Ed Hinerman on Life insurance

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Weight Loss Doesn’t Always Produce Cholesterol Control!
2007-12-06 00:00:00
Well, it’s almost a hard and fast rule. In most overweight people, weight loss will lead to lower lipid levels and a healthier balance between total cholesterol and HDL, good cholesterol. Almost! Anyone who follows the whole cholesterol issue, or for that matter watches television and sees cholesterol lowering drug commercials, knows that part of the ...
More About: Weight Loss , Weight , Loss , Control , Cholesterol

Step Back From That Avandia Bottle!
2007-12-04 00:00:00
After the FDA recently took rather extreme action by forcing Avandia to boldly mark it’s bottles with warnings that the drug can cause heart attacks, Avandia took another hit. It seems that some studies had shown an increased incidence of broken bones among women who used Avandia. Newer studies have isolated the reason. “The drug, say ...
More About: Back , Step , Bottle

Should Smoking Affect Your Life Insurance Rates?
2007-12-04 00:00:00
Well, let’s start out with the clear and simple truth. Smoking does impact your life insurance rates and not by just a little bit. Should it? We’ve talked at length about the problems with smoking and the myriad of health issues it causes or makes worse. From the obvious like lung cancer and COPD, to obscure ...
More About: Life , Insurance , Life Insurance , Rates

It Must Be Altitude Sickness!
2007-12-04 00:00:00
I really think there must be some confusion. Men’s Health has decided that Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado’s two largest cities, are respectively the number one and number three drunkest cities in the country. Ouch!! Right up front I want you to understand that I am a Colorado patriot of sorts, except for the Broncos. I’m ...
More About: Sickness

PSA Testing. Should You Do It Regularly?
2007-12-03 00:00:00
PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) tests have long been the standard test for determining BPH (enlarged prostate), Prostatitis (infection of the prostate) and prostate cancer. There are two events that are watched for. The event that far too many people experience is when they are not being tested on at least an annual basis and when ...
More About: Testing

This Is Not A Stroke Of Genius!
2007-12-03 00:00:00
The leading cause of stroke is out of control high blood pressure. More than 72 million people in America have high blood pressure and more than 70% of those do not have what could be called well controlled hypertension. In my life insurance dealings with those who have high blood pressure, it appears that the leading ...
More About: Stroke , Genius

Let’s just be candid!
2007-12-03 00:00:00
It always seems to come in streaks. Lies. Half truths. Whatever you want to call them, they get in the way of an agent doing the best, most professional job. We always go through a list of health questions before we offer quotes. These questions are broad intentionally. They start with “Have you ever been told ...

Let’s Talk About Your Lifestyle!
2007-12-02 01:07:00
If everyone followed all of the advice of all of the experts on healthy lifestyle, we would soon find out if being boring increases your mortality risk. For most of us, it just comes down to doing the best we can. We’ve talk about how to eat and how not to eat. We’ve talked about the effect of obesity on diabetes and high blood pressure. We’ve talked about how to offset some of the bad news with a prudent exercise regimen. One we haven’t touched on that I can remember is the American tendency to work too hard and sleep too little. A Columbia university study has found a connection between sleep deprivation and diabetes exhibited in increased insulin resistance and decreased glucose tolerance. This is not a health anomaly. Insufficient sleep has also been shown to have a negative impact on weight control and blood pressure. On average adults should get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. I know in my case it’s a good night when I can get 7 and a home run if I...
More About: Lifestyle , Talk

Confusing For You? Confusing For Your Life Insurance Agent!
2007-11-30 15:09:00
Prices are dropping! Save 60% to 70% on term life insurance! We’ve all read the articles and seen the advertisements. We would all like a piece of that less expensive pie to protect our families. But, is it real? Does the agent you are talking to really know how to find those rates? Does your agent really want to find those rates? Reading an industry magazine, a colorful advertisement caught my eye with the statement “Seize a new opportunity with Life first - the powerful new term product from Foresters”. It presented a comparison with five other companies showing just how great their pricing is. Using a male age 45, best health class, purchasing $600,000 of 20 year term, it stacked up like this. Foresters was $855 annually. Shanendoah was $978, Old Mutual $1236, Americo $1338 and Chesapeake $1396. Clearly Foresters is a force to be reckoned with, right? While this ad was designed to attract agents to sell Foresters, and it will, the same information will go out to ...
More About: Agent , Insurance , Life Insurance , Gent

New Mammography Technology Yields Better Results!
2007-11-30 00:00:00
New technology called stereoscopic digital mammography is proving to be dramatically more accurate than standard digital mammography. Initial testing has shown a decrease in false positive findings of almost 50% with the new technology and it reduced the incidence of missed lesions by 40%. This is huge. Eliminating false positives will reduce dramatically the need for ...
More About: Technology , Results , MMOG

Who Says Curves For Women Doesn’t Work?
2007-11-30 00:00:00
I bet you thought you would never see the day when I had good news to report on obesity in America. Having harped on how America’s obesity has steadily increased for the last 25 years, how it is changing the health and lives of the country through diabetes, cancer and heart disease……finally some good news. Our ...
More About: Women , For Women , Work , Curves

The African American Dilemna With Prostate Cancer!
2007-11-30 00:00:00
It is a statistical fact, and certainly no secret, that African American men continue to take more of a beating from prostate cancer than men from any other ethnic background in this country. They are more likely to get prostate cancer. They are less likely to detect it early and they are more likely to ...
More About: Cancer , Prostate Cancer , African American

Please Don’t Shoot The Messenger!
2007-11-30 00:00:00
I know at times it seems that my agenda is more focused on obesity than helping people who are overweight find affordable life insurance. My goal has always been to help people with weight issues become educated on how life insurance underwriters look at obesity which is directly linked to how obesity effects health. I think ...
More About: Messenger , The Messenger , Shoot , Mess

Obesity Breeds Denial!!
2007-11-30 00:00:00
In case no one has noticed, I occasionally offer my opinion, my take on a real life issue. The truth is that about 5% of overweight people that inquire about life insurance actually buy it. Most will never return a call after they have seen the quotes that their build generates. They don’t want to deal ...
More About: Obesity , Breeds , Denial , Breed

Prostate Cancer Science Marches On!
2007-11-30 00:00:00
The Prostate Cancer Foundation has an annual scientific retreat where the top research scientists get together and review and summarize the major breakthroughs of the year. The Foundation provided a summary this week that, thank you, offered the summaries in language that would excite a scientist, and a separate summary that helps us normal folks ...
More About: Science , Prostate Cancer , Marches

Advocacy Feeds On Itself!!
2007-11-30 00:00:00
There are days when you think things just can’t get any more ridiculous. That would not be in the world of advocacy groups. Webster defines advocate as “one that supports or promotes the interests of another”. Today one advocacy group advocated another advocacy group knowing full well that neither of them are ...
More About: Advocacy

Pack Your Parts And Move To The Country!!
2007-11-30 00:00:00
Being a longtime small town dweller, it is my personal belief that just driving through a large city can be dangerous to your health. There is the obvious risk that goes with driving along with a bazillion other cars, but just the stress and anxiety that goes with having to work your life around the ...
More About: Country , Move , Parts , Pack

Estate Tax Repeal ? Will It Really Happen?
2007-11-30 00:00:00
A recent senate finance committee meeting was convened to hear both sides of the argument on the 2010 repeal of estate taxes. As I have pointed out in previous posts, the estate tax has been modified over the past 7 years to make it less of a burden on medium sized estates.  In 2009, the size ...
More About: Estate , Repeal , Estate tax

Estate Tax Burden Easing?
2007-11-30 00:00:00
Currently the federal estate tax exemption, the amount of an estate that can pass on to a family without being taxed (at the federal level), is $2,000,000. This is up from an estate gobbling $600,000 just 7 years ago. Remember that a persons entire estate can pass tax free to their spouse, no matter how large ...
More About: Estate , Estate tax

Stand Up For Your Right To Be Healthy!!
2007-11-21 00:00:00
The beat to death mantra of needing to get out and exercise 30 minutes at least 5 days a week to prevent our demise due to sedentary life styles is accurate, but without much effort we can do a lot more. Consider this in our battle with obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Think small now. Instead ...
More About: Healthy , Stand Up , Stand , Stand-Up , Heal

Life Insurance Bait And Switch! Why Does It Work?
2007-11-21 00:00:00
Bait and switch! The practice of sucking someone into the sales process by offering something attractive with the full knowledge that you (the salesperson) can’t come through with that offer in the end. Bait and switch is a favorite topic of those who whine about life insurance and life insurance agents. So, why does it work? ...
More About: Life , Insurance , Work , Life Insurance , Switch

If Weight Was Everything……
2007-11-21 00:00:00
Not too long ago while writing on the obesity problem in America I ran across a state by state breakdown that showed my home state, Colorado, as being one of the 4 leanest states in the country. I wasn’t too surprised, as we are kind of an exercising, outdoorsy bunch. Then last night I heard on ...
More About: Weight , Weigh

How Dark Can It Be, This Place Where Underwriters Hide Their Heads?
2007-11-21 00:00:00
Life insurance underwriters have a tough job, determining mortality risk based on all the different health factors, assigning rates that are fair to the customer and the company. But sometimes they don’t want to deal with something, so they jumble it up and throw it back at us agents. Before I get vague, let me just ...
More About: Dark , Place , Heads , Hide

Why Turn A Deaf Ear To A Diabetes Cure?
2007-11-21 00:00:00
I know that I’ve often heard that the big drug companies really don’t want to find cures for things such as diabetes and it always leaves me shaking my head. Their purported reason for avoiding the cure is that a cure would kill the cash cow they have in selling the life long treatment. I ...
More About: Diabetes , Turn , Cure

Underwriting Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes!
2007-11-21 00:00:00
All things being equal, underwriting type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes really hinge on the same issues. So, why is it that type 1 seems to incur a heavier hit than type 2? Remember that with type 2 diabetes, underwriting focuses on age of onset, control and other risk factors. The real swing factor is ...
More About: Diabetes , Type , Type 1

This Is Enough To Scare Insurance Companies?
2007-11-21 00:00:00
Some time ago I started on a quest to find out the facts about mortality experience of children with type 1 diabetes. The issue I had initially run into was that insurance companies simply would not offer life insurance to children with type 1 diabetes, almost across the board. A few said they would consider ...
More About: Companies , Insurance

Don’t Be A Victim Of Hemodilution!!
2007-11-21 00:00:00
No need to cringe. I’m not about to go on another tear about obesity……but I did run across a rather interesting phenomenom in an article today. The premise is that PSA readings in obese men can be falsely lower because they have a larger volume of plasma, thus “decreasing serum concentrations of soluble tumor markers ...
More About: Victim

Consider This Next Time You Are Asked About Your Family History!
2007-11-18 00:00:00
Family history is one of those life insurance questions that kind of gets people on the defensive. Generally the contention revolves around the fact that the younger person claims that they live an entirely different lifestyle and therefore, whatever happened to their parents doesn’t pertain to them. I just read an article that kind of slams ...
More About: Family , History , Time , Consider

Prostate Cancer Not Just For Old Guys!
2007-11-18 00:00:00
In all the study and writing we’ve done on the subject of prostate cancer, we’ve uncovered some interesting little tidbits. In an article I cited in a recent post they claimed that 30% of men in their 30’s had prostate cancer at some level. Another study cited some time ago stated that all men will ...
More About: Cancer , Prostate Cancer , Guys , Prostate , Prost

Is There Any Question?
2007-11-18 00:00:00
Just when I think I’ve heard it all concerning how stupid or dangerous drinking can be, here we go…….I was too drunk to drive so I had my son drive! But the son was 13 and was drunk also! The son was charged with DUI. Bottom line. No life insurance company I can think of would feel ...
More About: Question