Archive for July 22nd, 2008
If I’ve gone bonkers once, I’ve gone bonkers 100 times about agents that sell universal life and whole life policies based on current or assumed values and not based on guarantees. If you have a policy that was sold based on the assumption that a company would continue to perform well, and it hasn’t, check out this excerpt from Volume 8, Issue 15 of TheInsuranceAdvisor.com, a newsletter to insurance agents.
“When Does the Opinion of a Life Insurance Agent/Broker Become FRAUD on the Buyer?
In a recent lawsuit, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. alleged fraud (among other things) against AIG Life Ins, Hartford Life Ins, the brokers involved and their representative, and both the trial court and the appellate court found against the insurers and agent/broker representatives!!! While you may be thinking “I would never commit fraud”, that is almost certainly the mindset of those who were actually found guilty of fraud in this case in that the findings for fraud appear based on prevailing industry sales practices involving the use of illustrations of hypothetical future performance instead of investigation and disclosure of A) expected/possible costs and B) the reasonableness of expected/illustrated future performance.”
Bottom line. Any life insurance policy you buy should be purchased with full knowledge of what is guaranteed and what is not. Any agent that doesn’t fully educate their client on the guarantees of a policy should have to go in front of the judges mentioned above and have their rear end handed to them.
July 22nd, 2008
When I was helping out after Hurricane Rita in Mississippi, I got to experience, first hand, southern hospitality and also the gateway to obesity, down home southern cooking. The only thing that saved me from coming back from that trip 25 pounds heavier was the fact that this high altitude, low humidity Colorado guy was sweating from daylight to dark as we cut trees off the tops of people’s houses.
I don’t think you’ll find many from the south that will argue that the staple of southern diets, fried food, is a sure way to stay slim and trim. With the top three states in this years obesity survey being, in order, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, you have a cultural cross section of the country that is all about family, friends and meals. I’m not saying that it’s like they are just out to get fat. Rather it seems more that eating is a form of community and fellowship.
Anyway, before I stray off and tick off everyone in the south, the point is that while the weight issue is more prevalent in the south, there is actually only one state where less than 20% of the population isn’t obese according to the body mass index and that is Colorado. And I don’t mention that because I live in Colorado, but because we all live in an absurdly overweight country.
Does it seem to anyone that having 30% of your state’s population over the standard for obesity is a healthy thing? From a health and life insurance standpoint it is a recipe for disaster. Chronic obesity throws the door wide open to the other great epidemic of the last 10 years, type 2 diabetes. Sure, these things are survivable and sure, you might still be able to get life insurance, but where is the quality of life and where is the affordable life insurance.
Bottom line. Studies have shown that losing weight can reduce the risk of numerous health conditions and even reverse, or cure, type 2 diabetes. Sometimes I think I come off a little too preachy, but let’s be real. Obesity can be reversed. You can change your diet and your life style. We can bring our country back from the brink of eating ourselves to death, for us, and for our children.
July 22nd, 2008
No! The question comes up all the time. Someone who has just completed an annual physical. A private pilot who recently did their regular flight exam. A CEO who gets semi-annual executive physicals at the Mayo Clinic.
It really doesn’t matter what the scenario is, insurance companies still want their own exam, done their own way, by their own service. The only good news in it for you is that the insurance companies don’t charge for the exam and labs even if you ultimately don’t accept the policy. I guess the other good news would be for those who don’t get regular checkups, here’s one for free!
So, why so picky? I’ve talked before about how life insurance underwriters and physicians really aren’t evaluating you in the same way. They were in fact trained, if not born on different planets. A different focus requires different testing.
A physician might care whether you smoke or not from a medical point of view, but they would never test for nicotine on your labs. Your word would be good enough. The truth with insurance is that plenty of people try to squeak half truths and little lies by and a “no” answer to tobacco use is confirmed by a nicotine test, a “no” answer to drug use might be confirmed by a test for drugs and if your liver functions are high, it’s not uncommon for a life insurance company to run an extra test called a CDT, an alcohol marker.
Life insurance companies commonly use one liver function test called a GGTP. Most doctors don’t use the test because it doesn’t provide a specific enough direction. On it’s face, the GGTP only measures whether there is irritation of the liver. Unspecified irritation of the liver can be explained as easily as using too much Ibuprofen and can also be as easy as too much Jack Daniels. An elevated GGTP will almost always trigger a follow up CDT.
Bottom line. Just a few examples that point out the difference in focus that keeps insurance companies from using your latest physical. They aren’t looking for convenience as much as they are looking for a complete underwriting picture.
July 22nd, 2008
