Medical Evidence - The Paramedical Exam

I have been told that I will need to have a medical.

What's the procedure?
Is there anything I should know?  
Most of the time you will be required to have a paramedical.
This means that a nurse will come to your home or business to complete the examination.  

Scheduling an Exam

After you have signed an application for insurance your agent will contact a paramedical firm and request the required testing that the insurance company requires.

The examiner will call you to schedule an appointment at a mutually convenient time. Make your appointment as soon as possible, and arrange your schedule so you can keep the appointment.

The location is completely your choice, so please choose the place most convenient for yourself.  For example, you may request the medical examiner to come to your home, workplace or an exam office.

How long is the life insurance exam?

Here are estimated times so that you can plan accordingly. Each person being insured will have a separate appointment so it is not necessary to have the appointment at the same location or the same time if it is not convenient.

10 minutes – interview depending on the amount of history to be recorded

15 minutes - blood draw and urine

15 minutes - EKG

Note: An interview and EKG are not always required. We'll give you advance notice as to what's required for you, so you can make your appointment accordingly.

Things you should consider before setting your appointment.

Women – if you are menstruating please make sure you reschedule or delay the appointment as some of the results will come back abnormal and a retest will be required.

If you have become faint or fainted when having blood drawn in the past be sure the nurse is aware of it in order to prevent any unnecessary injury.

If you require a large blood pressure cuff (due to large arms as in bodybuilders) please advise the examiner in advance as they often do not carry these with them and must make arrangements prior to the appointment to get excess to one.

If you have a cold, flue or other minor ailment insist on delaying the test until your symptoms have dissipated and you have ceased taking medication for it.

You will be required to provide photo ID at the appointment to verify who is being tested.

If you have had recurring infections or other ongoing treatment resulting in extended and repeated visits to your doctor you may wish to phone your doctor’s office to get information you can not remember about your treatment. This could prevent a physicians report from having to be ordered, usually resulting in long delays in your application being approved.

The Exam - Do's & Don'ts.

Why is it important to prepare?

The results of your tests are likely to determine the cost of your insurance in some way. The cost difference between standard rates and preferred plus rates can be as much as 35% or more. Over a 20 year period this adds up to thousands of dollars. In some cases it may result in the insurance company refusing to insure you at all, or increasing your premium substantially. Even the renewal rates down the road can be affected by these results resulting in a further savings of thousands of dollars.

If you are scheduled for a Blood Sample and/or Urine Test, the following is recommended:

It is normal for anyone to become anxious about having their blood pressure taken. You will improve your chances of a proper reading if you suggest to the examiner that you would like to relax for a few minutes after their arrival before your blood pressure is recorded. Should you initially have elevated blood pressure readings, these need to be rechecked later on during the examination to insure that the examiner documents more than one reading.

Do not consume any food for a minimum of 8 hours before your blood is to be taken. Occasionally, abstinence from eating for a longer duration is required. If this is the case, your paramedical representative will provide more precise instructions.

Drink at least one six oz. glass of water one hour before a urine exam.

Avoid consuming caffeine for several hours prior to your appointment. You should limit caffeine consumption 48 hours before the examination. You should have no caffeine the morning of the examination. Caffeine increases blood pressure and pulse rate. It can even provoke an irregular heart rate (arrhythmia). It is important to note that there are various sources of caffeine aside from coffee and tea (i.e. diet soft drinks, cold preparations, pain medications, etc.).

If you use tobacco products, do not do so for at least one hour prior to your appointment. If you are scheduled for a urine sample, your urine will be tested for nicotine. You do not have to be a cigarette smoker to have nicotine discovered in your urine sample. Smoking cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff, the nicotine patch and nicotine gum can all cause nicotine to be detected in the urine sample. It is important that you "disclose" any nicotine products you are using to the medical examiner at the time of test. Failure to do so combined with a discovery of nicotine in the urine may suggest "lack of full disclosure."

If you periodically or regularly consume alcohol, you should avoid all alcohol consumption, preferably 48 hours before the examination. Alcohol consumption can increase blood pressure and adversely affect certain elements of the blood study.

Avoid exercises the day of your appointment. Exercise, especially cardiovascular workouts, can cause inaccurate elevations of cholesterol levels.

If you require pulmonary function testing, you please note that the quality of the test is determined by the effort (i.e. how much air is taken into the lungs and how hard and how long it is expelled) and the tightness of the seal on the mouth piece. If you do not take care to closely follow the above guidelines for pulmonary function testing, you may have your test interpreted incorrectly as abnormal.

If you are required to undergo exercise treadmill testing, you should not eat or drink for four hours prior to the test. You should always have your life insurance blood sample drawn before you undergo an exercise

After the Exam

What happens AFTER the life insurance exam?

The paramedical examination interview information and any additional requirements will be forwarded directly to the insurance company.

Any specimens obtained during the examination will be sent directly to a designated laboratory, and the results will be forwarded directly to the insurance company.

For your privacy, the medical examiner (the person that performs the life insurance exam) is not aware of the specific tests that will be performed on the specimens at the laboratory. Nor does he or she receive the test results.

Personal History Interview

What is a personal history interview?

After the insurance company receives your formal application, they may want to verify the information. The verification process is called a personal history interview. This is not performed all of time. Do not assume that the interview has anything to do with the insurance company suspecting that you have not been truthful. If anything, they are checking up on the advisor.

The personal history interview is useful in expediting your application in the event of accidental error when you completed it, if hand writing by the agent or examiner was illegible or difficult to understand, information showed conflicting statements, or information was not available at the time of the application.

What information is checked?

The interviewer will check that you did, indeed, apply for life insurance. He'll make sure the application is completed in full. And he may double-check certain questions by asking you to repeat your answers, verbally.

You'll be asked nothing more than what was already asked on the application. So, please keep a copy of your application handy and be ready to answer any questions. For example, you may be asked again for your medical history and your doctors' names.

Who will conduct the interview?

Sometimes, the insurance company will assign the interview task to internal staff members.

Other times, the interview is outsourced to companies that specialize in life insurance application processes. Two of the more common firms are EMSI and Teledex.

When will I be interviewed?

The interviewer will call you within 1-2 business days after the insurance company's home office receives your application.

The interview typically takes only 10-15 minutes, and you may want to complete the interview as soon as the interviewer calls you.

However, it can happen that you're unable to answer the phone when the interviewer calls.

Or you may simply not be available to conduct the interview at that time. In that case, the interviewer will provide instructions on how to contact them so that the interview can be completed.

Access to Medical Records

What if the insurance company wants access to medical records?

Access to medical records may be required by the insurance company, should the company deem it necessary after reviewing your formal application.

This is why your application included a Medical Records Release Form. Because you already signed the application, the insurance company has your authorization to contact your listed doctors directly - without inconveniencing you with additional forms.

We'll monitor the situation and - if your doctor's office delays in responding - we may ask you to call your doctor to move things along. Doctors are typically responsive to their own patients.

Other than asking you to nudge your doctor when necessary, obtaining access to medical records should be transparent to you. But we encourage you to learn more about your legal rights to access medical records.