The Life Insurance Issue

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Maybe it's time to mount a campaign to make some changes in the life

insurance industry and how it regards CML.

I just had a lengthy conversation with an underwriter about individual life

insurance for people with CML. As you may know, if you have had CML and

attempt to buy a new individual life insurance policy, you are most likely

going to be turned down because you are too risky to insure.

The underwriter told me that they may be able to make an exception if a

person with CML had a bone marrow transplant. This is because the transplant

is considered as a possible cure for CML, so if you had a transplant, the

rationale is that you wouldn't pose as high of a risk of dying as someone

who didn't have a transplant. He explained that this is an industry-wide

standard and the life insurance industry still believes that bone marrow

transplant is the gold standard treatment for CML and the only potential

cure. He said the bone marrow transplant has a long history to back it up as

the best option.

However, as we know, that's no longer the case. I explained this to the

underwriter and asked what it would take to get the life insurance industry

to understand that the standard treatment for CML has now changed, and that

the first-line treatment is no longer bone marrow transplant. I pointed out

that it's not fair for the life insurance industry to evaluate us based on

outdated health standards it uses.

Perhaps since many things have settled down in the CML world as far as

medications, this is the next big challenge the CML community should take

on. Perhaps it's time to get the life insurance industry to sit up and

listen and to understand that treatment guidelines have changed, and that

they need to adjust their underwriting standards accordingly, and that not

to do so is discriminatory. I don't know how they can get away with this,

but it's probably because there hasn't been a strong, united voice of

opposition and education.

Sorry, I'm not offering to take this on myself because I don't have time.

But perhaps someone who is interested can start investigating and thinking

about a plan of attack.

Perhaps some of the insurance associations you could focus on are the ones

listed below. I'd also recommend enlisting the help of major health industry

associations, such as ASH, and cancer organizations (ACS, Lance Armstrong

Foundation, etc.) and health advocacy groups, as well as the media. A big

challenge likely is that the medications that are now considered front-line

treatment haven't been shown yet to extend survival (or is that data now

coming in?).

I don't know if anything can be changed, but it doesn't seem fair that

CML'ers are denied life insurance because the life insurance industry hasn't

adopted the latest treatment guidelines!

www.cmlsupport.com

National Association of Insurance Commissioners

http://www.naic.org/

National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors

http://www.naifa.org/

National Association of Health Underwriters

http://www.nahu.org/