Blog

November 2, 2020

Diabetes Awareness Month

In August of 2005, my father, Don Mooers, died from complications of diabetes.

Prior to that, I had the honor and privilege to work side-by-side with him for 15 years. He was sick for all of them—in and out of ICU, a prosthesis, a glass eye, a kidney/pancreas transplant. He remains my hero, and the bravest man I have ever known.

H.D. Mooers and Company learned a whole lot about diabetes during that time, mostly through personal experience. My father lived for almost 50 years as an insulin-dependent diabetic, and we, as a team, became experts on the symptoms, the side effects, the treatment, and the prognosis.

We carry that expertise—that experience—into every diabetic life insurance file we work. Nobody paints a better picture for the carrier underwriters than we do. We are convinced that we take a deeper dive, have a better understanding, and get better offers on your diabetic clients than anybody in the industry. It’s a point of pride.

We take it personally. Every time.

When it comes to underwriting diabetics (and any other risk, frankly), here’s a scoop:

Life Insurance companies don’t really like paying claims.

With that in mind….please read more on an exclusive opportunity for your diabetic clients, John Hancock’s ASPIRE Program. It’s the “first and only solution designed for this market” and “can help your clients better manage their condition and help them on their journey to live a longer, healthier life.”

Hancock is a fantastic partner on our relentless quest to offer the best rate in the market for your diabetic clients. Other carriers can be aggressive, too. Please please contact Jeff on your next, or existing, diabetic clients.

July 14, 2020

I’m Hooked

I love fishing so much it’s weird.

I was in a fly-fishing shop a while back, discussing this mutual addiction with the shop owner. “Heck, I’d fish in a bucket before I quit fishing,” he said. My people.

Our business is a lot like fishing, and thankfully for both of us, I won’t wax on that simile, other than to provide a cautionary tale:

A little over a year ago, an agent of ours thought she’d hooked a big one. $25MM face amount, premium structured at just over $1M a year. The client needed the coverage and could afford the premium. The client put the process on hold because she was trying to quit smoking. Down to ‘a few a day’, she was sure she could qualify for a non-smoker policy about a year down the road.

Well……you guessed it. She’s still smoking.

Which is even worse now—because she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. And while her prognosis is good, and she’s completed her treatment, we’re probably 3+ years from getting her a policy.

Today, more than at any other time in the 30 years I’ve been doing this: We really do need to lean on the clients who need life insurance. Maybe to the point of discomfort for all involved.

By the way-

I’m a catch and release guy, but I have no earthly idea how that plays into this metaphor.

April 29, 2020

MOOCOW: the serial Crossfit lunatic

This week’s MOOCOW is Michael K. Michael is 37 years old, and, quite literally, a marathon runner, and a serial Crossfit lunatic. He did his exam on March 16—literally the FIRST DAY of our county’s ‘stay at home’ status. So what you might call a stressful time.

His Blood Pressure readings were high, so he got a Standard offer. So we sent photos of him to the underwriter. And a screenshot from his cell phone with a text from his doctor showing a normal reading a few months ago.

We even DID MATH (I know, right?) and built a scenario where his average BP fit the Preferred Guideline. Or close enough, anyway.

We got Preferred. Saved him 40 bucks a year.

Udderly Wonderful.

January 30, 2020

It’s a WE thing

This case started way back in September.

Of Two Thousand Eighteen.

Gas was $2 a gallon. Pet Rocks were all the rage. And Gena Wallis of Wallis Employee Benefits in Palo Alto—who is an absolute ROCK STAR—requested a quote for some Key Man coverage to support a “recently completed Series B funding round”.

We love these cases—the buyer is motivated, and the time frame is limited. The Face Amount was $1M, the gentleman was young, and as far as we knew, healthy.

Gena remained in close contact with the Proposed Insured’s firm, but the meeting was postponed, again and again, until April 2019. Then we finally got an application.

During the underwriting process:

We couldn’t find his medical records. That’s because, while he told us he’d been to the MD in 2017, he really hadn’t been since 2014.
He rescheduled his initial exam 5 times.
Blood Pressure was taken, but the exam questions weren’t asked.
The BP readings (182/132) on his insurance labs rendered a Declination from Carrier A.
A couple months later, he did a BP recheck, and the readings were much better.
We shopped the case with all of his readings, and found some possibilities (with a substantial rating).
The client relocated to Austin, Texas. I mean, of course he did.
He returned to CA for a week in September, so APPS—Susie Smith at APPS is also a ROCK STAR—scheduled yet another exam and BP recheck.
He cancelled.
He rescheduled, in Austin, for October 28th.
Susie discovered that the original BP readings were done with the wrong type of machine, so APPS went back and got accurate readings. Twice. She also wrote a letter to the carrier.
We enjoyed Halloween. And Thanksgiving.
He was declined again.
Come to find out, the underwriter had not seen Susie’s letter (which we’d sent twice).
On December 18—more than a year later—we got an offer.
Earlier this month, we put the policy in force.

It’s a WE thing. Kudos to Farrel at HD Mooers, Susie Smith at APPS, and mostly GENA WALLIS of Wallis Employee Benefits for seeing this one all the way through.

January 21, 2020

NOAH Scuba Diver?

So my buddy Monty just got approved at Standard Plus Nonsmoker with Prudential. He’s buying $500k of 10yr term. He’s 52. The premium is less than a hundred bucks a month. Gauging all the work I put in, I guess I’m basically breaking even on the deal.

So why am I

SO EXCITED I CAN BARELY CONTAIN MYSELF???

I just got a Standard Plus Nonsmoker rate on a guy who:

Vapes
Has a cancer history
Is one heavy dude
SCUBAs like a FISH

So I went all NOAH PROGRAM* with him. I asked him about the Sea Monkeys, his dive club. I’m going to present “Life Insurance for SCUBA Divers” at his upcoming meeting. Not only that, the club is marketing my attendance in the hope of getting more people to attend.

I will present, not as a SCUBA expert (the entire notion scares the daylights out of me), but as THE EXPERT in the field of SCUBA underwriting.

Let that “SINK” in.

YOU CAN DO THIS TOO.

Check out NOAH

October 23, 2019

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, H.D. Mooers brings you what just might be our favorite case. Ever.

A young (24), single female student—we’ll call her Amanda– applied for some life insurance. We weren’t sure why, frankly.

August 28, 2019

We Treat You Life Family

We Treat You Like Family (in a good way, I mean).

Because sometimes, you are.

Got this one approved the other day, which is nice, seeing as how the application was signed in March. First, it was declined for financial justification, but we got creative and worked through that.

The underwriter asked for a missing pathology report, and an Alcohol Use Questionnaire. So we waded through the 471 page medical file. We found the path report, and found ZERO alcohol criticism. We let the underwriter know, and later that night, the file was approved.

The premium is about $40 a month. Did we lose money on this case? Did the broker? You might say so. But it was his Mother In Law.

Imagine how hard we fight for your big cases. After all……we’re family.

August 16, 2019

Our Favorite Case of the Year

This one was downright FUN.

Chris is an extremely healthy and successful Silicon Valley executive. His Start Up company is poised to change his industry forever—it just hasn’t happened yet. The company wanted a $6M Key Man policy.A brief history of some of the hurdles we overcame:

He likes to do “poker runs”, where he and his friends take their super-fast speed boats out on the open water in what can be defined as races.
He likes to SCUBA in places like Thailand, French Polynesia, the Caribbean, Micronesia, and Fiji. (I’ve never even HEARD of some of those).
He had a “whole in his heart” fixed LAST YEAR.
Oh, and the company is ‘losing’ millions of dollars a year.

But we pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Working closely with the agent AND the client, we uncovered more and more financial information, and went back to the underwriter no fewer than 6 TIMES before she changed her mind. We put the policy in force, at a Preferred Non Smoker rate.

HD Mooers and Company is a small agency. It’s what makes us BETTER. We will do WHATEVER it takes to place your case.

June 13, 2019

Diabetes

When it comes to underwriting diabetics, it’s ALL about CONTROL. There are many contributing factors, but control is the most important, by a long shot.

And that control is measured by the “A1C”. Think of it this way—an average glucose reading is like a snapshot—a GIF, I guess—while the A1C is more of a video. Glucose readings can change drastically in the course of a donut, while an A1C measures diabetic control over a period of time.

So if you’re talking to a diabetic, here’s what we need to know:

The most recent A1C. We’re looking for something in the 7.0 range. If you’re client can tell you theirs, that’s a good sign. Shows awareness, compliance. If they don’t—and most don’t—that might be a concern.
Average glucose reading. The 100 range is great, but again, since this measurement can vary, some outlying tests can still be considered. Glucose is something diabetics tend to know, as they often test it themselves.
Age at onset. Adult onset is much better from an underwriting perspective, but adult onset with lousy control can be worse than childhood onset with great control.
Method of treatment. This can range from diet and exercise, to oral medication, to insulin. Insulin-dependent diabetics used to be an automatic decline, but today, we can write most of them.
Other symptoms. Watch out for ways the diabetes is rearing its ugly head—protein in the urine, neuropathy (numbness of the limbs), retinopathy (vision issues resulting from the diabetes). These are tougher to write.

My father died from diabetic complications. By the time he died, he had a glass eye, a prosthesis, and had received a kidney/pancreas transplant. He lived for nearly 50 years as an insulin-dependent diabetic.

So we KNOW THIS IMPAIRMENT, and NOBODY works diabetes cases better than we do.

Some sample results:

Female, 64. Diabetic since age 13, insulin-dependent. Tough case. But she shows tremendous compliance. Most recent A1C was 6.4, glucose 135. We got her a Table B offer.
Male, 72. Big guy—6’2”, 225. Insulin dependent for the last 5 years (oral meds prior to that), A1C in the 7.9 range, glucose in the 160 range. And some mild neuropathy. We got this one Standard, believe it or not. Because with diabetics, older is better. The harsh truth is that something else will probably kill him first.
Male, 42. Insulin-dependent since age 10, good control—Table D range.

May 9, 2019

The Same But Different

Ann and Mark are brother and sister. Here’s how they’re alike:

They both live in Tahoe. I am jealous of this.
Their dad bought them both Whole Life Policies. In 1973.
Premiums on these policies were either paid, or they weren’t.
Today, each policy has about $300k of benefit, with about $130k in Cash Value.

Here’s how they’re different:

Ann is married with 2 teenage kids. Mark is single with no kids. But he really loves his dog.
Ann has a need for life insurance where Mark really doesn’t.
Ann’s Whole Life policy has a small loan attached.

Here’s what we did:

For Ann, we did a 1035 exchange into a John Hancock IUL plan. She won’t have to pay any further premiums, and we got her OVER A MILLION DOLLARS of life insurance, designed to last until she’s 100 years old. The small loan will soon be wiped out.
For Mark, we got him a Long Term Care plan that will provide him LTC for 6 years. If he goes on claim at 65, he’ll get OVER A MILLION DOLLARS in LTC reimbursement benefits. Oh, and his plan also has a Death Benefit should he die, and a Return of Premium rider, should he change his mind.

To which they both said: Thank you, Dad!