Nationwide Health

NHP underwriting recently declined an applicant who's F, 32, seeming healthy w/ mild ADD, saline implants (rate up for most insurer, I know) but the kicker was the fact that she went to her doctor and complained about a shoulder pain (which she never disclosed to me during pre-screen but NHP saw in doctor's record) and had received viccodin and the combo of all that is the reason for decline. Now I'm trying to get her and hubby into BC and chances are they'll qualify with either a 25-50% rate up.

I had another lady who listed a 'dropped foot' which happened in the '60's and she had no records of it but claims it doesn't even bother her and her current doctor didn't even know it existed, but NHP declined her after a month long underwriting process while Assurant accepted her in less than 10 days.

I've talked to a few seasoned vets and they all agree that NHP is at times impossible to get and borderline unreasonable. Seems like they don't really care for any new business... Their plans sound really good while price and deductible/max oop always seem to be lower than competitors but the fact that its so damn hard to get just seem to turn me off. When I pre-screen now, unless applicant sounds super healthy, I don't even want to mention Nationwide to them... I had this one family who were declined by NHP and it took soooooo long for underwriting that when I tried to savage it by offering them something else, they were so turned off by the whole experience that they don't even answer my calls anymore:-(
 
LOL! What you just described is a pretty accurate description of thier underwriting. What you need to work on I guess (it seems you're already starting to realize this) is knowing the underwriting of each appointment you have. For instance, if a client has mild hypertension or mild cholesterol but controlled I would never (being more experienced) try to place these people with NHP. I'm off to either Aetna or Blue Shield.

Don't worry, there are still healthy clients out there you can place with them if you want. It's just "knowing" which direction to go. Unfortunately there is no "one size fits all" carrier out there. Not good ones anyways. Good luck and don't let a few bad cases discourage you! If I did that then I'll tell you I probably wouldn't be selling any health anymore!
 
Exactly, NHP's plans seem the easiest to understand for most seeking coverage... No co-insurance & lower deductibles compared to most other insurer. But again, the kicker is NHP is hard to qualify for... And the commission is 20%, 16% for a 25% rate-up and 14% for 50% rate-up.
 
My experience has been that companies who turn down a higher percentage of applications also turn down a higher percentage of claims. They develop a culture of saying, "NO".

"NO" we aren't going to accept your application, "NO" we aren't going to pay your claim. "NO", "NO", "NO".
 
BOR said:
My experience has been that companies who turn down a higher percentage of applications also turn down a higher percentage of claims. They develop a culture of saying, "NO".

"NO" we aren't going to accept your application, "NO" we aren't going to pay your claim. "NO", "NO", "NO".
Click to expand...

And what experience is that? Do you submit many apps to Nationwide? Have you submitted to them in the past? If you have I would appreciate your expert knowledge of their claims history. I certainly haven't run into this myself yet....
I have many clients who have had Nationwide for many years and don't have negative experiences.
Hmmmm....where are you going with this?
 
008 said:
Hi, I'm rather new to the health ins. field and I'm currently appointed w/Assurant, Nationwide and BCBS in California. I'm wondering how Nationwide is working out for other agents in CA. Many of my applicants have been declined by Nationwide. It seems their underwriting is a lot more strict than others. Any thoughts or tips for a noobie agent? Thanks.
Click to expand...

008, Welcome to the health insurance business. Nationwide has the recognized best HSA plan available in California, this has been verified by lots of seasoned agents I have spoken to. Certainly it is no secret that their underwritting can be tough. From what I understand you are going to have to get to know the underwritting of each carrier as much as possible so you can do as much field underwritting as possible before placing the business with one carrier or another. Some agents will place several applications at the same time (with separate carriers) to increase the likelyhood of an applicatant being accepted somewhere.

Tips for a Noobie agent.

Certainly learn the plans and understand the underwritting process. Also keep in mind that the best insurance marketer is the most succesfull in the insurance business.
 
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