Hello All,
Next year's insurance premiums depend on our participation in a wellness program. We had to mail forms in and wait for a lab document to be mailed back to us prior to making the appt for the test. I was pregnant at the time and rec'd my lab doc post delivery. There was no place on the forms to indicate an existing "condition". Anyway, I went to take the test as soon as I left the hospital as it was the last day I could have taken it. My test indicated that I was at extremely high risk for heart disease due to my weight and cholesterol. The weight that was used was my weight during pregnancy. The blood test was performed less than two weeks after delivering my daughter via emergency C-section, after which I required a blood transfusion.
From everything I read, cholesterol increases as pregnancy progresses and as hormone levels rise. Does anybody know if the results of this wellness test can be used by other insurance companies for purposes such as denying covg for life insurance, determining future insurance premiums...? If so, I feel like I should be able to retake the test because none of it should have been based on my pregnancy weight or cholesterol levels so soon after delivery. I don't want this to negatively impact any future dealings with insurance companies.
Thoughts?
I don't have any concrete facts for you, but my company is starting to require this for 2 out of 3 health care options and I really don't like the whole idea. It's a little too much Big Brother for me.
You really have extenuating circumstances and I would talk to HR about re-taking the test.
I would think that because your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure etc were very likely affected by your pregnancy, that you should be allowed to re-take the test. It only seems fair. You should definitely speak with HR about this. I can't imagine that the health insurance company wouldn't want to know what your ACTUAL stats are, vs falsely inflated ones. Good luck! Health care is becoming so darned difficult anymore.
Hello..
I currently work for a Biometrics screening company (the company that completes the Blood pressure, cholesterol screening etc.) for various associates of the company requesting.
When we have a woman who is pregnant, we also ask her to use her pre-pregnancy weight if she chooses. We do not have an area that we would check to note if she was pregnany or not. That being said, the company we are working for, lets say "Microsoft" as an example, when Microsoft gets the results, it is only in aggregate form. So that would mean, for instance, 57% of their associates have increased blood pressure, or 42% of their associates are overweight, etc. They would not have access to individual results. It is for your privacy. The wellness screenings are done to help possibly bring down insurance costs of you not knowing you may have potential treatable and avoidable conditions like heart disease or diabetes. There are many people out there who are not aware of their risks and dont know they have high cholesterol, or high blood pressure, or pre-diabetes,. If theses people become educated and change their lifestyle, the impact on "Microsoft" in the long run, as far as paying insurance bills, would be lower. It also tells the company what types of wellness issues to concentrate on with their associate population.
Yes, they do offer (usually) reductions in medical preemiums or other benefits to the associates for participating in out "wellness screenings", but it is from the aspect of completing theses screening and finding out your risks, versus trying to find out how sick or unhealthy you may be and using it against you.
Also, as a side note, it is illegal to not offer insurance to some who may have a "pre-existing condition" as long as they did not have a lapse in coverage.
I hope this helps a little to you. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
B.
Mommy P:
When you are looking for life insurance, the will run a paramed with blood and urine. Your rate class will be determined based on that, not what your wellness questionnaire says.
What life insurance companies take into consideration is Paramed results (height, weight, blood pressure,blood & urine), age of when you parent died, (if not living), did they die of cancer, heart related or diabetes. And a few other lifestyle questions: smoking, alcohol use, driving record & hazardous activities.
The life insurance carrier is looking at results taken at that time.
I hope that this helps.
Best of luck to you!
S., Agent
My company started doing that this year. We just had the wellness screen a couple of weeks ago. I am 7 and a half months pregnant. I told the nurse performing the screen, and she noted the paperwork. They did all of the tests, except the fat percentage thing since it has a magnetic pulse that it uses to get its reading. When my packet came in, it was two sheets in a small envelope. When my husband's came in (spouses that are insured are required to get the testing also), his had all kinds of additional information on where he was at risk, and what improvements he needed to make. All of my coworkers got that, but I did not get any of that, likely due to pregnancy. I would definitely go to human resources. I don't know about your company, but our company will be testing again next year, and the premiums will be determined in part by how much improvement you have made over the prior year's results.
I have a "natural product". Approved by the FDA which lowers cholesterol naturally. It is made with plant stanols and sterols which are naturally occuring in things like Soybeans, Oranges, cucumbers and almonds.
It has only been on the market since August. So far, the results are different for each individual, depending on how they eat, however one of the better testimonials was a friend of mine who reduced her LDL by 1/3
