Posts filed under 'cholesterol'
Of course that questions begs another question. Has common sense ever been a standard of life insurance underwriting?
The real answer is yes. Absolutely yes. Before the big changes that came with the shrinking number of reinsurance companies and before we were traumatized as a nation financially…..back in the good old days about three years ago, common sense was abundant. When the options for reinsurance began to disappear companies were forced to dance to the tune of whoever was doing reinsurance on their business. They were no longer free to wander on and off their own underwriting guideline pages, forced to meet someone else’s expectations.
I’ve talked a lot about United of Omaha’s Fit test credits on term insurance and how they have lowered premiums substantially on rated life insurance policies. Fit test credits are all about giving credit for life style, rewarding people for things like never having smoked or exercising regularly.
Now Banner Life has jumped on the bandwagon, but has extended the credits to the best rate classes and not just for help on rated policies. Their goal is to make sure that if someone is healthy in all aspects but one, they don’t get nailed for a 30% increase in rates for just that one thing. They’ve gone big in some of the most exasperating underwriting areas, build, cholesterol, blood pressure and family history. You can truly be a picture of perfect health and any one of these things not being perfect, under their old rules, would have knocked you down one or two rate classes.
As an example, a 47 year old guy with no health issues at all, but with a family history of his father dying at age 50 of a heart attack would normally pay $2225.00 annually for $1,000,000 of 20 year term. With their new underwriting this person would qualify for a rate of $1345.00.
If his father was still living and this client had a total cholesterol of 250 but lots of HDL (good cholesterol) and had a cholesterol ratio of 3.5, instead of paying $1615.00, he would again qualify for $1345.00 if the high total cholesterol was the only issue.
Bottom line. I salute companies that have the guts to use common sense and Banner Life is to be commended (and used) for these changes. Banner continues to be a leader in term insurance rates and they have just recently come out with a very competitive no lapse guarantee universal life, and unlike some companies they are offering this great new UL as a conversion option on their term products. 2010 is going to be a good year for Banner and those who get their insurance through them.
March 2nd, 2010
Life insurance underwriting is kind of like sand dunes. You can take a picture at the beginning of a year and it can be absolutely clear where every grain of sand lies. The exact same picture taken at the end of the year could easily have been taken on another planet.
One of the greatest opportunities of 2009 in term life insurance came from United of Omaha with their “Fit test” life style crediting that allowed clients who could have been rated as high as table 4 to better their approved offer by 2 to 3 tables. This is an underwriting tool that has been used with universal life in the past by a lot of companies, but with no real sound logic attached to it. U of O ties it very logically to life and health style questions that reward those who are doing the kinds of things that really to impact mortality in a positive way.
One of the greatest opportunities in permanent insurance remained the universal life insurance with a no lapse guarantee. Life insurance guaranteed for life without the burden and pitfalls of cash value accumulation. While we have started to see some pullback from the really great deals of 2008, early 2009, there are still companies with products out there that would warrant a complete evaluation and overhaul of a permanent life insurance portfolio. Now that it is clear that the federal estate taxes aren’t really going away, and state death taxes never were, it’s time for high net worth families to get serious about covering that tax burden with one of the best deals in permanent insurance ever, the no lapse guarantee UL.
Another breakthrough is the addition of several companies that are taking a new look at mood disorders and deciding that, from mild depression to bipolar disorder, there is room to separate out those who are taking their treatment seriously and may actually be coping with society better than many of those who choose to just gut it out without any help.
I think one of the biggest missed opportunities of 2009 is the continued failure of companies to recognize the importance of HDL in the cardiac risk factor. They continue to hang their hat on total cholesterol if it’s higher than their guidelines allow, even in the face of high HDL (good cholesterol). There are few, if any, companies out there that will underwrite a case with a total cholesterol of 280 and an HDL of 40 (ratio of 7.0) any differently than a total cholesterol of 280 and an HDL of 80 (ratio of 3.5). Medically there is a huge difference and since life insurance underwriting in this area is all about concern over an impending cardiac event, from a life insurance standpoint customer #2 present a much lower risk than #1. They should get a lower rate, but sadly another year has gone by and nothing has changed.
Another missed opportunity has to do, not with companies, but with those agencies and organizations that offer life insurance. Another year has gone by with AARP still holding fast to its’ stance that the seniors it purports to be “the advocacy group” for, don’t deserve to be offered a fairly priced, meaningful life insurance product. They have the ears of tens, maybe hundreds of millions of seniors in this country and are wasting that opportunity by partnering with New York Life in an obscene life insurance scam.
Selectquote, the self proclaimed largest internet life insurance agency in the country, still continues to advertise on TV in borderline bait and switch manner, quoting 10 year term prices for a couple with toddlers, and now they have added their ridiculously useless text a quote feature, designed more for corralling the masses than meaningful information sharing.
Bottom line. Life insurance underwriting will always be a work in progress and it is important to note that independent agents are at the forefront of positive change. They are the driving force behind competition and with that competition comes change.
December 28th, 2009
Ahh, the less than perfect approval on your life insurance application. The temptation to take your bat and ball and go home and never play again. The desire to get back back at the company by not purchasing life insurance and not providing protection for your family.
Even though most agents are savvy enough to make clients understand that their quotes “based on the information you have provided and are subject to full medical underwriting and are not guaranteed until final underwriting approval”, most clients don’t prepare themselves for the fact that under the scrutiny of blood and urine labs and an analysis of their medical records, they may not end up perfect. They may not have what it takes to get the best rates or the standard rate or whatever rate they were quoted.
Now I’m not saying there isn’t justification for a little anger if you tell the agent you are 5′10″ tall and weigh 240# and they quote you the best rate class. That is either stupidity or bait and switch. They knew that was a standard rate when it came out of your mouth and they just didn’t want to break the news to you then for fear you would run away looking for a second opinion.
But what I’m talking about is when you believe you are healthy and no doctor has told you anything to the contrary (probably because you haven’t been to one) and your cholesterol is 278 on the labs or your blood pressure is 142/95 on the exam. You’re still going to get approved, just not at those juicy rates you had your eye on.
So, don’t get mad. Do the right thing and buy as much 10 year term insurance as you can based on the approved rate class to keep the price down. Then do the right thing and get your cholesterol or blood pressure under control. Then apply again and get the rates you’ve always dreamed of, replace that first policy and come away from the experience smarter and healthier.
Bottom line. Don’t take your bat and ball and go home. Your family needs you to do the right thing whether you like it or not. And remember that you were approved and not declined. A single is better than no hit at all.
October 14th, 2009
You’re applying for life insurance and they just sucked your blood and made you pee in a cup. You deserve to know what they know and there is no better way to do that than to request a copy of your labs.
I have long like the proactive approach that West Coast Life takes. As soon as they receive your lab results they send a copy out to you along with an explanation of what each lab test means. There is no requirement that you get approved or accept the policy in order to get the lab results. It is something of a freebie and a pretty valuable one at that.
I queried my local doctor’s office to see what the insurance company labs would cost if you were inclined to just go get a checkup, which most of us aren’t. These labs are a standard set of life insurance lab results and just a ballpark estimate would put the testing at somewhere around $300.
While I’m certainly not advocating applying for life insurance to get free lab work, I absolutely recommend that you pass on the results to your doctor so they can take advantage of the free labs to better monitor your health, or if it’s the first labs you’ve provided your doctor, to set a baseline. Knowing things like cholesterol levels, liver functions, and glucose level is valuable knowledge.
Those companies that don’t proactively send lab results without asking, will send you labs at no cost with a written request. In our office we include a written request with every application. If you have applied through someone that doesn’t offer that service make sure you request it.
Bottom line. That checkup you always find a reason not to get. That curiosity about your cholesterol. It’s all contained in your life insurance lab results. Always ask for a copy.
October 1st, 2009
I am beginning to believe that our little mountain town here in one of the healthiest states according to several studies, is home to a bunch of closet cholesterol snarfers.
I know you don’t really snarf cholesterol, but I also know that if you do the typical male thing and ignore it, don’t get checkups and generally do the health la la walk through life, cholesterol has a way of being one of the first things to start sliding. Cholesterol is also one of those health issues that isn’t just an annoyance, but can actually reach out and bite you….to death.
I had talked just a few weeks ago about a local client who bragged about not having seen a doctor really ever in his adult life for anything preventive. He thought he might have seen one 9 or 10 years ago when a cut on his finger became infected. On his life insurance exam it turned out he had cholesterol by the bucket loads and HDL by the teaspoons, not a good combination.
He was all bluster about how cholesterol didn’t mean anything and insurance companies manufactured ways to raise peoples rates. His wife called a few days later and told me to issue the policy and that her husband was going to seeing a doctor about the cholesterol.
On the heels of that comes another local client with an almost identical medical history, none, and of course expecting that he would get preferred plus rates. After all, no doctor had ever told him he had any health problems. Of course he had never been close enough to a doctor as an adult to be able to find that out. His cholesterol on his exam was well above what was needed for preferred plus rates. In fact it was high enough to bump him two rate classes, but they cut him some slack and only bumped him one class.
He had a similar reaction. Cholesterol is overrated. Insurance companies rip people off. It doesn’t appear he will do the right thing. In this case, just to prove a point, he will go without life insurance.
Men are so stupid, or at least some of them. They will poo pah cholesterol, high blood pressure, weight, family history and I’ve even listened to them try to minimize heart attacks and bypass surgery. And if they can’t get the best rates, they will use that as an excuse not to carry life insurance to protect their family.
Bottom line. It all comes down to responsibility. If you have a wife or children or owe anyone money, your death is going to have a negative impact on someone. Getting real about your health and stepping up to the plate when it comes to life insurance are important steps toward owning that responsibility. Avoiding the whole thing is just stupid and not one ounce better than that.
August 6th, 2009
It always amazes me the way men proclaim how many years it’s been since they’ve seen a doctor and say it like they’re proud, like it’s a badge of honor to ignore your health.
I’ve been working on a life insurance application for a local guy, my age mid 50’s, who fits into that category. Bragged when we were completing the application that he doesn’t have a doctor. I asked him when he last seen one for anything and he said “maybe 8 or 9 years ago for a cut on his finger that got infected”. I asked if he had ever been to a health fair so he could make sure his labs, things like his PSA were OK and he said he didn’t believe in lab results, so no.
He applied for preferred plus rates and was approved at standard rates due to his cholesterol being far too high and hdl far too low. When I went by this morning to discuss a possible course of action he let me know his thoughts about cholesterol (bunch of bull) and insurance companies (cheaters, swindlers, look for any way to raise rates).
This is so typical with men that it almost makes me want to buy them one way tickets to Trinidad for sex changes so they won’t be giving men a bad name anymore.
But it’s all the fault of the insurance companies! They have some kind of scam going where if they find an idiot that hasn’t been taking care of himself they sneak some sick blood into his labs to teach him a lesson. It is astounding the number of boneheads like this that get diagnosed with significant health issues because they slip up and do an insurance exam.
Bottom line. There is no honor in ignoring your health. It’s simply the wrong thing to do, if not for yourself, for your loved ones.
July 27th, 2009
If I had to choose one life insurance underwriting guideline that causes more consternation than any other it would be the subject of cholesterol. I still get all tied in knots over the debate concerning cholesterol that I had with ING Reliastar In December and January.
I understand the underwriting need to consider cholesterol, but common sense would tell you that there is no measurable mortality difference between a total cholesterol of 220 and 222. And the reason that cholesterol becomes such a polarizing issue is that when an underwriter bumps someone a full rate class for, say, the variance I just described, the client has to try to wrap their mind around the idea of paying 30% more for something that a 5th grader can confidently tell you is not justified.
So, obviously the best thing a person can do is get regular annual or at least bi annual checkups with lab work. If you find your cholesterol creeping up on you there are non medical ways in most cases to get it to creep back down. Eating right and getting regular exercise go a long way toward helping the body self regulate things like cholesterol and blood sugar. Doing healthy things really can make you healthy. Given this tact a person can go into an exam knowing that your cholesterol is below 200 and your HDL is above 40, there won’t be any lab surprises.
If non medical cholesterol lowering attempts don’t work, there are plenty of cholesterol lowering drugs like statins that seem to work very well. And the good news is that, unlike 5 years ago, most companies will allow their best rate class even though you are being treated for cholesterol. Not so long ago, controlled or not, just the treatment was a reason to bump you one rate class. Now companies are rewarding proactive cardiac health.
While I might go round and round with an underwriter on occasion, truth is that insurance company’s guidelines are in general a little more lenient than your doctor or perhaps the American Heart Association might want. For instance, the AHA says that less than 200 is desirable for a total cholesterol reading while most insurance companies allow up to 220 for their best rate class, some as high as 240.
Bottom line. Anyone that gets caught with their HDL pants down on an insurance exam and has to pay a high rate for it probably should review their personal health practices. Health fairs or annual checkups are just the right thing to be doing and in the whole scheme of things, health aside, the cost of the annual exams will very likely be saved in lower insurance costs and a healthier life.
June 4th, 2009
A potential life insurance client was interviewing me the other day and asked why he should put confidence in my quote for a better rate on term life insurance than he was currently paying. Certainly a fair question and one that goes right to the meat of our business model.
Any independent agent out there with access to the right companies and their underwriting criteria can provide accurate quotes to people with no health history and no family history, most of the time. But anytime their is a health issue that falls outside normal guidelines our practice is to always, always shop for trial offers. We don’t shoot from the hip on these kind of quotes ever. Just because an underwriter approved a similar case a month ago doesn’t mean we can count on a repeat.
That agent may have given our client a good approval and when audited lost a portion of their rear end to the chief underwriter or to the medical director. Or that agent may just wake up grumpy the next time and decide everyone that day is scarier than they are when he or she is well rested. In any case I never put stock in a previous success other than to make sure I get a new trial offer from that company.
Case in point. I had a client not too long ago that came to me with a unique cholesterol issue. Normal total cholesterol and a very low HDL, giving him a cholesterol ratio of over 8. He said that it had been historically that way and that his doctor monitors it and had not recommended any treatment. I researched the issue and then sent out the following trial email, “PI born 1/16/60, 6′3, 185, non smoker. On previous insurance exam had total cholesterol 169, hdl 19, ldl 120, trigs 146. PI has historically tested low on hdl and doctor has not treated due to no other risk factors for CAD. PI exercises daily. All articles I’ve seen linking low hdl to ischemic heart disease are when it is in conjunction with elevated triglycerides or diabetes, neither of which he has. Looking for $250k term.” PI, by the way, is proposed insured.
This was met with a number of standard rate to table rated offers, with one exception. Transamerica gave me a trial offer of preferred. We applied and the client completed the exam. Within hours of the new labs reaching the Trans home office they emailed and said that the best case would be standard because of his cholesterol ratio of 7.8. I responded noting to the underwriter that it should still be preferred per their trial since the ratio was nearly 8.9 based on the total of 169 and HDL of 19 on the trial.
Long story short. The underwriter on the trial had not done their math and had quoted it incorrectly, but given the clarity of my request and the clarity of their trial offer, Transamerica stood by the offer and issued the policy at preferred saving the client several hundred dollars.
Bottom line. Quoting and applying without the benefit of trial offers is at best throwing it against the wall and hoping it will stick. Clients deserve better than that and it helps agents and underwriters to build reliable relationships. A case like this would have been bad news for the client with no trial to fall back on.
June 3rd, 2009
I’m going to make up some statistics for the sake of this discussion. They may not be completely accurate, but I suspect they are close enough for government work. Do I get TARP money for saying that?
It is my belief that 75% of men don’t know what their lipid panel values are. A lipid panel would be total cholesterol, hdl, ldl, and triglycerides. I arrived at 75% because a recent study indicated that slightly less than 50% of men get annual physicals and I’m figuring the guys who do get physicals are still guys, so half of them don’t even look at the results. Quick, what is your total cholesterol, hdl and ldl?
The other reason I suspect the number of cholesterol ignorant men is high is because a surprisingly large number of them seem surprised when they take a life insurance exam and find out that they are going to have to pay a higher rate because it their cholesterol is higher or their hdl lower than the rate class they applied for will support and honestly, more than likely, higher than their doctor would condone if they would ever go see him.
So, having told it like it is I thought I would share with all of my fellow men some info from dlife.com, a diabetes support website, on how to lower your cholesterol before you go to the doctor or take an insurance exam.
Bottom line. Healthy is a good thing whether it’s for insurance or just because you might live longer. But you can’t tell how healthy you are by how you feel or look. Even if it’s just the health fair let’s work on it guys and see if we can get those percentages to where we don’t act like an endangered species.
June 2nd, 2009
There are plenty of people that apply for life insurance and are sure they are going to get the best rate class available. In their mind they are even ahead of Superman because he has that disorder that has to do with Kryptonite. These people have never been sick, only see a doctor when their spouse makes them get a checkup, and have parents that are well on their way to living to age 115.
You know how sometimes you are just driving down the road and out of nowhere you hit a pothole? Before long even people in California will know what I’m talking about when the budget cuts get to the highway department. It shakes your world, your teeth and occasionally ruins your tire. It’s a bad experience.
A pothole in the life insurance application process would be something showing up on your exam or in your labs that bumps you a rate class, or two, or three….something you had no idea about and never saw coming. These things generally come out of nowhere (referring back to the first paragraph) because you believe that you are immortal and have never truly been checked out by a doctor.
One that bites a lot of applicants is cholesterol. Quick now! What was your last cholesterol reading? Your HDL? LDL? Mine were 164, 45 and 104. It’s a trick question in that the only way you would know the answer is if you had been to a doctor or a health fair and had lab work done. If you did that and had a problem then there’s a good chance you wouldn’t be finding out about your out of normal range lipids on a life insurance exam when it isn’t just a matter to discuss with your spouse or doctor, but a determining factor in what rate class an underwriter will approve you at.
So, how to avoid that cholesterol surprise on your exam? There are health fairs everywhere and the good news is that they are cheap and easy. I know this is a stretch for guys, but suck it up once a year and go donate a little blood and get checked out. Better to find out your cholesterol is creeping up on you that way than having the ER doc explain the relationship between cholesterol and blocked arteries.
If your cholesterol is stepping out of the normal range, diet and exercise might just be the cure. Even if you have to medically control your cholesterol most insurance companies still allow their best rate class. So, annually guys! And annually isn’t once every decade. That would be decadually. Once a year. Your wife will love you for it. Your kids will see a good example when you do it. You’ll get better life insurance rates. You’ll feel better and your friends will be impressed.
The other pothole is blood pressure. I had high blood pressure once, actually just one time due to some medication I was on. When my blood pressure when from my normal 110/65 to 145/95, I felt it and it didn’t feel good. In fact it felt so wrong that I have been convinced since then that high blood pressure is bad for you.
Quick! What was you last blood pressure reading? If you don’t know this one you really need to get out more. There are blood pressure machines in every Walmart and in most pharmacies and grocery stores. And they are free!!! If you find out your blood pressure is running higher than it should (they have little charts right on the machines), again, diet and exercise might do the trick. If not, again, there are more and more companies that want to see you doing the right thing and will approve you at their best rate class even if you are medically treated for hypertension. That’s a much better bet for them than taking their chances with heart attacks or a stroke.
Bottom line. There are plenty of folks out there that can just la la their way into the best rate class, but if you aren’t sure how that exam and labs will turn out it’s time for a preventive checkup. Your Mom would be proud of you.
May 14th, 2009
Previous Posts
