Insurance issue

[Musiclover]

We bought our first house a few months ago and so we wanted to get additional life insurance to cover our mortgage and the nurse that came to do our medical was a total b....tch. She knew I had the lap band surgery done but still felt it necessary to give me a long winded lecture on 'lifestyle' changes I could make (of which I have worked like a dog on but apparently not hard enough). I was in tears and couldn't even respond. After the medical I was contacted by my doctor that the insurance company had contacted him and I had to come in for a visit. So I was sure it would be about my bp but all they asked the doctor about was the lap band surgery (of which he didn't know all that much about as he is a GP and I had the surgery done in Mexico). They didn't even ask about high bp. So I just found out that I was refused insurance coverage. Apparently because of having high blood pressure. Does anybody else find it odd that I would be refused instead of rated when a huge percentage of people have high bp? My doctor felt they were mixing up lap band and gastric bypass surgery as lap band is only going to help one's health in the long run. I am really bitter about this as I feel this was an uniformed decision on their part. If they were so concerned about my bp, why didn't they ask the doctor to test it?

Has this happened to anybody else post surgery? I am going to wait until I am in a healthy bmi range (should be the end of this year or early 2009) and then try again.

[Kim2BSlim]

Oh gosh..I am sorry that happened to you. My Mom has been denied Health Coverage for years because she has High BP. She still has no health insurance.

[Kittycat]

Hi Musiclover,

So sorry you had to endure such nonsense.

I work in the insurance industry and was an underwriter at one time and for private life or disability insurance, you generally are charged premiums based on your medical status which includes your height and weight. I can`t understand why you wouldn`t be approved and at least provided with a choice of paying a higher premium.

I would re-investigate it again...or go to another insurance company.

Good Luck!

[jena]

Just some random thoughts...

If you are in the States, contact your State Insurance commissioner's office. See if someone from there can intervene on your behalf.

What kind of life insurance did you apply for? There is probably a better chance if you look for term insurance. You can ask for an exclusion for your high bp maybe.

Find out from the insurance company if you can appeal now, or how long the waiting period is.

Every company where I've worked offers a minimum life insurance policy for free and you can obtain higher coverage and/or coverage for your spouse for a low cost per $10 thousand over the basic policy the company gives you. Maybe you and/or your husband already have this through your job so check that out.

Finally, if all else fails, take the money that you would have spent for the policy and open a Roth IRA and deposit it every month. Hopefully you will live a long and happy life AND have a nice sized retirement account too!

Jena

[dawns]

I am a nurse who does life insurance exams and first off I would call the parent company that employees the nurse that came to your house and let them know how you were treated. You can find out the company the insurance company uses to contract that nurse by just calling the insurance company and asking them who they have do the life insurance exams. Most people who have the life insurance exam assumes that the nurse works for the insurance company that you are trying to get coverage through but that is not how it works. The insurance company actually contracts with another company that contracts nurses and doctors to do the exam. Second of all if I have a high BP on a client the insurance company almost always sends me back out to do a BP recheck and they usually require 3 BP readings at the time of the visit. I am curious to know if the doctor they sent you to took your blood pressure during the visit? Hope this info helps and I am sorry that you had that experience with the nurse. There is no reason for her to have treated you so disrespectfully.

dawns