Posts filed under 'Depression'
To all of you have shared in this blog and have helped in our quest to make life insurance less of a mystery and more attainable, Merry Christmas.
Whether you have sought our assistance in applying for life insurance that had proved challenging or you just sought us out for answers to questions, we appreciate your interest and willingness to trust that the first answer you receive may not always be the best one.
Bottom line. Each day that I can make a difference and help someone with diabetes or heart disease or depression or bipolar disorder or a history of cancer obtain life insurance, is a day that I have followed my Lord in serving others. And isn’t that what Christmas is really all about?
December 24th, 2008
There is probably no better feeling for me (and my clients) than turning their previous experience of being declined for life insurance into an approval for the insurance that they want for their family. For those who have been declined, it’s the same feeling as asking someone out on a date and being turned down.
When the next chance comes along, rejection is fresh in your memory and it’s a little hard to take the plunge again. But when that approval does come through, well, home run, fireworks, Acceptance with a capital A.
We were just able to help a man who has bipolar disorder and anxiety disorder get approved at an affordable rate after Erie Life had declined him just a few months ago. As we’ve discussed so often, there are companies that seem to have their own emotional disorders when it comes to underwriting emotional disorders. The word bipolar sends them screaming into the dark without even a cursory investigation to see if the person might be one of the large percentage of very functional and stable bipolar candidates for life insurance.
Because we are very clear up front about what it takes to get approved and because we ask and answer all the questions that surround an application for someone with depression, bipolar disorder or anxiety, our batting average is pretty good. That is not to say that we get life insurance for everyone who wants it, but we are able to right the ship for many who have previously applied with the wrong company or through the wrong agent.
Bottom line. There is no magic to getting life insurance if you are young, healthy and have never had a health or mental issue. But, if you are in the majority you should seek the help of a knowledgeable independent agent and save yourself from the unpleasant experience of rejection.
December 23rd, 2008
The long standing argument about how much cholesterol is the right amount rages on. For one of my clients it rages on a front that we rarely see. This person has a total cholesterol level of 87.
It has been drilled in to most of us that the other end of the spectrum, high cholesterol, low hdl, etc, are the things to worry about, but there is plenty to be said from studies and from life insurance underwriters about cholesterol that is just way lower than the normal range.
From a life insurance standpoint underwriters are concerned about studies that seem to show some link between low cholesterol and a potpourri of health issues all the way from depression to cancer. Low levels of LDL, the target for statins, has been linked to cancer, while low total cholesterol has been linked in studies to depression. So, while your doctor may like low cholesterol, life insurance underwriters aren’t reading from the same book.
So, while my client has naturally low cholesterol, many people may be driven by over zealous doctors away from a slim chance of heart disease and toward other health issues. There seems to be a real propensity these days for doctors to say, what the heck, let’s call it preventive medicine and drive normal cholesterol down to abnormally low levels.
By the way, with a doctor’s evaluation showing there aren’t any associated health issues, we were able to get my 87 client some very fair rates.
Bottom line. All things in moderation seems to have been lost on our generation. When Astra Zeneca provides the AHA with a study saying that as many as 6 million people with normal cholesterol levels should be taking cholesterol lowering medication, well, I would hope my doctor takes that with a grain of salt.
December 16th, 2008
Still fresh in my mind is the story a client related to me about her experience of being declined for life insurance due to bipolar disorder. This was news to her since she didn’t have bipolar disorder.
In talking through the situation with her she did bring up the fact that she was treated for ongoing depression with the drug Lamictal. Lamictal has several uses, but because of the magic of television advertising, probably the best known is its’ use for bipolar disorder. It isn’t mentioned in the ads, but it is also commonly used for seizure disorders and, lo and behold, depression.
The decline from this company came without ever requesting medical records. There was a leap of assumption on the part of the underwriter that this client had put down depression, but the problem was really bipolar disorder and this leap of assumption was based solely on the medication. We shopped this case for her and detailed everything up front including what the other company had done and we were able to get her an approved policy at standard rates, a fair rate given her history of depression.
The knee jerk reaction from the majority of life insurance companies when it comes to depression, anxiety disorders and bipolar disorder is unfortunate. A large percentage of these folks are wearing the sign and taking the medication and leading normal lives. They hold down jobs, have healthy family and community lives, don’t sit around thinking about suicide, aren’t in and out of hospitals, comply with their treatment programs and in general are no more of a mortality risk than the average person that doesn’t have one of these issues or at least hasn’t been diagnosed with it yet.
A little friendly advice if you happen to be part of one of these groups and need life insurance. First, don’t go to your State Farm agent (or whoever handles your auto and homeowners). Those companies are licensed to sell life insurance but it is definitely not what they’re good at and the agent is licensed to sell the product, but they have no training in how to find you fair underwriting for your issue.
Second, don’t go to the big online insurance agencies. They are volume shops and writing a policy for someone with say, bipolar disorder, takes some time and doesn’t fit into their style of doing business. You are going to clog up their well oiled machine and while they might find you an approval, it’s not likely to be the best one out there for you.
Third, do find an independent agent who has a background and track record in dealing with your particular issue. You’ll know when you talk to them because we ask questions that will tip you off to the fact that we’ve been there before. We won’t just take down minimal information and run quotes for you. We’ll take a lot of information and then take the time to shop it for you.
Bottom line. Take heart! While the majority of life insurance companies are very conservative and would prefer to skirt around the whole issue of mood disorders, there are 15-20 companies out there that really have their head screwed on right and know how to fairly underwrite your case.
November 17th, 2008
Over the years we have offered discussion on how to get the best possible life insurance rates even though your health is less than perfect. The truth is that with perfect health and family history you can probably find good rates at any number of sources and how to go about it is not a big issue.
But let’s be real. The truth is that those who have at least some health issue are more numerous than those who don’t. Those with more serious health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity or mood disorders such as anxiety, depression or even bipolar disorder are not the majority of those seeking life insurance, but they are the group in the greatest need of hands on experienced help in finding the right company and the right rate.
There is probably nothing I have harped more on over the years than compliance and control. These are the first things that a life insurance underwriter will look for, and lack of either might very well be the last thing they look at when reviewing your application.
Are you compliant, truly steadfastly compliant with your prescribed treatment? Do you take your medication as prescribed or, for instance, do you just take medication when you feel like your blood pressure is high? Have you taken seriously the lifestyle changes that your doctor has recommended? Do you keep regular appointments and do you complete any suggested testing?
With compliance comes control, but I’ve found the biggest challenge in this area is your own education about your condition. If you have diabetes, do you know what your hbA1c is? If you’ve had a post cardiac issue stress test do you know what your ejection fraction is? If your cholesterol is an issue do you know what ranges are considered normal and high and do you know what your HDL and LDL are and what they mean? If your blood pressure is being treated do you monitor it on a regular basis and do you actually know the difference between diastolic and systolic? Do you know what it means when one of them is higher than it should be?
I guess what I am getting at is the difference between being told by a doctor that you’re doing OK and knowing for yourself based on test results just exactly how you are doing. A good example would be if you have diabetes and on your blood test your hbA1c is 7.5 and your doctor says you’re doing OK. Let’s just keep monitoring it. If you knew from your own studies that a reading of 6.5 was better than OK, in fact excellent, you might ask your doctor what it would take to get to better control.
I’m not saying that it’s not good to know you’re doing OK, but I know from experience that doctors aren’t big on education and OK really is good enough for most of them. But is good enough for them really your goal?
Bottom line. Compliance and control are the most important keys to the best possible rates when your health isn’t all that you wish it was. In an age where online health education is just a click away, there really isn’t a reason not to know not only how to manage your health, but how to measure it.
November 15th, 2008
What kind of an insane question is that? Let me try a few commonalities that probably come to mind if you have bipolar and and have applied for life insurance.
How about….all life insurance underwriters think bipolar disorder is a perfectly good reason to decline an application without studying medical records or determining the extent to which bipolar is actually affecting a person’s life. I think that most with bipolar would guess that is held in common. How about life insurance companies think the risk of suicide is too high so they don’t want to approve insurance based on that?
Depending on where someone starts out their life insurance adventure, if bipolar is in the picture no matter how well controlled, it can be a humiliating, degrading experience. I have seen clients declined for life insurance for taking the drug Lamictal. True enough it is used to treat bipolar disorder, but it is also used to treat depression and in some cases seizure disorders. Without ever determining the cause for the use of the drug this person was dished out a decline.
Even if it had been bipolar disorder, there was no effort on the part of the company to determine how mild or severe the disorder was and if it, in fact, had any real impact on the person’s day to day life. The truth is that I work with people all the time in positions of responsibility who have learned to do life just fine with bipolar in the background. The other truth is that we have found several life insurance companies who recognize that the mortality risk is just not that great in many of those instances.
Bottom line. What do they have in common? With the right agent it could be approvals and competitive rates. Time to rethink this whole thing.
October 15th, 2008
You know the rates I’m talking about. You see them advertised everywhere and it makes it seem as though life insurance is almost free, simply there for the picking. In the industry those rates are called things like preferred plus, preferred elite, select preferred, or jokingly, Superman rates.
The question really revolves around whether you do, in fact, have to be superman or woman to get those rates? Is perfect health required? Do companies go out of their way once you have applied to find a way to disqualify you? If the truth was really known, would they actually bump Superman out because of his genetic weakness to kryptonite or because he is a private pilot (of sorts)?
OK! Let’s cut to the core of this question. All people do not qualify for those “best rate class” rates. Those who call up with diabetes, a history of depression, or heart disease and get all indignant because they don’t qualify are, well, living in la la land. Life insurance underwriting is to the best of its’ ability a measure of mortality risk. People with health issues and especially health issues with obvious mortality assumptions will be asked to pay a higher rate than those with no health issues.
There are a few health issues that balance in between. High blood pressure is one of those. Most companies will not allow their best rate class if you are treated for high blood pressure. High blood pressure of course has links to heart attacks and stroke. There are a few companies, two that I know of, that will allow their best rate with blood pressure treatment as long as the treatment is working and the blood pressure is well controlled.
Cholesterol is probably a better example as companies seem to be split about 50/50 on cholesterol treatment. About half seem to think it is OK to be treated with good control and the other half think you should pay more because of the cholesterol link to heart disease and heart attacks.
So, the question is “do you have to be in perfect health”? The answer is not cut and dried, but I would say no. We’ve placed a lot of best rate class life insurance on people with less than perfect health. Can you stretch that very far? NO!
Bottom line. Once again the edge for you goes to the independent agent. If you are locked into one company the chances of catching a break is slim to none. Be forthcoming and straightforward about any medications you take and past or present health issues you have and tell your agent that your goal is the best possible rates that you qualify for. Be realistic and you won’t be disappointed.
October 14th, 2008
We have been blessed with a lot of success in helping those with well controlled bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder and depression, find life insurance companies who will, first and foremost, give them a fair hearing and secondly, make fair offers on coverage.
I was contacted recently by a person that had been diagnosed with cyclothymia, a mild form of bipolar disorder. At first, being unfamiliar with cyclothymia, as opposed to just bipolar 1 or bipolar 2, I immediately googled it which helped me to structure the wording of the email I sent out for trial offers. I didn’t cite Google, but was pleasantly surprised when an underwriting response from one of the life insurance companies included a definition from Google as part of their reason for offering preferred or preferred plus rates. The following is the response I received.
“Cyclothymia is a chronic bipolar disorder consisting of short periods of mild depression and short periods of hypomania (lasting a few days to a few weeks), …per definition in Google. Feel tentative Preferred Non Tobacco even the possibility of Preferred Best since description below implies good control with no major episodes.”
It is refreshing to me that underwriters are using all of the technological tools available to help them correctly assess mortality risk. While it may seem like a logical thing to do, the underwriter who actually digs and fits the pieces of the puzzle together is rare.
Bottom line. While I am excited because underwriters are starting to embrace technology, we should all be excited to see the words preferred and preferred best in the same sentence with bipolar disorder. All the pieces of the puzzle have to fit in order for that to happen, but it is attainable.
September 12th, 2008
I doubt there are any of us who have not been through some period of situational depression and while depression can come in many colors and sizes, I think it is important to define it and talk about it in the context of life insurance.
Common causes of situational depression are the loss of a loved one, marriage problems, illness, problems at work and for some just the realization that you are getting older. The thing that distinguishes situational depression from chronic depression or severe depression is 1. the cause and 2. the length of problem. Generally with situational depression, getting help and time combine to make the length of the depression issue relatively short. Depending on the cause, it might last from just a few months to generally not more than a few years.
Underwriters are generally compassionate in this area as long as the depression is not severe enough to require hospitalization or impacts a person’s ability to function, such as lost time from work while being treated. Many companies will offer as good as preferred and occasionally preferred plus rates for well controlled situational depression.
Chronic depression differs in that many times there is no discernible cause and generally it is a problem for a longer time, if not for the rest of a person’s life. While a situation or event may have initially triggered the need for treatment, the never ending nature of the problem requires a different view from an underwriter. Again, if well controlled (no hospitalization or lost time), underwriters will likely see their way to better than standard rates and occasionally as good as preferred, although preferred would definitely be the exception.
Severe depression is usually a bit of a mine field for underwriters. The fact that it is labeled severe generally means that it is or has impacted the stability of life and often requires stronger medications or multiple medications. Severe depression often impacts a person’s job performance or ability to even hold a job. It may mean occasional hospitalization. It can include suicidal thoughts or even attempts.
In the absence of job impact, hospitalization or any suicidal ideations, underwriters will most often look at severe depression in the standard to slightly sub standard rate classes. If the depression has taken control of your life, in all likelihood the result will be a declined application for life insurance.
Bottom line. A good independent agent with access to all of the top companies is imperative when shopping for life insurance with any level of treated depression. This is not the time to run down to your auto insurance agent.
August 22nd, 2008
I’ve often mentioned that getting approval and good rates on life insurance is a matter of the right agent in combination with the right company. The other key to success is an application that is properly thought out and presented.
A case in point is a client we just got approved who had applied through another agent before coming to us. Her application was declined off hand by a company that assumed she had bipolar disorder because of a medication she was taking that is quite often used with bipolar, Lamictal. This company declined her without asking for medical records because they assumed she wasn’t being forthcoming concerning her mental health issues.
On her application she had indicated treatment for depression. Had the company taken her at her word they would have discovered that, in fact, she was diagnosed with and treated for depression and attention deficit disorder, not bipolar. Had the agent understood that the medication she was taking is commonly used for bipolar, he could have simply put on the application “Client’s use of Lamictal is not for Bipolar disorder”. Wrong agent! Poorly thought out application!
The other thing that wasn’t done that is a must anytime there are health issues is that the agent didn’t ask for trial quotes before submitting the application. Had that been done he would have discovered that the medication was going to be a question, easily clarified up front. Then, with trial quotes in hand the application would have flown.
Bottom line. The client now has the coverage she wanted, at a good rate. It may not be rocket science, but it does matter who your agent is and how the application is presented.
July 31st, 2008
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