Posts filed under 'cancer'
We certainly have our good days and our bad days in helping those with bipolar disorder obtain life insurance. Fortunately the good does outweigh the bad. I think we do need to throw a reality check water balloon on this party though.
I have often mentioned that one of the most critical components of putting together a successful quest for life insurance if you are bipolar is that you have to be able to demonstrate a stable life, both work and personal.
What I am going to say here is very critical, so please, if you are considering applying for life insurance…..understand that just telling me your life is stable isn’t going to get an approval on your life insurance. What you tell me has to match up with what’s in your medical records, psychiatrist’s reports, etc. Your stability has to be real and we have to be able to back it up.
We have helped so many people, from homemakers to CEO’s, all with bipolar disorder and each of those we have been successful in helping has one thing in common, brutal honesty. It isn’t easy to talk about the things that aren’t right in our lives and as Americans I think we are somewhat prone to putting a bit of spin on how we present ourselves.
As an independent agent I am armed to the teeth to be able to pull off approvals that can’t be found elsewhere, but our exchange of information has to be an absolute no spin zone.
Bottom line. Whether it is bipolar disorder or cancer, the end result in underwriting is going to come from your medical records. I end first interviews with potential clients by asking if there is anything that I haven’t covered that might show up in their medical records. A last attempt to make sure we have everything we need and there are no hidden gems.
October 27th, 2008
As life goes, I lost the most ardent follower of my ramblings on life insurance via this blog a few days ago. My Father passed away after a two year fight with bladder cancer. He always posted big readership numbers for me in Wyoming and I could always count on his honest feedback on what type of job I was doing in my goal to help people understand just a little more than they might otherwise about life insurance.
He was at times a brutally honest critic and always the first to tell me he thought I had done well. At 86 years old he dissected each post as if he was on the editorial payroll. He loved that I attempt to reach out to those whose medical conditions make it difficult for them to find an advocate in their hunt for affordable life insurance. His personal philosophy about sales is that you should never sell something you don’t believe in. He knew how passionate I am about what I do and appreciated how much effort we put into service.
We feel blessed that we had him as long as we did. When he was first diagnosed with cancer he was not given a very positive prognosis because of the high stage and grade. Right up to the last time we joined in prayer he knew in his heart that God had given him the extra time on earth to spread the word about what a powerful force our Lord is in our lives.
Bottom line. He is at peace now. No more pain. I miss my Dad but am pleased that he is with our Lord.
October 21st, 2008
As many of you have so graciously tolerated my use of my Mom’s breast cancer to discuss the life insurance take on the subject, you may remember that prior to Mom, there was Dad and his stage 4 bladder cancer.
About a year and a half ago Dad was given a few months to possibly a year to live when the oncologist were unable to find a chemotherapy drug that he could tolerate. He was told that they didn’t have anything else they could do. But we, family, friends and everyone we could engage did have one more arrow in the quiver, prayer.
We prayed for Dad’s healing in spite of the fact that the medical community had given him a rather grim forecast. Six months later he had a CT scan and there was less cancer then than he had when they discontinued treatment, and Dad felt great. He was 85 years old and walking a couple of miles a day and living life to the fullest.
We feel so blessed that he had that time of winning with God, beating the odds and enjoying a rather vigorous period of his life for a guy his age. He felt blessed enough to share the Lord with anyone who would listen. He shared his story with anyone, but particularly with people who were going through hard times physically, people who were old and facing cancer battles.
The cancer came back about a month ago and Dad is in hospice now. He’s not doing well. As you have all prayed for him and Mom in the past I would ask you to pray for them again. Cancer is a sinister thing but I’ve so many people make so much good come out of it. Please pray for God’s perfect healing for him. It seems they will be together before long and then the pain and discomfort will end. My Dad will be healed.
Bottom line. My Mom and Dad and I have prayed more together in these last two years than in our lives before that combined. God has brought us the peace, comfort and wisdom that we could not have found on our own. He has brought us extra time that doctors said wouldn’t happen. His grace and mercy have carried us.
October 16th, 2008
If you talk to most life insurance applicants who fall into the obese or morbidly obese categories according the their BMI, they have usually been told that they aren’t insurable or that the prices are so high as to render uninsurable because they can’t afford it.
Let’s not dance around the subject. Life insurance underwriting is all about assessing mortality risk, your chance of dying compared to someone in average health. One of the things they consider are the risk factors that you have and the health issues you might, or in some cases are likely to acquire.
In the case of obesity, it is a known risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. So honestly it is not just the weight that impacts the outcome of the life insurance application, but the compounded perceived risk. Given the risk factors, while you may not agree when you have to pay higher premiums, life insurance companies are actually pretty generous with their build charts.
As I was running quotes for a person 5′11 and 395 pounds today, I was impressed by the fact that, number one, he was insurable and number two, while he may not be able to afford all he wants, he can still afford to make sure that his family is taken care of. Back when I did a series of blogs on the TV show Fat March, it generated a lot of attention to see the contestants on that show go from uninsurable to insurable, to great rates as their weight came down. Probably the most important aspect of that show and that series of blogs was the great discussion it generated over not just life insurance rates, but how life style changes could have such a huge positive impact on health and longevity.
Bottom line. If your only issue impacting life insurance at this point is weight, bite the bullet and find an independent agent to shop for the best possible rate for you. The picture isn’t going to get any prettier if you drag your feet and other health issues pop up and compound the issue. While there is a point where weight alone can keep you from getting traditional life insurance, chances are you aren’t there even if you’ve had a decline letter or two.
October 7th, 2008
Preventive medicine has been around for a long time. In most cases that takes the shape of being on medication for borderline cholesterol or blood pressure issues. In some cases where women have a better than average chance of having breast cancer, radical mastectomy is considered to be not just a cancer treatment, but preventive medicine.
Women who come from a family with a history of breast cancer, or who have the known breast and ovarian cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, there is a much higher than normal risk of them having breast cancer. For many women, knowing that breast cancer can kill, removing the breasts seems like a viable alternative to the uncertainty.
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women, but much deadlier than the most common, skin cancer.
Another preventive approach is through lifestyle changes. Everything from increased exercise to increased awareness concerning breast exams can be either preventive or help you in the effort to catch cancer in early stages where it is very treatable and curable.
From a life insurance standpoint, a preventive mastectomy would likely not lead to any different rates than the family history itself. If the procedure is due to genetics it would likely be treated the same as early stage breast cancer which would mean than standard or better rates should be available.
Bottom line. Tough decisions. A radical mastectomy is, well, radical and it is not a guarantee that you won’t get breast cancer. Even the smallest amount of breast tissue that is left can still get cancer. Just a tough decision.
October 1st, 2008
Well, duh! Of course you do, but the good news is that you don’t have to be breathing all the time. After all, sleep apnea could be loosely described as periods of not breathing during sleep.
Sleep apnea is one of those health issues that life insurance underwriters, from company to company, vary wildly on. Some companies treat sleep apnea as if you’ll never start breathing again, instant decline. They act as if the risk is somewhere between stage 4 colon cancer and sky diving without a parachute.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have been very successful at getting best rate class approvals for people with mild to moderate sleep apnea if there aren’t any other risk factors involved. Even severe sleep apnea is getting placed at better than standard rates.
So, are underwriters really concerned that someone will stop breathing and not start again? Well, no! The truth that drives sleep apnea underwriting really revolves around the fact that during those periods of apnea, the blood oxygen level drops and sometimes blood pressure increases. These strains on the heart can lead to cardiovascular issues and possibly a heart attack.
There is also the very real risk that a spouse may strangle you because, to put it gently, there is snoring and than there is sleep apnea snoring. The difference is not subtle and with sleep apnea, especially severe sleep apnea, there is very little break from the onslaught.
Underwriting becomes more difficult when there are already risk factors involved such as obesity or high blood pressure. The more risk factors you pile on that all sort of lead in the same cardiac related direction, the tougher it is to get the best rates. In most cases though, with a good independent agent, life insurance can be found and approved.
Bottom line. As with all health issues, life insurance underwriting of sleep apnea is all about compliance with treatment, control of the problem and if you have confined the problem to just one issue.
September 30th, 2008
This is mostly a rhetorical life insurance quiz for guys. There are no guarantees that you will be approved for life insurance at all, although most are. And there certainly aren’t any guarantees that you be approved at the rate class you applied for.
All of us, except me, really want and kind of expect to be approved at the best rate class. I’ve kind of given up on that best rate class. I got it once several years ago, but age and a few health issues have moved me down the food chain a bit. You’ve seen the commercials. “A 45 year old man can get $500,000 of term insurance for just $27 per month”.
If you’re fast enough and if the people doing the commercial were honest enough you would catch the fine print going something like, “for a 10 year term as long as you fit into our build chart, don’t have any family history of heart disease, cancer or diabetes, have never seen a doctor for anything other than a cold or flu, don’t take any prescription medications, have never been arrested and have a good driving record, don’t have any hobbies more dangerous than putt putt golf, don’t travel to foreign countries that don’t love Americans (that would be none this week), and don’t drink too much or do drugs”.
There are a lot of people who fit that criteria and get the best rate. It is not, as some like to say, a Superman rate. It is simply held out there for those who are healthiest. So what happens when you have your heart set on $27 per month and your cholesterol is too high or your family history prevents you from getting that approval?
Well, a lot of people, especially guys, like to take their bat and ball and go home. They would literally rather go without than pay a rate that is higher than they think they deserve. This has always seemed like such a bizarre stance to me. “I can’t get the best rate, so if I die I would rather my wife has nothing!” That just seems a bit on the childish side to me.
Why not, if you had your heart set on $27 a month for $500,000, and you get approved and all that $27 will buy is $400,000, take it. That’s taking responsibility by the horns and letting your loved ones know you love them more than you love yourself.
Bottom line. Something in force is always better than nothing and if it’s a health thing like cholesterol that kept you from getting what you wanted, put as much as you can in force and work on that health issue. Far better to work on health things with life insurance in force than not.
September 29th, 2008
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
Our family is going through an issue that, after some thought, I’ve decided is worthy of discussion in the context of life insurance. Like the breast cancer I’ve discussed that my mother is just completing treatment on, while I’ll use my parents as an example, they are just that, an example of a problem that is pervasive and can absolutely impact your ability to get life insurance at the best rates possible.
They have outgrown the expertise of their longtime general practitioner and because of that they are not getting the kind of follow up that an insurance underwriter would like to see in order to consider someone for better rates.
When your medical life becomes more complicated, whether that is from gastro intestinal issues, sleep problems or even high blood pressure, quite often your primary care doctor will give you a referral to a specialist. The problem arises when they don’t refer you and just treat symptoms even though they have stepped outside their area of expertise, general medicine.
This complicates things from a life insurance standpoint because underwriters can see that you are not getting the proper advice and treatment. They can see that the doctor is prescribing medication and that they aren’t doing the proper followup tests. An example from my own family is the prescribing of Coumadin with the followup blood tests, the PT-NR, that should be done monthly to monitor your blood clotting ability. The doctor prescribed the medication and hasn’t been doing the followup tests. If my Dad was younger and applying for life insurance, he would be declined simply because he wasn’t getting the treatment and followup he needs.
My Mom has always had a hard time sleeping and the same GP, rather than referring her to a sleep specialist, has chosen to treat her himself. Unfortunately that treatment has been a real hit and miss, try this and try that type of approach. He has gone through several medications and some of those were inappropriate for someone her age. A life insurance underwriter would decline her because of this inconsistency.
There is simply a time when you, as a patient, need to realize that your doctor has stepped out of their box of expertise. It can drag a medical problem on for too long. It can make it worse and it can impact your ability to get life and health insurance.
Bottom line. This isn’t about your doctor and the relationship you’ve had for years. It’s about the care you need and deserve. It’s about resolving health issues in an expedient and professional manner.
September 25th, 2008
In a post yesterday I mentioned that the course of treatment for breast cancer that my mother is just completing included six weeks of radiation therapy. My dad forwarded an article to me today from the clinic where she is being treated that talks about a more intensive and compacted radiation therapy used for patients when the cancer is a low grade, insitu, type of cancer that hasn’t spread.
From a life insurance standpoint it would bring the same result, a likely standard rate after one year.
Bottom line. Again, with detection and treatment options expanding all the time, survival and insurance rates will continue to improve. That and I’ve got my dad working for me for free. What a guy!
September 18th, 2008
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