Treated Unfairly For Living In 2011?
It’s 2011 for a little while longer and it seems that only a few life insurance companies have caught on to the fact that life in our great country is a little more stressful than it used to be. You don’t need to look any further than the CDC (Center for Disease Control) to find ...read more
Do Life Insurance Underwriters Have Emotions?
I know I go through some weeks sure that all life insurance underwriters are kind of mechanical. They look at the records and the labs and look in their underwriting guide and stamp the appropriate approval on it and then on to the next. No emotions. Just the facts ma’am! But then a day rolls ...read more
Blood Pressure And Cholesterol Underwriting Loosen A Bit!
It’s been a long time since most insurance made any kind of fuss over being treated for cholesterol. As long as it was well controlled you could count on best rate class approvals. Now companies have jumped on the cholesterol ratio band wagon and are allowing preferred plus rates with total cholesterol as high as ...read more
Some Life Insurance Companies Have Heart!
Allow me one more time to bemoan the good old days when US Financial Life Insurance was still roaming the earth. They doled out good news in life insurance underwriting in their short life span than any other company around. It was called clinical underwriting. Just as a review, most underwriting is done with what ...read more
What’s The Difference Between Preferred Plus and Preferred Rates?
That’s a life insurance question that’s easy to quantify in numbers. At age 57 if I wanted $500,000 of 20 year term insurance and I qualified for the best rate class, preferred plus, I could expect to pay $1840 annually, about $161 a month. If for some reason I was qualified for the second best ...read more
Life Insurance Underwriting Of The Silent Killer!
I had a screening not too long ago of my carotid artery for any blockage. They also checked the aorta for any sign of aortic aneurysms, and my blood pressure was measured on both arms and both legs to check for any indication of peripheral vascular disease or hypertension. This was a free checkup provided ...read more
Does It Sound Too Good?
In Job 12:11 it says “Does not the ear test words, as the palate tastes its food?” When a life insurance agent gives you a quote that you know sounds a little too good, do you question it or set yourself up for disappointment by choosing to believe something that, deep down, you really know ...read more
High Blood Pressure? Are You Getting The Best Rate You Can?
There’s nothing that will raise your blood pressure quite like finding out that you are going to have to pay more for your life insurance because you are treated for high blood pressure. Even when it’s well controlled almost all companies feel they need to bump you down one rate class, almost a 30% increase ...read more
Hi, My Name Is Ed And I Am A Saltholic!
Guilty as charged. I am one of those recovering saltaholics that grabs the salt shaker and tops off a meal before I’ve even taken a bite to see if it needs it. I love salt and although I am getting better about at least giving something a taste first, the truth is, well, I’m still ...read more
What’s The Big Deal With Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is one of those health issues that can elicit anything from a best rate class approval to a decline depending on two things, which company’s underwriter was involved and if you are truly treating the issue seriously. A layman’s sleep apnea definition might give the wrong impression of why underwriters are concerned. Apnea ...read more





