Some Tips on Learning the Medical Underwriting of Each Company.

RookieYankee

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I am studying the underwritinf to Cigna, Mutual of Omaha, Aetna, Manhattan Life etc. basically I wanted to ask what are some ways you all figured out how to place your clients with dealing with these companies. I know of course time in the field but some tips could go a long way. Since my cold calling skills are so poor I can't place many people in policies, so what were some ways you all learned the underwriting guides? Did you simply read it daily? work with one carrier at first?

One last question: Would you worry more about the medication since that could tell you they have exactly?

Thank you in advance for your advices and tips.
 
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I am studying the underwritinf to Cigna, Mutual of Omaha, Aetna, Manhattan Life etc. basically I wanted to ask what are some ways you all figured out how to place your clients with dealing with these companies. I know of course time in the field but some tips could go a long way. Since my cold calling skills are so poor I can't place many people in policies, so what were some ways you all learned the underwriting guides? Did you simply read it daily? work with one carrier at first?

Thank you in advance for your advices and tips.


You have to read the health questions, obviously. Being in the field and asking the health questions...then you find out they don't qualify, so you pivot to the next company. They all underwrite differently.

Agents are always posting cases on here and asking what company will take this case. When you see this, see how fast you can find a company they qualify for(if they can qualify) and post it. It's good practice and has helped me learn(still learning) apps in Final Expense. You also need to look up drugs on the knockout lists. It takes practice.

For example, after a while you'll know that if you have someone who's too short for their weight...you use Aetna, because they don't use height/weight.
 
Definitely use the underwriting guides provided by each company. Use resources like your FMO, this forum, company underwriters, etc.

If you are tech savvy you could put all the applications on a searchable PDF where you can search the apps for specials cases. This might allow you to narrow it down while you are one the phone.

Also like you said time/experience will be your best tool.
 
When I consider a new carrier I start by printing the app and highlighting the medical questions that are different from my current carrier. Then and only then do I look at the underwriting guide.

Sometimes you will find opportunity, sometimes not.

Goillini found discrepancies in the Companion app vs underwriting.
 
Definitely use the underwriting guides provided by each company. Use resources like your FMO, this forum, company underwriters, etc.

If you are tech savvy you could put all the applications on a searchable PDF where you can search the apps for specials cases. This might allow you to narrow it down while you are one the phone.

Also like you said time/experience will be your best tool.

This is exactly what I do. I do 99% of my quoting from home but I can also do a search from my Android (files are on Dropbox). I limit it to the health question pages but combine them all into one file.
 
A lot of the times the meds will tell you everything you need to know. I use the auto-decline med list quite often. Each carrier has their own list.
Sometimes the client doesn't know why they are taking a specific medication- which, more often than not, is for a decline condition.
Watch out for meds that are combos- I got caught up in that with Cigna. Guy had type II diabetes and high BP. BUT, he was only taking 2 meds for BP, not 3. I thought I was home free- except one of the meds was a combo for 3 BP meds. So, according to Cigna, he was on 4 BP meds- decline.
 
You just have to take some time to read the underwriting guidelines.

It also helps to only have 4 or so "go-to" companies. No need to overwhelm yourself and have 10+ or whatever. I usually start with Omaha or Continental (whose UW guidelines are very similar), then if there are health problems, I know the BC/BS and AARP apps well enough to know where to go from there.

I also keep each company's underwriting department in my phone, if I run across something weird.
 
Just wanted to thank everybody so far for responding to my thread. I appreciate this. So far what I've has been get my top three carriers I use and combed their underwriting. Some diseases I didn't about like Atrial fibrillation vs atrial flutter and so on so I looked it up (thank you Wikipedia) and some things I already knew and started a new evernote note and wrote down what each carrier had for their differences.
 
You just have to take some time to read the underwriting guidelines.

It also helps to only have 4 or so "go-to" companies. No need to overwhelm yourself and have 10+ or whatever. I usually start with Omaha or Continental (whose UW guidelines are very similar), then if there are health problems, I know the BC/BS and AARP apps well enough to know where to go from there.

I also keep each company's underwriting department in my phone, if I run across something weird.

So, AARP a little more liberal on UW than Aetna and OIC ?
 
So, AARP a little more liberal on UW than Aetna and OIC ?

Definitely.

I don't know if it's the same around the country, but in Texas if the client can get past the first 2 health questions, they can get a policy, and their answers to the rest will determine if they'll be rated up or not.
 
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