If you want to get the best life insurance rate, get life insurance before seeing a doctor. If you see a doctor too many times for non-life threatening issues, life insurance companies may see you as a higher risk. Even if you see a doctor for something relatively harmless, like snoring, an overzealous doctor might over-diagnose you to try and make more money.
If you have a spouse and children or have debt, owning life insurance is probably a good idea. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Please protect your loved ones.
Even if you can self-insure because you've got way more assets than liabilities or you've got enough passive income to cover for all your family's ongoing expenses, getting life insurance may still be a good idea depending on the cost.
For over 15 years, life insurance has provided me peace of mind through various stages of my financial journey. Too bad my $1 million 10-year term life policy runs ran out in 2023. I had to scramble to find an affordable life insurance policy because I have two kids. Fortunately, I found a 20-year term policy through Policygenius.
To Get The Best Life Insurance Rate, Be Careful About Seeing Doctors
One of the reasons why life is hard is because there are many systems in place that are stacked against you. It's hard to figure out how to navigate various systems to get the best possible value. The healthcare system, in particular, feels like one massive sham for American consumers.
In 2017, I had the “brilliant idea” of going to the doctor more often to get my money's worth. At the time, I hadn't gotten a physical in five years, had just turned 40, and wanted to check out my snoring habit.
When a new sleep center, called EOS Sleep, opened in San Francisco, I thought it might be wise to check it out. I was curious!
If I was going to pay, at the time, $1,820 a month for health insurance, I shouldn't feel bad about checking out any health issue, no matter how small because you just never know.
I had an oncologist friend tell me once that the cure to cancer is to detect and treat the cancer early. He said too many people come to him when the cancer has already metastasized (stage 4). Unfortunately, once you reach stage 4, the 5-year survival rate is only about 1 percent.
Related: How Often Should You Get A Physical And How Much Does It Cost?
Treating Snoring Cost Me A Fortune
To treat my snoring, I went to the overzealous EOS sleep center where I met an overzealous sleep doctor who checked out my nasal septum without me saying yes. I suddenly found some rod jammed up both nostrils. Once I got the bill, I learned that that 2-minute inspection cost my insurance $1,000!
He then encouraged me to take some sort of machine home that would measure my snoring intensity. Sure, why not since my insurance paid. I was curious to see the results.
After he got the tests back, he, of course, said I snored a lot and had sleep apnea. Therefore, he recommended I use a CPAP machine to help with my breathing and snoring. I agreed to try the CPAP since my insurance covered it. A friend of mine told me he found using a CPAP to be beneficial.
I tried the CPAP machine for 30 days and decided it wasn't for me. It constantly woke me up in the middle of the night and it was uncomfortable to wear.
When all was said and done, the sleep doctor charged my insurance around $6,200. I thought that was a lot of money, but I also felt kind of good that I was able to get some value from my health insurance.
Again, I had not seen the doctor for anything in years at that point, despite paying more than $22,000 a year in health insurance premiums. Oh, how I wish I could get healthcare subsidies like some folks who are multi-millionaires.
Then I had a weird feeling that maybe I was screwing myself in some other way. So I decided to take a break from getting my money's worth.
My Life Insurance Premium Skyrocketed
In 2013, I decided to get a 10-year $1 million term policy for $39.99 a month. I was a healthy 35-year-old back then who had a long-term relationship with USAA since 1996 because my grandfather served in WWII and my father served in Vietnam.
Instead of waiting until 2023 to renew, I decided to get a free quote with my existing provider in 2018 to see if I could get a new term policy. This was one year after seeing the sleep doctor.
I figured the younger I get a new term life insurance policy, the cheaper the premiums would be. Besides, as a new father in 2017, I wanted to get some extra financial security.
To get a $1 million term policy, I had to get my blood drawn, which is the main bummer for getting a term policy of this size. For policies under $1 million, you usually don't need a medical checkup. After about three weeks, USAA came back with a new 10-year term life quote.
New Life Insurance Quote
Ready for it? $450/month from $39.99/month! WTF! How was it possible that I now had to pay 11X more a month for a 10-year, $1 million term just four years later?
Between the time when I got my $1 million, 10-year term policy between 2013 and 2017 when I got my exam, the only thing I did was go to the sleep doctor to check out what was going on with my snoring. I have stayed in good shape and kept my cholesterol and blood pressure in the normal range.
USAA said that since the sleep center said I had “sleep apnea,” my health insurance premium increased. I scored excellent on 10 out of their 11 health categories, but only average for one. USAA refused to explain to me what exactly all the categories were.
I was flummoxed. My snoring wasn't that bad in the first place. I just wanted to check out my snoring because a new sleep center had opened. After getting my sleep apnea diagnosis, my wife stayed up to observe my breathing. She said my sleep apnea seemed mild.
Before going to the new EOS Sleep Center, I should have known the sleep doctors would be overzealous and prescribe unnecessary things to make as much money off me as possible. They had fixed costs to pay!
By diagnosing I had sleep apnea, they could justify charging thousands of dollars a month for the CPAP machine. They also introduced other treatments I didn't need. The EOS Sleep Center closed down a year and a half later to no one's surprise.
The Best Life Insurance Rate Strategy
If you want to get the best life insurance rate, get a 30-year term life insurance policy at around 30. Age 30 is the best age to get life insurance because you still pay the lowest premium, but life usually gets a lot more complicated after 30. We're talking buying a home with a mortgage, getting married, consolidating debt, more responsible at work, and then having kids.
The main life insurance lesson from this post is this:
If possible, get life insurance first and then see the doctor. You also should get life insurance before getting COVID-19!
One of the easiest and quickest ways to check for competitive term life insurance quotes is with PolicyGenius instead of applying to each carrier one-by-one. You'll get customized quotes for free.
To expedite the life insurance process, you may want to settle for less than a $1 million policy to avoid bloodwork, even if you desire for more coverage. Each carrier has different rules, so check to see what the threshold is for when bloodwork is required.
The next life insurance lesson is:
Don't see a medical specialist for minor problems. No matter how much you are paying out the wazoo for health insurance premiums, be conservative with your visits. Some doctors will recommend aggressive, unnecessary treatment to get paid more by insurance companies. Doctors have seen a structural decline in earnings over the past couple of decades. This is due to bureaucracy, higher malpractice insurance premiums, and lower insurance payouts.
As you tend to trust your doctor, you'll probably go along for the ride. Logically, from a life insurance provider's point of view, there is an assumption that the more health work you do, the higher your risk of dying might be.
Your records will now stay online forever for life insurance companies to evaluate. The only way I might be able to rectify my situation is if I go back to the shady sleep doctors and ask them to change in my medical records that I have mild sleep apnea or after further tests, I no longer have sleep apnea.
However, if I attempt that, it'll be another win for the sleep doctors because then they'll get to charge me and my insurance company for more tests. Ah, what an ironic and circular trap! I'm glad they shut down. Thus, my only remaining option is to see another EN&T doctor to certify I'm OK. But if I do this, I'm afraid it might raise another red flag with the life insurance companies.
More Life Insurance Lessons To Know
Always plan ahead. Planning is free, yet for some weird reason some people still don't plan. The cheapest time to get life insurance is when you don't need life insurance. If you plan to have children, take on a tremendous amount of debt with dependents, or let yourself go, it's a good idea to get life insurance beforehand.
Try shopping around for a life insurance quote some other day. Let's say you get bloodwork done for your $1 million policy application and the results are not ideal. If you still want life insurance down the future, identify the problem areas and do your best to get healthier. For example, maybe your cholesterol level was above normal. If so, make it your mission over the next 6-12 months to reduce your cholesterol level. Then reapply for life insurance.
I spoke to my life insurance provider who said they are certainly willing to reprice based on new data. If there was ever a time to try and eat better and exercise more, now is it.
* An interesting idea presented by a reader is get a new checkup and pay all cash. If the tests come back all-clear, then report the results to the insurance company.
The Bright Side Of Expensive Life Insurance
There is a bright side to screwing myself and now facing expensive life insurance premiums. This experience helped me to not only write this post to help others think more strategically about saving money on life insurance, it has also helped me feel more comfortable with self-insurance.
During the three years searching for a new affordable term life insurance policy, I decided to save and invest more. As a result, we've boosted our net worth for more financial security. In addition, I ate better and exercise more, thereby potentially increasing my lifespan.
Finally, during the pandemic, I got motivated to shop around for life insurance. As a result, my wife and I got matching 20-year term life insurance policies at an affordable price through PolicyGenius. Before, we had mismatched death benefits and durations. Now everything is aligned.
Maybe checking out my snoring habit was a good thing after all!
Life Insurance Recommendation
Instead of applying to each life insurance company one by one to find the best rate, apply on PolicyGenius instead. Once you apply, you can compare multiple rates at once to see which life insurance policy is best for you. It's the most efficient way to go and it's free.
I've met both founders multiple times over the years and I really believe in the service they've built. My wife actually just went through PolicyGenius to get double the life insurance amount ($500K to $1 million) for 10% less.
You can read about her experience here: How To Get More Life Insurance For Less Money She shares a step-by-step guide for how she did it. I'm so happy she got more life insurance since we now have the same coverage. We also now have two kids to care for. The best life insurance rate is before you see a doctor.
Man… You had a post a couple months back about jumping on life insurance. I was kind of late to the game (36), as I already had two kids under 4 similar to you and no life insurance. So, I jumped on the policy genius site you recommended, and went for the $1M policy. I figured this value would take care of the house, kids, wife, etc. I suppose based on income loss I could have gone higher, but I don’t really like betting against myself. I plan to live a long time! Anyway, they came to my house and did the screening and blood work as you noted, and three weeks later I had the $1M 25 year policy with Pacific Life. I ended up with a rate of $57/month, as advertised. I suppose my screenings went well as there was not an adjustment on the rate from the initial. I didn’t think $57/month was all that great initially, but given how time only increases cost I pulled the trigger. Stacking up against your rate, I feel much better… Its peace of mind at least.
Great! One of my goals is to make readers feel good by showing how expensive and difficult things are for me and my family.
Check out this post as well: https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-our-family-is-negatively-impacted-by-the-coronavirus-crisis/
Well, i’m not happy that your family took a hit exactly. I’m just happy that your advice put me in motion. So you should add sharing advice, and finding out people actually follow it as another one of your celebrated goals.
It’s all good! I’m happy to share my advice and what I learn along the way to help the community out.
This experience has also helped me try and get in better shape and pay down more mortgage debt before thee policy runs out.
Hi Sam. Very informative article. I’m new to the USA. It would be a great help if you can suggest names of few insurance companies for life and health insurance.
Thank you very much.
Having purchased a term policy 7 years ago I knew that recent doctor visits were an issue. So last year with some planning I was able to apply with what I thought was a clear background, free of doctor visits. As you mentioned, regardless of how healthy we are, just the fact of going to a doctors raises a red flag, especially when you are start applying for larger amounts, typically $1M according to AAA.
So I applied and all was well until they found a blood test was done about 12 months prior. The agent called me and said the underwriter needed more information why bloodwork had been done and where the results were. I told them I had no idea, which obviously didn’t suffice. So a little back and forth and he gave us a date in the records, and my wife luckily recalled that it was part of the IVF treatments. During IVF they test the blood of both parents prior to any procedures, and the lab work I had done was completed in house at the facility and the results were never sent to my GP or attached to my personal chart, just the drawing of blood was via insurance billing.
We then had to call the facility, get the results released to the underwriter, and a week or two later I was finally cleared for the policy. So to your point, the underwriters really do scrutinize each and every visit or event in your health history, sometimes even better than you may remember it.
Good news was that I was approved for the extra peace of mind. I am probably a little over insured, but with two young kids and a wife with minimal income at least they/she wouldn’t have to worry about bills. I purposely carry multiple policies so that overtime as we decide we may not need that much insurance we can drop one policy at a time. (The agent last year was curious why I would separate the policy into two. And when I replied that for an extra $50/year I can have the flexibility to let a policy lapse should I ever require less, he looked at me like that was genius, which was a little concerning from a veteran agent–this seemed like a no-brainer approach.)
Good to hear things worked out. I wonder if a good solution is to simply get less life insurance to prevent having to do the bloodwork. Less risk on the life insurer’s part, but you still get something that’s affordable.
FS, I did exactly what you recommended but I regretted it. I had a bad Blood test result before I turned 40, then I waited 1 year and re-applied. Now the blood test was good and everything was perfect, but the premium was still more expensive than the above-average one 1 year ago! Why? Because my age jumped a very significant band and now I’m in a category with age > 40. As other reader mentioned before and after 40 years old makes a lot of difference.
What did I do in the end? I doubled up the coverage for 20 years term life insurance. And shared my stories with my friends and colleagues. With this term life expires, I’ll no longer need the money to offset my liability and I’ll also loss my main job as a retiree. So, all is good.
But of course, if I’d turn back the clock to do it once again, I’d follow your practice to double up the 20 years term life at age 35. I do think it’s the sweet spot.
It certainly is an interesting decision between time and getting healthier to redo the bloodwork.
Hence, for most people who want to buy a home with a mortgage and start a family, it’s best to check the latest life insurance rates and lock something in sooner rather than later.
I got life insurance beyond work starting at 28 when I went all-in on a house with a $1.22 million mortgage. Instead of doing 10 years, I should have done 25 years.
Next life!
The problem is your diagnosis. Sleep apnea is a serious condition left untreated can knock years off your life expectancy. You have been diagnosed and then you aren’t following the treatment plan is not a good sign to any insurance company. Your 1st idea of getting a second opinion is a good one. Get a very reputable doctor to check you out. I totally agree these specialty clinic over-diagnose to get better reimbursement, and sell you things you might not need. The other thing to do after you find this out is talk to independent insurance agent who represents several life companies. Every company has a different formula, and you might get a better rate. Last thing it is time to build a relationship with a primary care physician. You are over 40, and you have 2 young children preventative medicine starts at 40. Also if you are going to self insure getting ahead of health conditions will extend your life!
For sure. Are you a doctor? If so, what type of doctor are you and how old are you?
I’ve stayed roughly the same weight of ~165 lbs for 5’10” for the past 21 years and exercise 3X a week on average. But I definitely can lose another 10 lbs and eat better.
I work for a health insurance company, and spent several years in the underwriting department before the ACA. Serious health diagnosis for men start at 40 and rise rapidly once they hit 50. Once men hit 55 their health care costs exceeds women and only keep rising.
I am also a 50+ middle age person who will be going to several funerals in the near future because of friends who got diagnosed late on several conditions. I have a good friend with stage 4 prostate cancer that is in really bad shape, and if he had a annual prostate exam early it might have been a better prognosis. Your annual exam of the prostate starts at 40.
One last thing since you have a ACA policy you get one FREE wellness check up a year! Please use it.
Good to know. I got the checkup right before by 40th in 2017. But I hear you. I wanted to get all these health check ups in 2017 because I was turning 40 that summer.
Can you elaborate on the life insurance categories insurance companies evaluate us on?
I’m not on ACA btw.
I am not a expert in underwriting life insurance, but anything that might shorten your life expectancy, or cause a sudden death is taken very seriously and rated up for risk. Sudden death would be like skydiving, rock climbing, or scuba diving. Shorten your life expectancy would be smoking, diabetes, most types of cancer, MS, heart disease. Life insurance is very different than health insurance due to the low premium they pay almost zero death claims. I have a friend who has sold life insurance for 30 years and he has filed ZERO death claims. Most of his clients are under 55, but zero is amazing.
Sorry ACA is used in our industry for any health insurance policy issued after January 2014. I thought your were on a gold individual plan, and paying 100% of your policy. You also live in California and they have tried very hard to implement the ACA including essential benefits. I was making some assumptions.
Good anecdote on why it’s good to invest in life insurance companies and not get life insurance if you don’t have dependents or any debt.
We’ve got a Platinum plan. Will look into what the categorization is. Either way, it’s expensive as hell.
I really hope the diagnosis was on more than just how loud you snore and what the inside of your nose looks like… There are so many other diagnositic criteria for OSA. It does not sound like you went through a polysomnograph which is more reliable to detect whether the snoring is waking you up during the night or if you are not breathing at night because of it. Get a second opinion. Hopefully if the opinion is no to OSA, you can get it reversed when it comes to insurance…
Me too. The cure is to lose weight. Doctor said I need to get down closer to 152 lbs from 168 lbs at 5’10”, which I agree.
Having two kids makes it hard to get into Olympian shape. But I’m going to try again.
Being fit is so important as a parent… for health reasons, life insurance costs, minimizing Covid-19 pain etc.
I’ve been dragging getting life insurance for years….I’m 35 and a stay at home mom of 2 kids, pregnant with #3. My biggest concern is my husband will need to hire a full time nanny or a mom to watch the kids when he is at work (he works a lot of night shifts) if something should happen to me. Good thing I’m healthy and other then seeing the Dr when I had kids the last time I was at the Drs was when I was 22 so they can’t find any dirt on me!
Doctors definitely take advantage of you when they see what insurance you have. My husbands Dr wanted the most insane tests for my husbands heartburn, without trying a course of medication first. We have a premium policy as he’s a union firefighter for the city and medical providers in the city know it.
I will check out the link provided to see what rate I can get.
Please definitely check out the latest rates and strongly consider getting life insurance.
https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-much-life-insurance-do-i-really-need/
Sam,
I still don’t understand why you don’t drop your current health insurance and take out a catastrophic plan. You said in the past that you pay the higher rate for convenience and peace of mind. As many articles as you have written about the topic it’s hard to see how that large monthly premium is giving you any peace of mind. You spend months refinancing your mortgages. You’ve considered giving up your freedom to go back to work. You’ve driven for Uber. You’ve bought a vehicle that’s far less than you can afford. Money seems to be the driving force around those decisions. Why not make health insurance a financial exercise?
A 5k deductible no frill plan will cost you about a quarter of what your currently paying. If you make it a year without everyone in your family maxing out the deductible your money ahead.
On a side note, Shawn is correct about paying cash. My doctor charges me $150 cash for a physical. Our pharmacist charges $15 cash for a month supply of generic Lipitor. My dentist gives our family a 15 percent discount to pay in cash, and none of that is reported to the insurance company.
Thanks, Bill
Might have to look into it again. With benefitting from ACA, the lowest I saw a year ago was around $1,200, or a $700/month savings.
I think with the birth of a baby in Dec 2019, the peace of mind of having all our doctors in network and covered, we decided to keep things as is.
I do not see $5K deductible no frills plans that cost $500 – $600/month for a family of four. If you can point them out to me, I’d be happy to look!
You have to get off the ACA exchange in order to get better pricing at your income level. The plan we currently have is offered from Premera Blue Cross. Not sure if that is available in CA. Our insurance agent, who we have a personal relationship with and trust, says find a good agent who has access to all the insurance companies available in your area and you will find deals that are far cheaper than the exchange.
OK, will check. We use an insurance broker to try and get us the best policy as well. Can ask him about Premera Blue Cross and disaster insurance policies.
Before the pandemic, these expenses bothered me, but I felt I could “out earn” the rising costs. But now, things are obviously different.
Inertia keeps us from changing. Perhaps I should change.Just with 2 kids under 3, not sure it’s worth the hassle to save money when peace of mind is very important right now.
We have never purchased life insurance. We are now in a position to be considered self- insured, but even in wealth accumulation phase the idea of it didn’t feel right because we both worked and didn’t have any kids.
Now we have one baby, but because we have no debts, it still feels unnecessary.
Perhaps being Canadian and having universal healthcare helps?
It’s the medical bills that could bankrupt people that most Americans are afraid of incurring.
Yes I understand the costs of medical emergencies Americans are afraid of.
Anyway our universal health system is good, but not great and certainly not all-inclusive. Many Canadians still purchase life insurance, additional medical/ dental insurance, disability insurance, mortgage insurance, etc.
It felt a little like you were minimizing my comment by highlighting Canadian health care back at me. All I was trying to do was add meat to the commentary and share our personal risk tolerance on the topic at hand- which is whether or not life insurance is worth it if you already have money.
Nah, you misunderstand. I wasn’t trying to minimize your comment, just trying to understand perhaps why your situation is different from an American’s situation.
I’m glad you feel you have enough financial security not to have life insurance. Life insurance is a personal decision.
Related: https://www.financialsamurai.com/the-best-life-hack-for-americans-taking-advantage-of-canada/
I think one of the biggest mistakes people can make is to over-insure. What I tried to do is factor my insurance needs around how much my wife would require to cover any outstanding debt, and projected future debt, and insure for that amount. For example, in the event of my untimely demise, we basically wanted to make sure we could pay off the mortgage and future college education for our daughter. After that, we felt we had enough money and my wife was fully capable of maintaining a high-income career and supporting our daughter on her own if it came to that.
We never bought a life insurance policy on our own. We had options through our employers where they paid for a portion of insurance and we had payroll deduction for some supplemental insurance on top of that. At one point in my career when I moved into the executive level, the company paid for a Universal policy with an 800K payout at death. When I left the company, I picked up those payments and this has pretty much covered our needs. Now, we have reached an age and time in our life when we no longer need a policy but I will pay a couple of more years on the existing policy and then I will make no more payments. I will have a declining death benefit that becomes fixed after I turn 67 and a cash surrender that could be cashed in if we ever needed the money.
I’ve had several bouts of skin cancer, kidney stones, and hypertension so getting insurance any other way was always a challenge and expensive. We made the best of the options we had and made it to the point where it is no longer required, to which I am grateful.
One other comment on this. I’m sure someone out there may read this and ask why do I continue to make the payments on the Universal policy for a couple more years if I don’t really need it. Right or wrong, here is how I am looking at it.
We intend to self-insure in the event we need long term care, rather than buy an LTC policy. From what I have read, most people who need LTC are generally near end of life and need it for less than 2 years. The way I look at it, we could take the cash surrender out of the policy to pay for LTC or we could just pay out of pocket and when I ultimately pass, the death benefit would more than replenish those funds we spent for LTC.
Maybe this is kind of a crazy way to think about it but this is how we are choosing to address LTC for me. My wife and I feel like between the two of us, I am the most likely candidate to need LTC at some point and this is how we justify continuing the Universal policy payments.
What a bummer the price skyrocketed like that. How frustrating! I undervalued the no questions asked life insurance I used to get at my full time job. It wasn’t a large enough policy to meet all of my needs but it was a great benefit while I had it.
I have a so so sized term policy that lasts for another 20 years. I wish I had gotten a larger one but I have a minor hereditary condition that prevents me from getting the best rates. Nevertheless it would have been cheaper to get a bigger one when I got it way back when versus now!
Might be worth trying again actually, especially if you have dependents.
Yes, I totally agree that many of us under-appreciate our work benefits. Health insurance premiums and now life insurance premiums are so ridiculously high for our family now.
Just gotta keep fighting.
If you want to try another sleep doctor to get a clean bill of health, you can just not give them your insurance info and pay them yourself. If the tests come back good, then submit that report to the insurance company.
Shaun, that is a brilliant idea! Pay out of pocket. Thanks for the tip.
Im not sure why you need life insurance Sam? If something happened to you, seems like you have more than enough to take care of your family? The numbers are in you favor.
I personally dont carry life insurance because numbers are in my favor for me as well. I feel confident my family would do fine if something were to happen. My 2 cents
With two kids, getting life insurance or extending my life insurance felt like an even better deal if I could have kept the rate at $39.99. Tax free $1 million benefit and peace of mind.
Alas, the price changed. So now I’m just super motivated to have the best financial health possible by 2023.
Wow, that’s a huge increase. IMO, if you’re over 40, the doctors will find something wrong with you with enough time. Best to get life insurance first, then go see them. When I was having dizziness issue, they found all sorts of stuff. Abnormal heart beat, slow resting heart rate, etc… I forgot what all they found.
Ugh!! That kind of thing happened to us too!! My husband who is in great health decided to get an extra insurance policy- they checked his health out- and my general practitioner reported that he had a “ fatty liver” a fact that he had never brought up or discussed with my husband- we had never heard of it before!!
Anyway- the premium was more than the advertised rate- and so we did not get the policy!!
I’ve had a similar experience at a doctor’s office both without (and with) medical insurance.
It’s eye-opening to see how you (the patient) is treated at a medical facility when you don’t have health insurance. I was 17yrs old and had a pretty severe ankle injury from playing sports, and had to go into see a foot/ankle specialist for a medical opinion. The doctors were fully aware of my insurance status, so they were very deliberate when asking what type of treatment I wanted (read: could afford). I left the office that day w/ no medical devices, and a recommendation for surgery w/ a price tag I couldn’t afford out-of-pocket. My father was transitioning from private practice as a consulting Engineer to full-time employment when I experienced the injury, and we didn’t have health insurance at the time. The family medical insurance from the new job wasn’t effective until 90-days of employment (don’t know if this is standard practice today, but his was back in 1997), so I waited for 4 months to go back & have a follow-up. The diagnosis was still the same, but the treatment options were vast. I left the office that day w/ an ankle brace while waiting for the carbon-fiber shoe inserts to be constructed from the molds they took that day. I was even scheduled for surgery within the next 30-days… and costs were never discussed, at any time. So long as I made the co-pays, which were great under the new health insurance plan, they could care less. Never saw what they charged the new insurance company, but I can only imagine… It’s no wonder why folks without health insurance, or those who want/choose to pay for it out-of-pocket when they need it, cannot afford the care they need when they need it, without having to pay exorbitant amounts of money for annual premiums that may never get used.
Yes, the system is so stacked against us due to asymmetric information and the desire for profit maximization. It’s human nature. Healthcare providers are also getting squeezed by insurance companies.
Everything seems so jacked up.
Best thing we can do is be careful and try and eat as best as possible and exercise as much as possible. Can’t rely on the system to take care of us.
I would suggest that one of the primary lessons to take from this is to get life insurance when you’re young. I will recommend our own children get it when they get married and/or have children and are still relatively healthy.
I happened to get an autoimmune disease when I was 21 so I thought my life insurance policy would be expensive. However, I got it when my first child was born (29) and my symptoms did not require medication at the time. My policy is $29/month.
If I were to apply now, it would be $1000/month!
Thanks for posting this, Sam!
Now I feel much better about my 30 year, $1 million life insurance policy with USAA for $150/mo. (My premium is double my wife’s.)
Also, may want to request your MIB file (like a credit file, but where insurance companies list what they find on people). Things fall off after 7 years so perhaps then?
I’ll call USAA and ask if they have it. If things fall off after 7 years, then that’s create. To have a clean test again and pricing determination.
MIB is a separate organization that keeps a file on you of insurance underwriting. When I got married in 2008 at 32, I took out a 30 year term policy and a 10 year term higher policy. I add a 30 year term every 5 years. I also got a policy for my wife in 2008. Then in 2009, financial advisor advised more for my wife. She had just started seeing a doctor for a mysterious condition. Denied since appointment hadn’t happened by their deadline. Over the next 18 months we went to many doctors trying to solve her mysterious condition as she got worse, and finally with my research, we solved it, and then she became pregnant with first child. Perhaps in 2016, I should have checked MIB again, but I didn’t want to apply and have it on her record for another 7 years. Pregnant with #2 and #3 in 2017 and 2018 and stopped taking medicine for her mysterious condition. So maybe, just maybe, she could get more life insurance, but she did have diabetes during all 3 pregnancies, so could cause issues.
Really interesting (and sad) how much the premium went up! I may have missed it, but did they actually change the rating of your policy due to the sleep apnea?
Other than age, which will change the premium each year, I presume they put you in a completely different risk category!
My wife and I put together a life insurance plan two years back, which was fortunate timing because since then there have been a couple minor surgeries in the family. There’s no time like the present to get this handled because you just never know.
They must have for the new 11X higher rate. So I declined since I still have life insurance until 2023.
The goal is to therefore amass at least $1.5 million more by then to cover the life insurance shortfall beyond 2023. Gotta pay taxes, hence $1.5 million.