Reconsidered

When we first decided to purchase life insurance, I never imagined that I'd still be talking about it nearly THREE MONTHS later. But alas, it looks like our fight is finally coming to an end.

If you'll remember... First, I complained about the cost of it. Even when we were paying "normal" rates.

Then, they told me that my urinalysis showed elevated levels of protein, and made me question whether I had symptomless, hidden kidney disease. I visited my doctor, and had to bring home the jug for 24 hours.

Unfortunately, that test came back with elevated (although it was ever.so.slight) too, so my doctor referred me to a nephrologist (kidney specialist) to rule out everything bad--basically, just so I could contest the ruling of the insurance company.

I never updated you after that, but I went and saw the nephrologist. He took a health history, reviewed my lab results, and essentially laughed. He said that the levels of protein in my urinalysis were "insignificant," said "You absolutely do not have proteinuria," and told me that he believed the insurance company's initial lab results to be erroneous. He deemed me perfectly healthy, with no signs of kidney disease, and promised a letter to explain all of this. He also told me that he'd talk to any physician at the insurance company, if necessary.

I was relieved, and went on my merry way. The next week, I was able to get a copy of the letter from the nephrologist, and I forwarded it to my insurance company right away.

And then I waited again.
And waited.

And waited.

Then, my phone rang yesterday and it was my insurance agent. He said that he had good news for me: The underwriters agreed to adjust my classification, and subsequently, my rate. Not only was I not considered "sub-standard" anymore, but I had been promoted to *SUPER PREFERRED.* In other words, I went from being given the highest rate possible to being given the lowest rate possible.

TAKE THAT, YOU INSURANCE BITCHES.

I might've done a little victory dance in my desk chair.

Our initial quote was at the "preferred" rate, which was about $25/month for me. When they decided I was supposedly at high risk for kidney disease, diabetes, or connective tissue disorders, they deemed me "sub-standard," and jacked my rate up to $55/month. Now? $17/month.

It just goes to show what a racket this whole life insurance business is. Is it totally necessary? Yes. But are they assholes? Yes. Thankfully, I had supportive physicians who were willing to work with me to fight the insurance company and get the rate I deserved. So let this be a lesson to all of you: FIGHT THEM!

And now I shall step off of my soap box and go to bed.

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Nephrologist

Do you know what a nephrologist is? Up until very recently, I didn't really. It's not the type of doctor you hear about very often.

Pediatrician?
Oncologist?
Orthopedist?
Podiatrist?
Cardiologist?

Sure. But a nephrologist?

It's a kidney specialist. And I've won myself an appointment with one.

Despite hoping for the contrary, my 24-hour urinalysis showed that protein was still present. I guess the "normal" levels range from 0-30, and mine was 30.4. When the physician's assistant told me this on the phone, all I could think was, "Are you kidding me?" I'm a measly 0.4--that's ZERO.POINT.FOUR--outside of the normal range. So, if you ask me, I don't think I have much to worry about. But given that it is over the normal limit, and that the whole point of this business it to be able to fight the life insurance company over my premium, my doctor decided to refer me to the specialist to get checked out.

Basically, her thinking is that if the nephrologist can examine me, run his tests, and deem me totally fine, he can write a letter to the insurance company certifying that I'm healthy. It's our hope that, if the nephrologist can confirm that the protein means nothing in my case, the insurance company will agree to rate me like the normal, healthy 29-year-old that we believe I am. We'll see.

At my age and with my health history, I certainly never thought that getting decent rates on life insurance would be this difficult. I'm still laughing about the fact that before my lab results came back, I was complaining about the standard rates. The sub-standard rates are much, much more worthy of complaining over.

In the meantime, we're still working on shopping around with different life insurance companies. We had another one come over the weekend to do the exam, and it kind of sucked because when I was filling out all of the forms, I had to include the proteinuria finding in my health history. It asked questions like, "Have you ever seen a doctor for or been diagnosed with..." and filled in the blank with a laundry list of conditions. Unfortunately, protein in the urine was one of them, and I had to answer honestly. So, even though my doctor seems to think this finding is no big deal, it has certainly already been a game-changer for me! Even if it's just in the way I need to fill out health history forms, you know?

To my surprise, the nephrologist's office worked magic to "get [me] in soon" (which kinda-sorta worried me, to be honest), so at least I don't have to wait long. My appointment is on Friday.

Despite the nature of all of this, and the inconvenience it's been so far, I'm choosing to be optimistic about the whole thing right now. I have my fingers crossed that everything will work out in the end.

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The Jug

As it turned out, it was pretty easy for a lot of you to figure out the object in the mystery photo. It seems that far more of you actually have experience with this than I thought!

If you guessed that it was a 24-hour urine collection container, give yourself a pat on the back.

Oh, and before I go any further, I feel the need to clarify: NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT AGAIN. That's how rumors get started, y'all. Sheesh. ;)

With all of that said, let's get back to the pee container and why I have one. The truth is: You haven't lived until you've collected 24 hours worth of pee in a jug. I'm just sayin'.

In all seriousness, this is related to life insurance. I posted a few weeks ago about my beef with life insurance. That was when I was fairly certain that life was all hunky-dory and I knew only that I was a perfectly healthy 29-year-old woman who was bound to be granted the "preferred" status with lower premiums. And I'll have you know that the hesitation I expressed in that post about paying for life insurance was actually based on those preferred, lower premiums.

I was so cute back then. In all of my freaking out over $25/month. Ha. Hahaha. Bwahahahahaha.

Imagine my shock when, yesterday morning, I talked to our insurance agent, who informed me that I had been approved for life insurance, but--and this was a big BUT--there was a problem with my lab work. The underwriters had awarded me a status of sub-standard.

Not "super preferred" (they probably only hand that out to robots).
Not "preferred" (like my healthy husband).
Not "standard" (you know, like maybe you have a couple of health issues).

SUB-STANDARD. Just one step above being rejected for life insurance altogether. That classification comes with a $55/month price tag. And the kicker? He couldn't tell me why.

COMMENCE FREAK-OUT BECAUSE SURELY THERE IS SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG WITH ME, AND YOU WANT ME TO PAY HOW MUCH??

Understandably, my insurance agent was not privy to my lab results/medical history/records (thank goodness!), but he was telling me about how I'd have to wait until the (sealed) records came in the mail for him, and then he'd have to put them in the mail for me. Come on, what are we talking about there, a week? NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Instead, I insisted on getting the number for the underwriter so I could call and speak to her directly. Which I did. And she informed me that my urinalysis results came back showing that I had elevated levels of protein in my urine. And went on to say (in a perfectly chipper voice, I might add) that elevated protein in urine is indicative of kidney failure, diabetes, hypertension, and connective tissue disorders. Because I wasn't freaking out enough already.

I hung up the phone and immediately called my doctor's office to get in for an appointment to see them. I had the insurance company fax me the complete lab results, and took them with me. After taking one look at the numbers, she said to me, "Well, your kidney function is beautiful. And you're not a diabetic." (And, let me also note that the stupid life insurance exam requires a blood pressure reading, which was 108/68, so I most certainly DO NOT HAVE HYPERTENSION, either.) She went on to explain that life insurance companies are going to do everything they can to knock you down into paying their higher premiums--which makes perfect sense, of course, but is still ridiculous to me. She suspects that my elevated protein level was just an anomaly, caused by something innocuous, but to be safe and help dispel the beliefs of the insurance company, she ordered a 24-hour collection, since it's the most accurate way to measure protein levels in urine.

Aren't you happy you stopped over to my blog today? You can't say I'm not educational. :)

The good news is that the doctor is optimistic that I'm fine, and said that if the results come back normal, she will send a nasty note to the insurance company telling them their results are crap and to request that they reconsider my classification in light of the more accurate test and normal results.

In the meantime, we have another insurance company sending a nurse over to do exams on Saturday morning--I have my fingers crossed that this one will prove to be less eventful and that I'll get the classification that (I'm pretty sure) I deserve from the get-go. There are lots of reasons for random protein in urine, so hopefully whatever caused mine in the first place has come to pass, and I'll check out OK this time.

Please excuse me while I go pee in a jug jump through hoops for life insurance.

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Insured

There are things that I don't like to pay for. Well, honestly, is anything really fun to pay for?

I won't lie; I get a certain satisfaction out of knocking off bills every month--but it would make the process infinitely better if, you know, there was an endless supply of money in the ol' bank account. But, like most people, I have resigned to the fact that the very reason we work in the first place is to be able to pay for things, so unless it's an especially "tight" month, I don't find paying bills to be particularly horrible or stressful. Still, there is one particular bill that has been weighing heavily on my mind, and really bothers me.

Life insurance.

Up until last month, the only life insurance policies Michael and I had were through our employers, given to us as part of our benefits packages. We always figured that at least we had some kind of life insurance and left it at that. But once we bought our new house, with more expensive bills, it dawned on me that if something were to happen to one of us, it would be really difficult for the other person to continue to carry the house and its expenses on their own. And, of course, we have Nora, so we have to consider her financial well-being, too.

In August, we were shopping around for homeowner's insurance for our new house, and to keep things easier (and get a discount), we moved our auto insurance over to the new carrier as well. At the time we signed on the dotted line for all of that, the insurance agent (of course) mentioned that we should consider life insurance policies. We were a bit overwhelmed by all of the changes and preparing for the closing on the house, so we said that we would revisit it once we were moved in and (somewhat) settled.

In September, the insurance agent came to our house and discussed our life insurance options with us. We were really unsure of what to expect in terms of cost--but I will say that I was a bit shocked at how pricey life insurance policies are. Even so, we knew it was important to have, so we signed on the dotted lines and put ourselves through the screening process.

But now, I just can't shake the feeling of how much I hate to see that money go out the door every month. I mean, paying for any kind of insurance is no picnic--but at least with health, dental, and car insurance, you actually USE it. Or have a pretty good chance of using it. It's disturbing to know that with life insurance, the only time anyone will ever benefit from it is if one of us dies. How pleasant is THAT to think about?

I question the need for it, honestly. We took out policies that would allow the widowed spouse to pay off the mortgage, and leave some extra money for Nora. We figured that the policies through our employers (which disappear if we leave our jobs, obviously) would be more than enough to cover funeral expenses, and provide a little extra cushion should we actually find ourselves in the worst situation ever. But now I'm thinking, do we really need THAT MUCH insurance? I still maintain that it's smart and responsible to have it, but how much life insurance do we really need? Because seriously, that money that is being deducted from our bank account every month? We could use it for a lot of other things.

I don't want to fall into the "it could never happen to us" trap, because let's face it--at our age, no one expects to lose their lives. It's better to be somewhat prepared for it, right? To protect our little family, and our precious little girl?

What say you, friends? I'm interested in hearing from those with kids AND those without. Do you pay for life insurance? Stick with "free" policies given to you through work? Roll the dice without any at all? What are your reasons for going the route you've chosen? And if you do pay, are there any tricks to turning off that little voice inside that says "this is such a waste of money"?

In retrospect, maybe our mistake in all of this is that we just didn't shop around enough. We figured we'd be getting a good deal through our insurance carrier, but we really don't have anything to compare it to. I find myself wondering if what we're paying is actually a decent rate. Maybe I should put some inquiries out there to see what we could get somewhere else.

And now that I have sufficiently depressed everyone by talking about morbid life events... I apologize. :)

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