A few years ago I wrote about my Dad’s diagnosis with bladder cancer, a serious stage 4 cancer. In the words of the oncologist, an aggressive and dangerous cancer.
What I didn’t share at that time was the fact that his family doctor had treated symptoms as if he had a bladder infection for months. Round after round of antibiotics didn’t do anything and eventually, with some pushing and shoving from family members, he was referred to a urologist who diagnosed him with cancer. That was nearly two years ago and with radiation and chemo and more than a little prayer, the cancer was pushed back and he has had a very good last year and a half.
Recently Dad started having abdominal discomfort and stomach pain and his family doctor once again went after the symptoms with pain meds, acid reflux medicine and anti nausea medication. This went on for nearly a month with no change, in fact he was getting worse, losing weight and becoming weaker. Again the family stepped in and asked the oncologist to help us determine what was going on.
They scheduled a CT scan with the idea of seeing if there was something obvious or referring him to a gastroenterologist in the absence of that. What they found was that the cancer has started growing again and was actually causing all of the symptoms that the family doc was treating as if Dad had acid reflux.
We will find out today what courses of action are available, but one course of action has become clear. Dad and the family have lost all trust in this doctor who feels too important to refer patients to specialists, who thinks treating symptoms in the face of all logic pointing in different direction, and he won’t be in the picture any more.
Bottom line. This isn’t about life insurance and it isn’t about all doctors. What I hope to bring to the table is the thought that families and patients often know that treatment isn’t headed in the right direction, but don’t want to challenge what is going on. In retrospect I wish I had challenged more and more quickly. I wish we had dumped this doctor in the unemployment line two years ago. Once again my family is turning to God and we would covet your prayers in this situation.
September 26th, 2008
If anything, I hope I’ve driven home the point over the years that life insurance underwriters look at any health issue not just from a pure mortality standpoint, but from a compliance and control point of view. If you look at the overall bucket of potential insureds, some of the old school underwriters will still look at it from the angle that all people with hypertension should be treated the same.
But the key for those underwriters who truly analyze each case is compliance, does the client truly follow the doctor’s instructions and control, how well is it working? The truth is that while the dynamics of different health and mental issues may differ, the end result given an underwriter who isn’t trapped in the old school box of “everyone in the same bucket”, can vary dramatically in favor of those who take their issues seriously and strive for control.
A few examples of companies and underwriters who are acting outside the industry box with hypertension are Banner and Minnesota Life. While no other companies will allow their best rate class if a person is treated for blood pressure, these two leaders do just exactly that as long as control is demonstrated. Given good control most companies will only bump these clients to their second best rate class, but that is usually a full 20% higher than the best class. That can mean hundreds of dollars a year depending on age and policy size.
More and more companies are allowing that kind of treatment with cholesterol, but there are still plenty of old school companies and underwriters who believe that people should be penalized for treating their cholesterol, even when that treatment is preventative or if it’s for a borderline issue.
While certainly more complicated in what it takes to call bipolar disorder controlled, there are a few companies with underwriters that understand that the bucket approach is completely inappropriate. There are people with bipolar who are completely functional, stable and far from being a mortality risk.
Bottom line. Whatever your health challenge, if you believe it to be well controlled, if you believe that you are truly in charge of it and not it of you, seek out the independent agent who can capitalize on that for you. In many cases there is simply money that doesn’t need to be spent.
September 26th, 2008
