pass away from some other cause.
Bottom line. Get regular checkups that include a prostate exam and psa test. Keep copies of all test results if you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, or really with any type of cancer. Those test results are invaluable when your independent agent is shopping for competitive life insurance rates.
August 27th, 2007
I kind of like those cholesterol med commericals on TV. “Is it from bow tie pasta, or your Uncle Bo? Well, family history has been a bone of contention in life insurance underwriting for some time and companies have been all over the map with their treatment of the issue.
I’ll just offer this scenario and a real life underwriter response just to kind of pave the way for the logic of it all. Let’s say your father died at age 59 of a lung cancer. He was obese, smoked heavily since he was a teenager, and drank whenever there wasn’t a cigarette in his mouth. You on the other hand, because of your father’s example, have never smoked, never drank, exercise regularly and wouldn’t be overweight on anyone’s build chart.
Most companies out there will bump you down two rate classes due to family history. The underwriter’s logic! How do we know that your father, and possibly you, are not genetically predisposed to cancer? We have to err on the side of genetic caution. No, I am not making it up. That is really the thought (or lack of) process that they go through.
Lights at the end of the tunnel? Reliastar doesn’t rate for family history of cancer. If you are over age 60, West Coast Life will not hold family history prior to age 60 against you, and Prudential, in the scenario above, will not rate you because you avoided the cause of your father’s demise. They only do that with lung cancer, but there are a lot of people out there right now who are paying way too much for their life insurance. An independent agent is the answer when you run into family history problems. It takes a number of companies to narrow down the best rate for a particular family history situation.
Family history of heart disease is a little more problematic, but still a good agent can keep it from affecting you or at least minimize the impact to one rate class. Again, the shining star in my mind is West Coast Life. If you are over 60 and the death due to heart disease happened prior to 60, it’s out. Several companies will allow their 2nd best rate with just one heart related death prior to 60, and I have seen exceptions made when the parent’s death was relatively early and the person applying for insurance has had cardiac evaluations to show that they are a good risk.
Bottom line. Family history doesn’t have to ruin your chances for good life insurance rates. If you have a family history of death due to cancer, heart disease, or diabetes prior to age 70, find an independent agent.
August 27th, 2007
I know when a serious health problem strikes a family member it seems as if the world is crumbling. There is a deep need for a life buoy of some kind out there that will take some of the edge off of the situation. This is the point at which I get many calls wanting to know if life insurance can be purchased.
For many that life buoy is attainable, usually after a waiting period. Life insurance underwriters want to see, in situations like diabetes, heart attacks, etc, some period of stability and control before they are willing to offer a life insurance policy. I remember a man who called one day asking about life insurance. Everything was going along just fine until we got to the health questions concerning heart disease. He admitted that he had recently had a 2 vessel angioplasty. Actually, very recently…as in the day before. He was still in the hospital. Realistically, the underwriter will want to see a longer period of recover and control.
In some cases there really isn’t anything we can offer but support and information. Depending on which type, a diagnosis of cancer, once treated and cured, will bring a waiting period of a year to five years or more before insurance, other than guaranteed issue insurance, can be written.
With some forms of cancer that are known for their aggressiveness and tendency to come back, there really is no option other than guaranteed issue.
Bottom line. The discussion of and the call to acquire life insurance is best made when everyone is healthy and happy. Calling at the wrong time and hoping that life insurance is going to be the one thing that went right this week is really just wishful thinking. I’m not saying not to make the call. Just be open to what your options really are.
August 27th, 2007
I have always been an advocate of, if a moderate amount of something is good for, then a huge amount should be great for you. A glass of red wine a day is supposed to help your chances of avoiding heart disease. So, why not a bottle a day and have the heart of a 20 year old forever?
So, get my blood pumping when I start reading about all the benefits of eating dark chocolate . I will not only be relieved of chronic fatigue syndrome (don’t think I have it, but sure don’t want it), but the chocolate is going to keep me from getting high blood pressure, help my blood flow and keep me from getting clogged arteries. How good is life?
As I pour a glass of wine and crack open a one pound bar of dark chocolate, I read on. Some articles should never be finished.
I really hate it when someone gets you all pumped up to attack the world with gusto and then suggests that moderation is the key. Whoever heard of moderate gusto?
Bottom line. As a life insurance agent I am really about whatever it takes to keep everything in balance and stay healthy. So, do as I say and not as I do….or do as the advocates of red wine and chocolate say, and not as I do…..or at least moderate your gusto if you can.
August 24th, 2007
As I head off to a family reunion this weekend, thoughts of good times and plenty of food fill my head. It’s summer and of course BBQ will be the mainstay of our evening meals.Always the consummate life insurance agent, I had pegged the travel as our biggest mortality risk. No problem. I’m a pretty safe driver, especially when my wife is with me.
So, as I am packing up and getting ready to head for Wyoming I come across an article that I clearly don’t want to see about the dangers of BBQ’d food. Coming on the heels of finding out that my favorite bottled water, AquaFina, is nothing more than filtered tap water, well, my world is a bit shaken.
The warnings were of increased risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer. I was relieved to find out that BBQ was not on the banned list, but rather that certain guidelines should be used when preparing the food, guidelines that I seemed to be at least already somewhat aware of.
I remember a time recently when I came to the realization that the chances of me making it to a long natural life were pretty slim if you put any stock in all of the studies of unhealthy habits, lifestyles, food, and even medicine. Fortunately there is at least a chance, as none of the studies say that all of us who do a certain thing will come to a premature demise.
Bottom line. We can’t avoid everything that might have some chance of causing us harm, but we can at least stay aware of those things that we know aren’t good for us. So, no Transfat milk shakes for me this weekend.
August 24th, 2007
I’ve been accused of harping on some subjects, but I will never be accused of glossing something over or falling short of driving a point home. In our own health, as well as in our quest for lower life insurance rates, knowledge of our own health and educating ourselves as to our health risks is critical. If you don’t know your enemy and how to recognize it, how can you possibly expect to avoid it.
There’s a new game show on TV called the Power of 10. In this show contestants try to guess the percentage of Americans that believe some statement or another. Just as an example, they asked what percentage of Americans would rather watch a hot dog eating contest than a presidential debate. The results are always a little surprising.
Well, if the question were posed, are women more likely to know their weight in high school than their current cholesterol level, what would you think? A news story a few days ago answered that question, and you guessed it….I would not have brought it up if it wasn’t significant and knowing your weight in high school isn’t what I would call significant in the whole scheme of things relating to your health.
Just so you know 79% of women knew their weight in high school and 33% of women knew at least one of the four components of their lipid profile, total cholesterol, hdl, ldl and triglycerides.
In all fairness, while I haven’t seen any studies, I doubt that the average man knows their PSA level, a primary warning sign for the detection of prostate cancer. With free health fairs blanketing our country, their truly is no reason for men or women not to be aware of and on top of the warning signs for major risk factors.
The number one cause of death in women is heart disease. Knowing your cholesterol is important.
Bottom line. Avoiding serious health issues doesn’t just happen. Detecting health problems before they become dangerous takes a little effort. With health fairs, it’s not even a money issue. It’s all about caring and taking the time.
August 24th, 2007
It’s been one of those weeks that will drive me to repeating myself. I know I just smacked doctors over the head a few days ago about how they don’t quite explain all the relevant details to their patients. That really puts the patient in a awkward position when it comes to purchasing life insurance.
Let me explain in a little more detail how that works. Say a person wants to buy life insurance and they have had a 3 vessel bypass surgery in their past. No heart attack. Just had chest pains. The bypass got things back in order and the doctor let the person know that it was no big deal and as long as he watches everything going ahead, well, no problem……on followup stress tests the doctor reiterates, no problem.
So, 6 years after this little run in with heart disease the person applies for insurance and tells his agent about the bypass and passes on his interpretation of what the doctor told him. It was minor blockage (no big deal) in 3 vessels. No heart attack. No problems on subsequent stress tests. When asked if he can get a copy of the most recent stress test, he complies and the agent sends the narrative summation of the cardiac incident off to the underwriters along with the most recent stress test. When asked for a medical report of the original incident, well, the client really doesn’t want to go to that much trouble.
This is a common way to shop a case. Underwriters review what you send and give their opinion of what rate class to quote with the caveat, “subject to full exam and medical underwriting”. The quotes go out to the client with the same caveat. Subject to medical underwriting is another way of saying, as long as what you said matches up with your medical records.
So the application and exam are completed and medical records are ordered. When the records get to the underwriter he notes that the records indicate that the blockage wasn’t minor. 85% in one vessel and 95%+ in the other two. Severe coronary artery disease. While he didn’t have a heart attack, there are some other issues with the heart that are significant enough to be in the records, but either not significant enough to discuss with the patient, or forgotten by the patient. The rate goes up. The picture has changed.
When that news is delivered to the life insurance client they generally explode. They feel like they divulged everything just as it happened, and in most cases they probably do divulge everything just as it was told to them or just as well as they can remember. But that doesn’t make the two stories match any better.
It is at this point that the agent or the company are declared inept and the messenger is shot. I always offer to review their records for the discrepancy, but very few people take us up on that. The assumption is that if we couldn’t get it right the first time, then we must not know what we’re doing.
Bottom line. When an agent asks for more information before he quotes, supply it. It may be more work up front for you, but it will yield results in a more accurate life insurance quote and approval.
August 23rd, 2007
Is the need for second to die life insurance going to go away? Will the estate tax really disappear in 2010? Should you jump to decrease your life insurance because of the new exemption limits?
Well, in the world according to me the answers would be NO, NO and NO! The $3.5 million exemption that will go into effect in 2009 is, I believe, where congress will vote to keep it in 2010. They will have accomplished what the real objective was and that was to end the devastation of smaller estates, the areas that hit small business owners and agricultural families the hardest.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a “State of the Estate Tax” article recently that reviews in detail what has been accomplished. There isn’t any doubt left when you read the article that the increase in exemption limits was the right thing to do. Abolishing the tax altogether would, in my opinion, not be.
I believe that the life insurance survivorship policy, the long time estate preservation tool, will continue to be the choice in the future. Even if the federal government abolishes the tax (again, very doubtful), the missing funds will be made up by an increase in state death taxes. If you don’t believe that, look at how Washington state has poised themselves to fill the void. They’ve incrementally increased their death tax as the federal exemption has become more lenient.
Bottom line. As long as there are estate taxes, life insurance will be the most practical means of dealing with them.
August 23rd, 2007
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