Archive for October 30th, 2007
Over the years I have talked with more than one woman who, when face with a breast cancer treatment decision, chose to have a double mastectomy. Their reasoning always revolved around completing removing the chance for a recurrence.
In an article I read today, the trend toward removing the second, unaffected breast, has increased dramatically, almost threefold, since 1998. While there has been a study done that indicates this trend, a follow up study is planned to try to determine the reason for the trend.
Lead author for the study report in the Journal of Medical Oncology, Dr Todd M. Tuttle, noted that “although there may be sound reasons for undergoing double mastectomy (avoidance of future mammograms and preventing a new cancer), the procedure does not improve breast cancer survival.”
It’s important to note that breast cancer can recur after a mastectomy and that it doesn’t necessarily recur in the other breast. Recurrence is actually more likely in the originally affected site, “(in the treated breast or near the mastectomy scar) or as a distant recurrence somewhere else in the body. The most common sites of recurrence include the lymph nodes, the bones, liver, or lungs.”
Bottom line. From a life insurance standpoint, the very personal decision about whether or not to have a single or double mastectomy doesn’t come into play. The deciding factors remain the same. The stage and grade of the cancer and the time lapsed from the completion of treatment.
October 30th, 2007
I had an email from a potential client today that said “I am looking for reasonably priced life insurance where there are no health questions and/or physical exam. If your group can fullfill these requirements than you can contact me”.
There are a lot of people who think life insurance companies are too nosy. Consider people purchasing business life insurance where the company would like you to simply divulge every financial detail of the business. I actually share the business person’s concern that much of what the companies ask for is unnecessary to the life insurance company and rather confidential.
“No health questions and/or exam?” “Reasonably priced?” I’m thinking he wishes his mother would still do his laundry too.
Since all life insurance pricing is based on mortality assumptions, the more a life insurance company knows about the risk, the more reasonably they can price the product. If they don’t know anything about the risk, it follows that the only way to cover themselves and the risk pool they represent (that would be you), is to offer less reasonable rates and products to those who don’t want to talk about their health or be examined.
To meet his needs we’re really talking about a guaranteed issue product. Guaranteed issue, just as the name implies, will issue insurance to anyone with usually the only caveat being that they have to fall between 40 and 60 years old. How can they do it? First, it is a whole life policy, so the premiums are high. The death benefit is generally limited to $50,000, so the risk is held down. And lastly, they have a 2-3 year waiting period before the death benefit is activated, giving them some cushion before they really assume the risk. During that waiting period, if a death occurs, the company will normally return all premiums paid plus a modest amount of interest to the beneficiary. That’s what you get with no questions and no exam.
Another option is no exam but some questions. Usually call a simplified issue policy, it relies on the application and information from the medical information bureau. These policies can be applied for on line and issued within hours. They are generally at standard or worse rates no matter how good your health is and they are generally capped at $250,000 to $300,000. This is the type of product that is usually used to underwrite children’s life insurance.
Bottom line. The best prices for life insurance, whether term insurance, universal life or whole life, will come with a full medical disclosure and an exam. Make the company comfortable with the risk and they will reward you with the best rates.
October 30th, 2007
What if your father died at age 52 of a heart attack? He was overweight. He smoked and led a sedentary lifestyle. He simply didn’t do anything to take care of himself and appears to have paid the price.
Now there is you. Never smoked. Never drank. You get plenty of exercise. Your weight has always been well controlled. Is it fair that a life insurance company would change your rate class because of your father’s health history? I suspect if this was an impromptu poll of 100 people, not one would say that is a fair course of action by an insurance company.
Family history is about as contentious an issue as you can find in life insurance underwriting. It isn’t plain and clear like cholesterol being high. It seems to smack of unfairness to penalize you for the shortcomings of your father or mother. Indeed it’s like being charged and convicted of a crime that you never committed.
Well, that’s one side of the story. From the other side is an insurance company that is trying to view the issue in a larger context. Is it possible that your father had heart disease that was not caused by his lifestyle? The company can’t pull your father’s medical records to review that possibility. We all know people that abuse themselves to death, but their death doesn’t come until age 92. If his heart disease wasn’t caused by his lifestyle, is the cause hereditary? Have you proactively been tested to rule out heart disease or are you standing on your own belief that it was your father’s lifestyle that caused his premature death?
In fairness to life insurance companies, the penalty for family history is generally not a large one. Many companies will consider proactive medical evidence to support a better rate. There are even a few companies that will completely negate the family history if you have lived past age 60 (the family history cutoff for most companies).
Bottom line. Most of us aren’t very understanding of any reason that a life insurance company raises a rate over what we expected. We all want the best rate. The best you can do is to find an independent agent who can work with your particular issue and find the company that best suits your needs.
October 30th, 2007
