If you haven’t listened to the Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast, I would highly recommend checking it out. Episode 10 features Ben Newman, author of “Uncommon Leadership: 11 Ways the Greatest Leaders Lead.” Ben shares how impactful life insurance has been in his life.

As a proponent of life insurance, Ben said, “In my opinion, this is the golden age of insurance and investments — it has never been better for our industry.” He went on to share, that from his perspective, there will likely be tax increases in the future, increases in the capital gains tax and uncertainty surrounding estate taxes. These are things consumers are likely concerned about.

For clients with similar concerns to Ben, our brochure, “Purchasing Life Insurance with Qualified Funds,” may be a great resource. This brochure shares why consumers may want to consider using their qualified funds to purchase life insurance coverage.

For this and other great resources, click HERE to view our life website. To listen to the Business of Advice with Cody Foster podcast, click HERE.

 

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Underwriting uncovered — the importance of identifying potential pitfalls

This month’s featured case is a 62-year-old male with a history of prostate cancer. The applicant’s prostate cancer was past the flat extra period, so the insurance policy was applied for at a standard rate class. The applicant’s doctor is happy with how the prostate-specific antigens (PSAs) are trending and that they are undetectable, as well as encouraging his steady weight loss.

Conventional wisdom would tell you with all this information, a carrier would have easily approved the application as applied for at standard rates. But this was not the case. The original carrier postponed the applicant due to his PSA fluctuating by 0.01, despite the doctor saying it was undetectable. Their stated reason for this action was they felt the doctor was using too high of an undetectable threshold and felt the variance between readings was concerning. In addition, they considered the weight loss as a sign of recurrence. To add to the situation, the carrier felt a post-spinal surgery lump, and pain was a strong indicator of metastatic disease. What was most frustrating in our back-and-forth on this case was the doctor had an explanation and positive notes for each of these concerns but to no avail.

Working with the agent and the AE Sales team, the AE Underwriting team was able to reach out to several carriers and identify two that agreed with our assessment that each of these concerns was not a sign of reoccurrence. And that if there was metastatic disease, the current PSA would be at a much higher level. A straightforward situation that turned complex was saved and moved to a carrier that exhibited a better understanding of prostate cancer and how it behaves.

This case is a great example of how, even if the case seems straightforward, you shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to your Sales team or the Underwriting team to ask questions. The sooner we can identify potential pitfalls, the sooner we can start a discussion with the target carrier, as well as explore alternative solutions if necessary.

Results are not guaranteed.

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