By Michelle Matlock, Life Quotes, Inc.
When are applying for life insurance, you'll most likely need to take a health check.
Individual life insurance companies have many tools available when it comes to rating policies, and something of those tools is medical underwriting. Because the basis of insurance involves assessing risk, health status plays a vital role within the underwriting process.
What to expect
Paramedical examiners are licensed health care professionals that insurance providers hire to do medical examinations on potential policyholders. Whenever you apply for life insurance coverage you will be necessary to answer a number of medical questions, or should you apply for a policy at an insurance coverage website, you are able to fill out a questionnaire online. The 2nd part of the application is really a medical form that's completed because of your examiner. Examinations are usually performed within the privacy of your house or office.
Most paramedical exams require examiners to gather a urine sample and blood draw. Additionally, you will be asked to provide your license and ssn. Typically an examiner need alternative types of identification like a military ID, passport or state issue identification cards having a photo ID. This article be used to complete the lab ticket. The lab uses your complete blood count (CBC), to eliminate a number of conditions for example leukemia, cancer or HIV. You may even be required to have a liver function test, or perhaps a Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin (CDT) test, which is often used to rule out alcoholism, cirrhosis along with other liver diseases. Lab technicians also look at your cholesterol level, which is used to evaluate your risk for cardiac arrest or stroke.
In addition to urine and liquid blood samples, examiners will look at your blood pressure, pulse rate, and measure your weight and height. In some cases, you may be required to take an X-ray or treadmill test. Some exams may need checking your "timed vital capacity" (TVC). This can be a breathing test that determines how well your lungs are functioning. They might also require some applicants who smoke or possess a history of cardiovascular disease to have an electrocardiogram (EKG), an evaluation that records electrical alterations in the heart.
Questions your examiner asks you include:
1. Name and address of private physician?
2. Date and reason last consulted?
3. What treatment was handed or medication prescribed?
What you need to do
While some folks find paramedical examinations just a little daunting, the extent of the paramedical exam varies by insurance provider.
Also, some companies require less information than the others and have a shortened version of the paramedical exam. But be warned— if you're a smoker, your mortality minute rates are often greater than nonsmokers, and insurance providers usually need a more thorough medical examination for tobacco users.
"If your agent isn't prepping you for the exam they are not doing what's right," says Ryan Pinney, a brokerage director and insurance risk specialist for Pinney Insurance Center, Inc. in Roseville, Calif. "There a multitude of things that can screw up your lab results that individuals don't consider."
Pinney offers some sage advice that will assist increase your likelihood of doing well with an examination.
1. Don't are drinking alcoholic beverages for 72 hours just before your exam.
2. Do not take your exam if you're dehydrated.
3. Do not take ibuprofen or aspirin as this will create elevated liver function.
4. If you workout or exercise regularly, take a rest for a few days prior to the exam. "When you're employed out your muscles breakdown which can tweak the end result of your lab," says Pinney.
5. Don't eat fats for at least 2 days before your examination. "If you possess an exam approaching and you must choose from a triple cheeseburger or salad, opt for the salad. Even though you don't have high cholesterol levels, fatty foods will temporarily heighten your levels of cholesterol," notes Pinney.
6. Take your exam very first thing in the morning don't hold back until later at night. "Your blood pressure is gloomier in the morning as you have been sleeping for six to 8 hours. It's rarely a good idea to get consumed with stress at work, fight rush hour traffic after which take your exam," Pinney recommends. Additionally, Pinney says whenever you sleep your back compresses, which means you are also just a little taller each morning. "This can help you with regards to measuring your weight and height."
7. Wear your footwear. "When your weight and height is measured it's not necessary to take off your clothes or shoes. But I discourage wearing steel-toed boots or perhaps a tool belt because with respect to the item this may make you 35 pounds heavier. The examiner is not needed to tell you to definitely remove those things," says Pinney. Pinney adds that you're also prohibited to keep your high heel shoes on in a paramedical examination.
8. Never volunteer information. "Let the examiner ask the questions," says Pinney. "When an examiner asks you if you have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease this is not a great time to tell him you have not and then mention you have had chest pains lately. When the insurance company really wants to know more details, the underwriter will contact you."
9. When the examiner asks a question, don't lie. "Do not test to outsmart the insurance coverage company," says Pinney. "Any misrepresentations can be viewed as insurance fraud on the more serious level. Should you omit information or lie, when the insurance company discovers, you will be denied coverage as well as your application is going to be rescinded."
This article was originally posted at Life Quotes, Inc.
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