Posts filed under 'epilepsy'
I’ve mentioned many times that the large internet agencies are well equipped to pursue and sell the younger age, completely healthy market. It is, for them, an uncomplicated and easy way to keep the cash flowing.
It is much quicker and easier than dealing with older clients that have health issues or for that matter, any age client with serious health, physical or mental, concerns.
We have been very successful by focusing on just the opposite market of the larger internet agencies. We specialize in finding and placing the best possible rates for people with issues ranging from bipolar disorder to heart disease to diabetes and epilepsy. In writing about these specific topics before I have often noted that if you have one of these issues and are looking for the best possible rates, you need to find an independent agent and avoid both the large internet agencies and agencies that specialize in auto and homeowners insurance.
Simply put, the large agencies don’t want to invest the time it takes to find you the best rates. You local Farmer’s Insurance agent doesn’t have the products or the underwriting power to get the job done for you.
Bottom line. If you are in less than perfect health, your time and effort is best spent talking with independent agents who understand your health issues and know what companies to go to and which to avoid.
July 28th, 2008
Whether it is epilepsy or another seizure disorder, the diagnosis is not necessarily a dead end for life insurance approvals. The key to approval and reasonable rates is control.
Seizure disorder is another one of those life insurance issues that evokes a knee jerk reaction from the majority of companies. Their guidelines just simply don’t have a place for anyone with a history, even a long past history, of seizures, other than their decline bucket. Diagnosed recently with epilepsy. Into the bucket you go. Nocturnal seizure disorder with no known seizures in 10 years. In the bucket. Diagnosed with epilepsy in your teens and no seizures since. Bucket time.
While this may seem unfair, it is certainly the right of an insurance company to define the risks they want to assume. The good news is that there are many companies that don’t share their definition or their philosophy. These are the companies that a good independent agent can track down for you.
As mentioned, control is the key issue. Once the correct treatment is found and seizures become rare or, as happens frequently, non existent, standard or better rates are often available. We’ve had clients who have been victims of the decline bucket with other companies who have been approved at preferred rates. Right agent. Right company. It shouldn’t logically make a difference, but it does.
Bottom line. Even if you’ve been declined for life insurance, don’t give up. Many people are concerned that a decline has a “black ball” effect for any future efforts. Nothing could be further from the truth. Turning a decline from the wrong company into an approval from the right company happens frequently.
July 12th, 2008
There is a common misconception that has floated around for the past 100 years or so of my life that if a person has cardiac problems, a heart attack, or coronary artery disease (CAD) requiring heart bypass surgery or an angioplasty, they are irreparably damaged in their ability to get life insurance, especially affordable life insurance.
This isn’t a simple thumbs up or down issue, but generally speaking in the absence of severe damage caused by a heart attack or chronic CAD requiring multiple procedures, insurability is not an issue. It will absolutely be at higher rates than someone who hasn’t had any cardiac issues, but affordable in most cases.
Some of the things that underwriters look for in heart attack cases would be:
1. Age of occurrence (better after age 50 than before)
2. Risk factors (obesity, high cholesterol levels, family history, high blood pressure, etc)
3. The amount of damage (usually measured on a stress test by the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Over 50% is insurable. Under 50% generally not, but would be weighed against offsetting factors.
In the case of CAD in the absence of a heart attack underwriters look at:
1. Age of onset (again, better after 50, not so good before 50, very challenging before 40)
2. Number of vessels effected (blocked). A single vessel blockage is better than what would be considered a more aggressive or pervasive multiple vessel blockage.
3. Again, risk factors. What underwriters are looking for here is whether your risk factors will tend to push you toward chronic CAD. If you have a good build and get plenty of exercise and do what it takes to control cholesterol and blood pressure, that’s a good thing. If you are overweight, don’t exercise and don’t get your cholesterol and blood pressure under control, the risk you pose to an insurance underwriter is much greater.
4. Underwriters will want to see a stress test usually at least 6 months to a year post procedure to determine the extent of any damage and how well the repair job went.
In spite of the myth, heart issues are insurable and usually at affordable rates. If you are applying for insurance, be prepared to answer the questions posed above. Know your cholesterol. Know your blood pressure. Know what meds you are taking. Know the date of your last stress test and get a copy of it. It is much easier for an independent agent to successfully shop for you armed with facts than being armed with generalities (the doctor says I’m doing fine). It would be a rare person who would know and a rare doctor who would discuss your LVEF. Underwriters have to know it in order to assess your application correctly.
Bottom line. If you’ve had a cardiac event, don’t throw in the life insurance towel. First and foremost, don’t go to your local State Farm or Farmers agent with your desire for life insurance unless you have a fondness for rejection. An independent agent will have access to companies that understand the underwriting of heart issues and provide your best possibility of success.
June 6th, 2008
I wouldn’t presume to beat a dead horse, but so seldom is there any significant shift in life insurance underwriting that it bears as much good press as it can stand. While life insurance companies have, for a long time, been fairly tolerant of mild situational depression, many companies are now taking a new look at what used to be a group of automatically declined mood disorders.
I have gone on and on about the results we are getting with well controlled bipolar disorder. Bipolar still leaves the majority of underwriters running, screaming into the dark. Then there is a group of companies that has taken pause to look at the whole issue from a new direction. What if this person really is a functional, stable member of society? What if they really have a track record of compliance with treatment and what if they haven’t been in and out of the hospital? What is the real risk?
Anxiety disorders and long term depression are getting the same fresh look from these companies. By the way, these companies are some surprising new upstarts that are going out on a limb. This is the same group of companies that have led for years in underwriting difficult issues such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, etc. They are on the cutting edge of prudent, fair underwriting. They are the companies that are making a difference in groups of people that have been shunned for a long time.
Bottom line. Spread the word. Fair rates are available for the less than perfect insurance risk. You and I may not get the rates we see splashed on TV, but in most cases we shouldn’t be looking a decline letter either.
April 14th, 2008
As the word sneaks out a little further each day, I have more and more people contacting me and asking if it’s true. Can they get life insurance at affordable rates even though they have bipolar disorder? I wish I could claim that the answer is unequivocally yes, but that isn’t true for any portion of the population.
All people have to meet criteria. If you are in the disgustingly healthy group then you to have meet all of the disgustingly healthy criteria to get the best rates. If you have diabetes you have to show that you are compliant with your treatment and have good control of the disease. If you have high blood pressure you have to show that you are compliant with your treatment and that it is well controlled.
While there are a few more disclaimers with bipolar, it is underwritten essentially the same as other health issues with about 2% of the life insurance companies. Assume going in that 98% of life insurance companies will run screaming DECLINEEEEE into the dark if you mention bipolar. The 2% that are left won’t insure you if you have high blood pressure that is out of control, diabetes that is out of control or bipolar that is out of control.
I would say something like, “At the risk of being redundant”, but the truth is I rather thrive on redundancy. I even invented my own word, redundiferous, to describe how exponentially redundant I can be. Lost my train of thought there……
The criteria for getting good rates if you have bipolar disorder are as follows. 1. No hospitalization for bipolar in the last 10 years unless it was a short stay to determine the diagnosis. 2. No suicide attempts ever. 3. You can’t be on disability for bipolar (if it disables you it hardly meets the qualification of being controlled) 4. Medical records would need to show that you are compliant with your treatment and 5. You need to be able to present a stable family and job life.
You can present an A+ report card on all of those items to 98% of the companies out there and they will decline you. It takes an independent agent with knowledge of bipolar disorder and where to find the hidden 2% in order to turn that report card into an approved life insurance policy.
Bottom line. There really is nothing different with underwriting bipolar versus heart disease or epilepsy, diabetes or hypertension. Out of control doesn’t get it. In control does.
February 19th, 2008
I just did a quick gut check on my blogging efforts over the past year. Who really cares about what I believe and what I know about life insurance? Who reads this and really believes that I can do what I claim?
I have had more than just a little interest in weblogs I’ve posted concerning some of the more difficult illnesses and situations to successfully get affordable life insurance with. I’ve had plenty of people take me up on my assertion that if they’ve been declined, it was probably more the fault of the agent and the company, than their own impairment. Here is a quick list of declines from 2007 that came to me looking for help and now have in force life insurance policies.
- Bipolar disorder
- Type 1 diabetes
- Type 2 diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Breast cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Early onset heart disease
- Heart attacks
- ADHD and
- Gastric bypass
This is exciting for me. I’m not in this business to write life insurance for the young and healthy. While I’m glad to help them out, they don’t need me.
My passion lies with those folks that have successfully beaten or at least controlled a disease, only to be slapped in the face by the insurance industry. My passion is to prove the ignorant life insurance agents representing the ignorant life insurance companies wrong. My passion is to turn declines into in force life insurance.
Bottom line. Thank you, all of you, who dig a little deeper and don’t take no for an answer. I am there waiting for you.
December 26th, 2007
We’ve all heard some version of the story. A life insurance policy with an exclusion for anyone that dies if they are hit by a bus while wearing a green shirt on a Wednesday during August. Actually if the price was good, I would take that one. Don’t have a green shirt and no buses where I live, so……..
In all seriousness though, exclusions are a common question and a very real concern. Some time ago there were small policies that had odd exclusions and the concern has spilled over into a more sane and fair time in the life insurance industry.
Today’s life insurance is underwritten such that there are no needs fior exclusion as the pricing takes into account any “pre-existing condition”. It is not uncommon for someone with an impairment such as cancer or epilepsy to ask how long it will be before they are covered if they happen to die due to something that has to do with that condition. The answer is that there is no waiting period. The policy was underwritten to accept that risk so it is covered from day one.
There are generally only three exclusions that you will find in a life insurance policy. The first two are general and apply to all policies. They are the suicide and contestability clauses. Suicide is obvious and it states that if, during the first two years of the policy (one year in a few states), you take your own life, the company is not bound to pay the death benefit, just return the premium paid.
The contestability clause states that if you die from something that was materially misrepresented during the first two years of the policy, the company again is not bound to pay the death benefit. So, if you had actually been having chest pains, and had discussed it with your doctor but never really had it looked into, and you didn’t divulge that on the application, that would be material misrepresentation.
If you flat out lie about something on the application, that is fraud. There is no two year limitation on fraud and a company could refuse to pay if you died from something you lied about. Do people lie on their applications? Well, yes they do! Generally it is uncovered in the application process when their medical records are reviewed, but sometimes it can slip through. That is not a position you want to put your family in.
The last is an exclusion that private pilots occasionally take. A pilot who has aviation practices that are considered a higher risk such as crop dusting, aerobatics or bush piloting are often assessed a higher rate. They can choose to exclude aviation from their policy. Most private pilots get very good rates and don’t need to exclude aviation. This is really the only thing that most companies will allow an elected exclusion for.
One notable exception to what I’ve said is guaranteed issue life insurance. Anyone can get guaranteed issue. It is exactly what it says it is. They have a two or three year waiting period with no death benefit, only return of premium. That is their way of protecting themselves as anyone, with any health problem can get a policy, no questions asked.
Bottom line. Life insurance policies are very straight forward. When your policy goes in force you are covered with only the exclusions mentioned above. As we explain to clients, don’t lie on the application and don’t kill yourself and you’re covered fully from the day the policy goes in force.
September 7th, 2007
If I were speaking to an auditorium full of people, a specially selected audience, all of whom had type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or epilepsy, and I asked for a show of hands for everyone who had tried to buy life insurance since their diagnosis, likely I would see a large majority of hands go up. If I then asked for a show of hands from all of those who were told they were uninsurable as soon as they divulged their medical condition, I am guessing 90% to 95% of the same hands would go up.
If I dug deeper and asked for a show of hands for all of those who had persisted and had eventually found life insurance at affordable and fair rates I suspect the show of hands would be small indeed.
I shake my head at this situation every day. How can the life insurance community be so uninformed and uneducated and lazy that a life insurance agent will tell someone they are uninsurable when, in fact, that is just not true? It is possible that a life insurance agent works for a company that happens to actually have an underwriting stance that says diabetes and epilepsy are uninsurable. It is not uncommon and it is OK for them to do that. It’s a business decision they have made to stay out of that market. But how can that life insurance agent justify not helping that person with epilepsy or diabetes find an independent life insurance agent who has the knowledge and represents the companies that can come through with the needed policy? It just baffles me. It makes me angry!
Now, let’s invite a new audience into the arena. This group of people all have the same health issues as the first audience, but on their first attempt at buying life insurance they were fortunate. They happened to call an independent agent with a background in successfully filling the needs of this audience. They happened to call an agent who knew the right questions to ask and knew the right companies to shop with. This time the show of hands for those who had successfully found life insurance at fair and affordable rates would probably be around 80%.
Why only 80%? The other 20% is probably comprised of those who had more serious health issues, often collateral issues that exacerbate the impairment. That group also included those whose health problems weren’t well controlled or who weren’t compliant with their doctors treatment orders. That group included some who really didn’t take their health challenges seriously.
What do underwriters care about most? Compliance and Control!!!! Do what your doctor tells you! Educate yourself in how to take control of your health and your future. Compliance and Control!!!
Unfortunately my last audience is fictitious. There are so many poorly equipped life insurance agents and so many auto and homeowners agents that don’t know anything about life insurance, that they are the majority. My best advice is don’t take uninsurable as a final answer. Continue to shop. Do internet searches that are specific to diabetes or epilepsy, or cancer, or coronary artery disease, or hepatitis. Find agents that understand what you have and what needs to be done to get good rates. Don’t give up!!!!! My encouragement to you is that you are probably in that 80% and just haven’t found the agent that knows how to place you there.
April 5th, 2007
If you told a life insurance agent that you have a seizure disorder or epilepsy, and have they told you are uninsurable without asking more questions, take them off your Christmas card list. They are, not unlike most of their fellow agents, ignorant of the disorder and ignorant of how to successfully find you affordable life insurance.
A brief overview from the Epilepsy Foundation website, www.epilepsyfoundation.org, tells us “Epilepsy is generally not the kind of condition that gets worse with time. Most adults who have it can expect to live a normal life span.” A normal life span? Isn’t that what life insurance underwriters are looking for? The answer is yes. That is exactly what they are looking for. Absent other health issues, if most adults who hav it can expect to live a normal life span, then most adults who have it can expect to pay standard or better rates for their life insurance.
“Doctors treat epilepsy primarily with seizure-preventing medicines. Although seizure medications are not a cure, they control seizures in the majority of people with epilepsy.” I keep harping on what underwriters want to see when a person has a serious medical condition. It’s the same with diabetes, coronary artery disease or cholesterol. CONTROL AND COMPLIANCE!!! If you have epilepsy and are compliant with doctors orders, then you should have control. Good life insurance rates should follow control and compliance.
If you can find a good independent life insurance agent who doesn’t flinch when you mention epilepsy, but rather asks more questions like, What medication you take? When were you diagnosed? How frequent are your seizures and when was you most recent seizure? If they head down that road with you, you are in the right office or on the phone with a good agent.
Bottom line, look for an agent who isn’t scared of or too lazy to help you. Do a search with epilepsy and life insurance in the key words. Throw out all the big names at the top and look for a small agency that actually has information on their website about you and your condition and your chances at getting the life insurance your family needs. Don’t let anyone cut you short with the uninsurable answer.
April 3rd, 2007
