No one loves a good value better than me. I don’t take lightly buying almost anything and I really don’t take lightly committing myself to making payments for something like life insurance.

Having said that, there is a problem when people want to suck the marrow out of the shopping experience, making sure that every stone is turned and every possibility is researched.

I was talking with someone today who was taken for a ride on a universal life policy he bought 15 or so years ago. Promised that it would last forever and it is imploding before his eyes, price going up and guarantee non existent at this point. I offered several fully guaranteed options to him and he was having a hard time, even though he called the agent a crook, wrapping his mind around changing. Wanted to think about it a while longer. So I shared a story with him from last year. He is now considering the merits of making that change while he knows what his health is.

It never seems very far between stories gone bad because of shopping to long or dragging a person’s feet just a little too long. I worked with a man near retirement age last year, and the year before. He wanted an insurance policy that would allow him to maximize his retirement options. He kept putting it off because he wanted to make sure he purchased just the right amount. He was debating between $500,000 and $600,000. We worked this over for almost a year and a half. I kept explaining that he could put $500,000 in force and if, in the end, he wanted $600,000, we could add $100,000 or replace the first policy with a new one for the full amount. He didn’t have any life insurance in force and I made it clear that the suggestion above was a prudent approach.

He called one day and I had a hard time understanding him. His speech was slurred. He had a massive stroke and wanted to know if those rates I had quoted him were still good. Of course with the health change they weren’t and the options that he had kicked around for over a year went out the window.

Bottom line. I’m not against people shopping and spending their life in pursuit of the perfect policy at the perfect rate. But prudence dictates doing that from a position of power. Have insurance in force and then take your time researching the world. You can always replace a policy with a better one.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

So, Let’s Think This Life Insurance Thing To Death!

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 recovering and fall off the wagon occasionally.

A high salt/low potassium diet is a pretty reliable ticket to the land of high blood pressure, stroke and some types of asthma. A topic of considerable attention lately has been the unbelievable amounts of sodium found in some of the most popular dishes in some of the most popular restaurants most of go to at least occasionally. Sometimes it seems to me that restaurants offerings are kind of self defeating. They make meals taste good by adding large amounts of salt and it often tastes so good that people are driven to eat every last bite, which unchecked leads to obesity.

Now perspective is a good thing. No reason to freak out if there really isn’t a reason, right? They (whoever they are) say that the maximum sodium intake for an adult should be about one teaspoon daily. I am an admitted saltaholic and if I were presented with a salt free day’s worth of meals, I doubt that I would add an entire teaspoon over the course of a day. That’s a lot of salt!

My downfall comes when I eat dinner out at a restaurant that knows two things for sure. 1. We, as a nation, love salt and want it on most everything we eat and 2. The more salt we eat the more beverages we tend to drink. Chili’s restaurants are one of the most consistent abusers of sodium out there. That one teaspoon is roughly equal to 2300 mg. Just a few of Chili’s sodium busting treats are their boneless buffalo chicken salad which sounds healthy but has 4400 mg of sodium, about twice what you should take in on a daily basis. Then there is their Southern Smokehouse Bacon Big Mouth Burger which tops the sodium scale at 4150 mg.

PF Changs has proven to be the king of salt. Their Hot and Sour Soup Bowl tips the scales at an amazing 6878 mg. 3 times the daily recommended maximum in one bowl of soup. I’m wondering if that soup really, really tastes bad and they hope that enough salt will cover it up.

Given the kind of abuse your body goes through at these restaurants, it’s a wonder that life insurance applications don’t ask where and how often you eat meals out. While hypertension and even a stroke can be underwritten at good rates, if a person is hanging out at the who’s who of salty foods, they have to present a higher mortality risk than those who actually monitor their salt intake at almost any level.

Bottom line. Eating right is simply not part of the American way of life and our habit of ignoring how food is prepared, especially the salt and fat that is used, is a recipe for obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. It may be time to ask for sodium confessions before we order a meal.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Hi, My Name Is Ed And I Am A Saltholic!

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.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Two Life Insurance Potholes In The Road. Blood Pressure And Cholesterol!

There was a time when I had a whole different view of obesity and gastric bypass. I think the majority of folks still look at the whole thing through somewhat jaded and certainly uneducated eyes.

I will just be right up front and ask to be forgiven for the way I felt about the issue. I truly had no idea back then just how hard it can be to break the cycle of obesity and I truly had no idea just how at risk of premature death someone could be if they were extremely overweight. I just thought of it as a control problem and a gastric bypass as an easy way out.

After years of study I have a much different view of obesity and just how difficult it is to make meaningful changes in your weight and I also had a much greater appreciation for just how much danger a person was in the longer the weight stayed on. The risk of high blood pressure and stroke, diabetes and heart disease are not things that can be taken lightly and certainly aren’t health issues that, if a person has a way of stopping them, should be put off or ignored.

The studied truth is that for those whose health is at risk due to obesity, gastric bypass is starting to not just be seen as measure of last resort, but as a prudent medical decision. Studies have shown that most people being treated for hypertension or type 2 diabetes can be off of medication completely within just a few weeks of having the surgery. In the truest sense the bypass surgery isn’t just a treatment, but a cure.

From a life insurance standpoint, gastric bypass is viewed cautiously until the weight loss has stabilized. This usually takes about a year. It’s during this year that complications can still crop up. Then, most of the companies that are good with obesity issues will want to see a year of stability before they will approve at standard or better rates.

Bottom line. Gastric bypass surgery is not just an obesity easy button. It’s a measured decision that can help save a person’s life.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Does Gastric Bypass Surgery Saves Lives?

When I do an on the phone interview with a potential life insurance client I ask a series of medical questions that help me to decide the appropriate rate classification to quote. Part of the application process, whether it is done with your agent or with the examiner is called Part 2 of the application. This is where you get the opportunity to divulge your entire medical history.

I consider Banner Life’s Part 2 medical-history to be one of the more thorough. Some of the forms ask about medical history for the last 10 years and I think this misleads potential insureds into believing that medical history prior to that doesn’t matter. You may have survived breast cancer more than 10 years ago or recovered from a stroke more than 10 years ago, but those are still relevant events that will impact underwriting. Even if you answer no to something because it happened over 10 years ago, in all likelihood there is reference to that event in your medical records and it will come out anyway. Might as well lay the cards on the table.

That is why my phone and personal interviews always start with “Have you ever been diagnosed with or treated for?” and end with “Is there anything else in your medical records that we haven’t covered?”. You can see by the medical history form that very few stones are left unturned, but obviously every possible medical issue can’t be listed. That is another radar people will try to fly under thinking that if they don’t divulge it, the underwriter won’t know it. Trust me. You want them to know it up front.

Banner Life’s form has the most extensive family history question I’ve seen. Most companies only ask about heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. I always get a chuckle out of their alcohol question, “Have you ever consumed alcoholic beverages?”

My best advice whether asked by an agent or an examiner, or left to answer these questions on an application on your own….be honest. Your life is chronicled in your medical records and even in information from other insurance applications. Independent agents are good at making lemonade out of lemons. Let them do it for you.

Bottom line. We all have a medical history, or at least all of us old folks. You might be able to slide one by an underwriter, but if your policy is approved in the absence of information known to you and withheld from the underwriter, it is contestable. Don’t do that to your family.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Life Insurance Application. Part Two Medical!

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 is actually a period during sleep when a person quits breathing. It is almost always, when they start breathing again, followed by a loud snore or gasping. Sleep apnea is not a mortality issue in the sense that people quit breathing and don’t start again. Think of it as a more severe instance like those when you have been reading or something relaxing and you just haven’t been breathing deeply, and you suddenly have the need for a good deep breath.

So the issue isn’t about whether a person will forget to start breathing or not. Our body takes care of that quite well, albeit a bit loudly. The real issues have to do with the stress put on your body by two things. First, especially in more severe apnea where a person can quit breathing up to 50 times per hour, there is an issue with a lack of oxygen during sleeping hours. The other is that sleep apnea simply disrupts normal sleep patterns and makes for a tired, sleep deprived person the next day.

So the real mortality issues become sleep deprivation and the possibility of a higher rate of accidents, and the oxygen deprivation causing high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. The other less talked about mortality issue is that your spouse may cause you substantial harm because of your snoring.

So, what do underwriters want to see for optimal results? A good sleep study that defines the problem as mild, moderate or severe. Mild or moderate bring the best results from a rate class standpoint. Probably the biggest issue for an underwriter is what you do about the apnea and how compliant you are with whatever treatment is chosen. If you have a sleep study with a cpap on that shows the cpap reduces your instances of apnea to almost nothing, but you then only use the cpap once in a while, or half the night, compliance is poor and control isn’t good. You aren’t going to win any underwriter points. Surgically corrected obstructive sleep apnea, if success is documented by a study, can put you back into best rate class running barring any other risk factors, such as obesity.

Bottom line. There are real reasons for underwriter caution with sleep apnea, but if you are serious about your approach to treatment there’s no reason you can’t walk away paying very reasonable rates.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

What’s The Big Deal With Sleep Apnea?

It’s been a fascinating couple of years. I will sum it up by saying that we have helped a lot of people get life insurance who never thought they could. And what better way to celebrate the information we’ve shared and the victories we’ve had than with a shared meal, a key word salad.

Diabetes has been at the forefront of our life insurance efforts from the very start. We’ve made huge headway in finding aggressive underwriting for type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. I think our strong point has been in education. There are a lot more people out there today that know what their A1c is than when we started.

I’ve been very clear about where some of the problems lie in our industry. The AARP/New York Life collaboration, on what can only be described as a sick crime against older folks, continue to offer the worst term insurance and whole life insurance in the business. They are simply not the advocate they claim to be.

I’ve stepped on some toes along the way. Selectquote and Zander Life insurance have taken exception to some of my observations. Being a Dave Ramsey fan and I think, ultimately, a reasonable person, I did apologize to Zander. In spite of Selectquote’s berating commentary, I still stand by my assertion that they are biased in what companies they offer (otherwise they wouldn’t be so easy to beat) and I still believe that Suze Orman should go back to waitressing. As to their assertion that I only use Selectquote and Suze Orman for search engine optimization, well, I don’t, even though they think I do. If I didn’t think there was better service elsewhere and more honest advertising, I would never have mentioned Selectquote.

We’ve touched on scuba diving and Prudential being a leader in great rates for recreational divers. Pru also stomps the competition on prostate cancer, sleep apnea and mild anxiety issues. While providing direction on those issues we have also been able to provide direction for those involved in skydiving and foreign travel to places where kidnap and ransom insurance is more than just a casual thought.

We’ve stayed abreast of the economic meltdown and recession that have whacked us all and tried to help people understand how best to handle their life insurance needs in these tight times.

We’ve held lengthy discussions about obesity and the impact it can have on other health issues such as hypertension or high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, heart attack, stroke and cancer. We’ve discussed the risk and benefits of gastric bypass surgery as a means to avoid the life threatening side effects of being over weight.

Probably our biggest response has been from those suffering from depression and bipolar disorder. We reached a group of people that have truly been black balled in the insurance industry and we’ve been able to find some level headed underwriting and hit some major home runs for those who have the name tag but lead normal lives.

We have bared the facts behind the black eye of all black eyes in the insurance industry, the non guaranteed whole life, universal life and variable universal life policies and explained the alternatives in the permanent insurance market. There is nothing that provides greater value and peace of mind than a rock solid guarantee.

We’ve had frank discussions about business life insurance such as key man insurance and buy/sell life insurance. We did a whole series on women and life insurance. We’ve provided direction and information to private pilots that they aren’t getting anywhere else. We’ve talked about the guts of the policy when it comes to the two year suicide and incontestability clause and the accelerated death benefit and the beneficiary rights and the beneficiary issues for those who aren’t in a legal relationship such as a gay couple or an unmarried couple.

Bottom line. And the list goes on and on. We’ve tried to leave no stone unturned and no question unanswered in our quest to find life insurance for those whose mortality risk might be more challenging than average. As an independent agent it has been gratifying to have so many ways to help those who have been mishandled by the wrong agent or the wrong company. As we continue to reach out my prayer is that all who need help find it, and that more agents consider serving those who are harder to help.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Post #900. A Recap Of Almost Everything We’ve Talked About. A Veritable Key Word Salad!

With the percentage of Hispanics in the US being almost double what it is for Anglo Americans, the challenge of finding affordable life insurance to ensure the family heritage and legacy needs to be more focused than ever.

In most cases diabetes is ultimately insurable. Latino statistics aside, it still comes down to the same underwriting criteria. Good rates are available but those rates come with control and compliance. Life insurance underwriters don’t have a cultural mortality study that impacts rates, but they do have mortality risk studies that tell them what can be expected if a person isn’t compliant with treatment and if that ultimately leads to poor control of glucose levels.

The reason for underwriter’s concern and careful underwriting of diabetes is the host of collateral health issues that can ultimately make the disease deadly. Those with type 2 diabetes, especially poorly controlled, are at a substantially increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney problems. If you factor in the major risk factor for diabetes being obesity, you drag along increased risk of stroke and cancer.

The good news is in good control. To put it bluntly, the good news lies with those who care enough to change their lifestyle and deal with it. Losing weight is huge in the fight with type 2 diabetes. For those who can meet that challenge through diet and exercise, it’s a home run. They have changed a life style and snapped the link that has them tied to a downward spiral with diabetes. Studies have shown that even those who need to employ a more drastic approach such as gastric bypass surgery, with the weight loss comes almost immediate improvement in their diabetes control. In many cases the drastic weight loss completely cures the diabetes.

So, what are life insurance underwriters looking at when they consider diabetes as an underwriting issue?

1. Age of onset. Type 1 diabetes is generally diagnosed between early childhood and age 30. The later the onset, the better. Children with type 1 diabetes are almost always not insurable for reasons that, while lame, are the facts of the issue. With type 2 diabetes, optimal chances for good rates would be with diagnosis after age 50. A few companies are leaning toward age 40 as long as all other risk factors are good, but prior to 40 there will be a hit with virtually all companies.
2. Compliance! Underwriters want to see people who have taken the bull by the horns and are exercising, losing weight, actively monitoring their diabetes with regular glucose checks. They also want to know that you see your doctor regularly (every three months is pretty standard) so that your doctor can monitor all the risk factors and also run blood tests that will include an A1c or hbA1c. Compliance with medications is crucial. Taking medication only when your glucose spikes isn’t compliant.
3. Control. As measured by the A1c, underwriters would consider excellent control to be an A1c of 6.5 or under, good control 6.5 to 7.5, and questionable control 7.5 to 8 and poor control over 8.
4. Education. Life insurance underwriters would like to know that you understand your diabetes probably to a higher degree than your doctor is willing to provide education for. That means self education and group diabetes education is a good idea. Don’t depend on your doctor to make you smart about your disease and what you should be doing about it.
5. Monitoring risk factors. The best rates come with good control and no other risk factors, so checking blood pressure and cholesterol, and staying ahead of any impending issues with regular checkups is imperative.

Bottom line. Diabetes is a life insurance showstopper and a life longevity demon if you allow it. Take control and the picture changes dramatically.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Diabetes In The Hispanic Population! Does It Impact Life Insurance?

One of the key life insurance underwriting factors for just about any health or mental health issue is compliance with treatment and avoidance of other risk factors and collateral health issues.

Compliance is taking medication prescribed exactly as it’s prescribed. If you’re prescribed medication for blood pressure to be taken twice a day, take it twice a day, not just when you feel like you have high blood pressure. Compliance is about seeing your doctor as often as they need you to and taking tests that they suggest and order in a timely manner.

Compliance is about making lifestyle changes. If obesity is an issue that is driving your health problem into the danger zone, do something about it. If you’ve tried and can’t seem to make any headway, talk to your doctor about gastric bypass surgery. While there are dangers that go with the procedure, there are also dangers that go with remaining morbidly obese. If your doctor tells you to quit smoking because you have heart disease or COPD, get real about your future and quit smoking.

A study recently released showed that heart patients were literally overcoming the medication provided to lower blood pressure and cholesterol by continuing to smoke and not changing eating habits. They seem to believe that the medication will overcome their lifestyle when all evidence shows that just exactly the opposite is true.

I had an inquiry just today that stated, “I have tried to get life insurance but have run into problems I have had a mini stroke 5 years ago and I have diabetes non insulin I smoke and have mild emphysema and I have high blood pressure but it is under control with medicine. I am trying to get insurance for my family can you help?” Well, no would be the answer. Here is a person with 4 health issues, all of which are exacerbated by smoking, and they continue to smoke. I wish I could help everyone that inquires, but this person has put themselves solidly in the decline column and won’t move from there until they start taking health seriously.

The good news is that for those that do take that heart attack seriously and make the necessary life style changes and work with the medicine instead of against it, mortality prospects are good and life insurance is attainable.

Bottom line. In your quest for good life insurance rates there is simply no replacement for following doctors orders and using common sense.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Compliance Isn’t All About Taking The Pills!

Talk about a sensitive issue. The truth is that being overweight isn’t an easy thing to be and it isn’t an easy thing to talk about, and when you are told your life insurance will cost more because of it, it feels like a slap in the face.

Having said that, no one needs to beat around the bush when it comes to life insurance underwriting. The cost of life insurance is determined by the mortality risk and the mortality experience of a given condition, in this case obesity. In the case of obesity, the potential of collateral health issues is high and the health issues are serious.

I think too often in our society we get hung up on weight as a cosmetic issue and when we get frustrated with it we tend to believe that what we look like is all the we are giving up. Even nutritionists tend to focus more on the looks and sidestep the danger of health complications. With obesity being the major cause of diabetes, and a large contributor to other health issues such as high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, heart disease and cancer, health ought to be the primary concern, not the secondary.

Having said all that, if you are overweight there should be plenty of impetus to have life insurance in force. But, with underwriters taking a pretty negative view of obesity, how do you find rates that are affordable? That starts with a serious obligation to what you can budget and a visit with an independent life insurance agent. Keep in mind that the life insurance rule of thumb that something is always better than nothing is completely true. While you might want $500,000 for your spouse, if your budget can only afford $250,000, the prudent thing to do is to put in force what you know you can keep in force. Believe me, if it’s only $100,000, your spouse will know that is better than a policy that you used to have but couldn’t afford anymore.

So, how big is too big? There is a point where life insurance companies simply won’t take the risk. Probably the best company out there when it comes to being willing to take the risk is Prudential. To give you an idea of their upper limits, with them you would be uninsurable if you were:

5’4 and over 323#
5’6 and over 344#
5’8 and over 365#
5’10 and over 387#
6’1 and over 421#

Below those numbers you are insurable and the lower your weight the better the rates.

Bottom line: Before weight starts to take a physical toll on your body, get life insurance in force. Once you have your family protected, do what it takes to drop the weight. Even gastric bypass is a reasonable consideration compared to a lifetime with diabetes. Once your weight is down ask your agent to help you find an even better deal.

Post from: Ed Hinerman On Life Insurance

Why Obesity Impacts Life Insurance Rates! How Can You Find The Lowest Rate?