Long Before I Was Known For It!

Well before I was known for being someone with bipolar disorder, a reasonably stable, high functioning someone with bipolar disorder, I was the go to guy in the US, most of Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for those in need of life insurance who preceded me in boarding the boat so to speak. As I scoured the landscape of life insurance possibilities for niches that needed help in presenting their stories to underwriters, I found few that were more roundly abused and thrown into the corner of the underwriting bucket than bipolar II.

By then type 2 diabetes had been beaten into submission and the world of pseudo impaired risk life life insurance agents were feeding off the business generated by that niche. I don’t want to sound like I’m not appreciative of the work they do. It’s just, well, I feel a whole new crop of impaired risk life agents stopped short of their potential by not picking out more impairments, studying them and getting good at asking the right questions, and expanding their sphere of influence. How many of them even went on to the obvious type 1 diabetes? Type 1 diabetes life insurance is a little tougher nut to crack, but with the same questions about age of onset, control as measured by A1c, current age and other health issues, very doable by an agent willing to put in the effort.

But back to bipolar and the whole swath of mood disorders. I remember the first blog post sticking my toe in the water of mood disorder life insurance underwriting. It had to do with what I considered a grave injustice, that of a doctor who had taken an anti anxiety medication during his residency. He took one of the minor mood meds during that crazy time that we all see on TV, on shows like Gray’s Anatomy, and once he got used to the hours and pace, not since then as a resident or a doctor. In spite of perfect health a life insurance company and the agent that represented it wanted him to choke down a standard rate class because of that history of  mood disorder treatment.

The story ends happily as I was able to find half a dozen companies that didn’t see any problem with their best life insurance rate class fitting his portfolio. And from there I found out client by client just how far we could stretch what were the old bucket life insurance underwriting boundaries. Soon we were getting minor mood disorders with current good control and stability that coveted best life insurance rate class and then eventually bipolar disorder. Then I found out that there was a virtual treasure box of entrepreneurs, successful business people from CEO’s to Presidents of large clinics and law firms who were high functioning, really driven clients in waiting. These CEO’s and presidents needed business life insurance and needed it at reasonable rates because 1. They were responsible for the budget of their business and 2. They were buying millions, sometimes in excess of $20 to over $100 million for different aspects of their business.

Bottom line. Until life insurance agents back fill this niche and need, clients are going unserved and under served. It’s good business and saves clients tons of money. If you have questions about your life insurance and whether you got the best rate class possible or if you’re an agent and you have a big business life insurance case that involves mood disorders that you need help with, call or email me directly. My name is Ed Hinerman. Let’s talk.