Posts filed under 'American Diabetes Association'
It’s been at least a year since I last shared my dismay with both the readers of this blog and the ADA about the ADA choice to just ignore the subject of life insurance for those with diabetes on their website.
Whether you have type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes, there is a wealth of help and information on how to successfully find and get accepted for life insurance. You just can’t find any of it on the website that of the organization whose mission statement is “Our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes”.
I’m thinking anyone with diabetes who has ever applied for life insurance would find their lives improved greatly by the sharing of up to date, real life information on how to find life insurance when so many companies stand ready to block that effort and so many agents don’t even know what the difference between type 1 and type 2 is, or what your hbA1c is and how it impacts underwriting.
Any advocacy group that has ever been in my sights knows that I have no love loss or tolerance for groups that claim to represent your best interests but spend more time fund raising and dispensing warm fuzzy information than they do researching and sharing real life, money saving, family saving information. Shoot me if I’m wrong but I think that information about things that might cause diabetes (why would you be on the ADA site to see what might cause diabetes anyway?) probably isn’t as useful or timely as knowing how to get affordable life insurance.
Bottom line. Since I am blocked from sharing information on the ADA forums, I want those who should be able to find the information there, to be able to find it somewhere.
November 4th, 2009
It’s been several months since there was any major movement on the life insurance underwriting scene for those with type 2 diabetes, but a major company today shattered that trend by announcing that are willing to approve at preferred plus rates within certain criteria. This certainly falls into one of those news worthy things that I would love to share with the American Diabetes Association, but they’ve made it clear that sharing good news is selling. DLife and TuDiabetes should pick up on it through Twitter.
The bad news is that it isn’t going to be for everyone. The good news is that a company would underwrite this aggressively for anyone with diabetes. It’s simply unprecedented.
From their head underwriter I got this underwriting synopsis, “60+ yr old Type 2 Diabetic, duration 5 years or less. Excellent control as measured by the A1c, on oral med or diet treatment. Balance of medical history favorable and no associated complications. All other factors fit Super Preferred. Case approved Super Preferred.” And while one case doesn’t make a trend, we have had one case approved under this scenario and all indications are that this will be their stance for the foreseeable future.
Being the careful kind of guy that I am I asked for clarification. I asked for clarification on what is considered “excellent control”? Answer was 7.0 A1c or less. How long does that A1c have to be at that level to qualify for best rates? At least six months. If the client doesn’t qualify for super preferred but meets all other criteria, how is their rate class determined? If the diabetes falls within the age and control guidelines given, they would qualify for whatever rate class they would get in the absence of the diabetes.
I know all of those younger than 60 will be crying foul, but keep in mind that we have been very successful at getting younger clients better than standard approved rates provided the control is excellent and there aren’t other risk factors that would bump them higher. It gives me hope that better news may come soon for those under 60.
Bottom line. We need to take this for what it is, great news. Call a knowledgeable independent agent today.
May 4th, 2009
This is a verbatim copy of the life insurance information page that the American Diabetes Association provides its’ members with. It’s important to note that much of what was written was put in place when a company called US Financial was still in business. They truly did stand out in diabetes underwriting, but they’ve been gone for 3 years. Comments from me are in bold print.
Once a person is diagnosed with diabetes, life insurance policies sold within the United States can become unaffordable or unavailable. This is because life insurance policies are allowed by state and federal law to “rate” or charge a premium based upon an applicant’s health status. In addition, a plan can choose to not provide a policy based upon an applicant’s health status. I just find this a bizarre way to start a discussion on diabetes and life insurance. Policies could be come unaffordable or unavailable, but in all likelihood they won’t. Federal law has absolutely nothing to do with insurance rate classifications. Stating that a plan can choose to do something means absolutely nothing to someone who’s not in the business.
Even so, it is possible for many people with diabetes to find affordable life insurance policies within the United States. You just have to know where to look. Certain life insurance companies, or carriers, specialize in selling policies to people with chronic health conditions like diabetes. US Financial is really the only company that ever specialized in impaired risk. Others have been good at certain aspects but their underwriting has never been truly consistent. That is why using an independent agent is so important.
To find the best life insurance policy for you, please consider the following:
* A major factor in the cost of life insurance policies for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes is how well they manage their diabetes. If you have a lower A1C, good blood glucose control, lead a healthy lifestyle, and do not have complications from diabetes, chances are your rate will be more reasonable too. Age of onset is huge also. Especially today with type 2 diabetes occurring earlier due to the epidemic of obesity. The reason that age is so critical is that diabetes, given enough time even with good control, does damage.
* Find an insurance agent that is experienced in obtaining policies for individuals with “impaired risk” — they will know what carriers may offer you a policy and which one(s) may not. You will know a knowledgeable and experienced agent by their questions. If they don’t sound like they understand diabetes, find another independent agent and start over.
* Apply for a policy with a life insurance carrier that uses “clinical underwriting” — a process that looks at your total health, not just what health conditions you may have. US Financial is the company that coined the phrase clinical underwriting and they are the only company that ever truly utilized it. Again, out of business for 3 years.
* Shop around — on the internet, by phone, or through referrals from family and friends. Becoming your own advocate will help you to find a life insurance policy that best fits your needs. You should shop for an independent agent that you trust knows what they’re doing and let them take over the shopping duties. A good agent can cut the weeks worth of your time in just a few days.
* Never take no for an answer! Just because one company rates or declines your application does not mean that another company will not look at you more favorably. Can’t argue with that. There are a couple of thousand companies that sell life insurance in one form or another. There about ten that are truly good at what they do. If you got a decline, there is a very high likelihood that it was because the wrong agent took you to the wrong company.
Bottom line. My personal opinion is that the best suggestion that the ADA had in this whole thing is to “be your own advocate” since they are quite obviously not interested in taking on that task.
April 14th, 2009
About three weeks ago I had written about an attempt to help the American Diabetes Association with their less than professional information concerning life insurance for those with diabetes. It remains my contention that if an advocacy group is not going to provide complete, accurate information on a subject that impacts their constituency, they should at least provide active links to other sources for that information.
I was roundly booed by Tom Cullinan who, without knowing what had transpired between myself and the ADA, decided that my email to the ADA was caustic. I received a response from Kendall Van Pool, Associate Director of Policy and Strategic Alliances. He wrote back, “I’m excited that you have written us and I’m hoping we have a chance to work through the issues of the web page. The page was written a while ago and I agree along with others on the site they are not up to date on the issues. We are currently doing a full web redesign and that puts myself and one other here in the position to review all of the insurance pages on the site. Because we do not have an insurance advocacy division at the ADA we put information on these pages that will help individuals become self advocates for coverage if they are having trouble. If you have suggestions please send them to me and we will most certainly entertain the changes.” Seems like a normal response to caustic comments?
So, admitting that the information on life insurance was out of date, he asked for input and asked me to direct that to a different department, which I did. I shared what the state of current diabetes underwriting is and how it remains anything but static (the ADA page had been the same for years). I suggested ways to make the information alive and current without promoting any particular company or agency.
After 3 weeks and no response I emailed Mr Van Pool this morning to find out what the status of our discussion was and received this response concerning the rebuilding of the ADA website, “Unfortunately the sites will be static information regardless. I’m exploring ways to ensure it gets updated more frequently, however the option of outsourcing the content is not possible”.
This leaves the person with diabetes still looking to more biased outside sources rather than their self professed advocate for information that is critical to their every day life. Well, I can’t say that I hadn’t been warned that the ADA seems to have its’ own agenda. And my mother did warn me that the world doesn’t revolve around me, so the next best thing is to blog and offer direction to websites that do offer helpful, up to date information on how those with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes can get the best possible life insurance values. And continue to blog and update as the underwriting evolves.
Bottom line. I started to get a sense of what the ADA was worth to the diabetic community when they didn’t even answer my requests for information they might have on mortality statistics for juvenile diabetics. The point was further driven home when, in spite of the fact that they admitted it didn’t appear that I was trying to sell anything, they rather rudely black balled me from their forums where people were asking about how to get life insurance. I predict that in spite of the size of the ADA and their historical position as “the diabetes advocacy group” they will soon be left in their static, dusty place by new groups such as tuDiabetes and DLife.
April 14th, 2009
