A True Story

A True Story

About a year and a half ago, I met this man through a networking group. As I had written policies on a number of people in the group, he asked if I could help him as well. We set an appointment, and he told me he wanted the best coverage we had. At that time, the GSP was the best I had to offer him. Although he was in good health, because of his age, it was still a good amount of premium.

He said, “Warren, you know I’m just trying to get this business of the ground and can’t afford that right now.”

I showed him some options, the Cancer, the Critical Illness, and the MMXC, but he said if he couldn’t get the GSP, he’d just wait.

I kept in touch with him off and on, and about a year ago, he decided we needed to sit down and visit again. Well, the Flex was now available and he still wanted the best coverage we had to offer. Of course he’s now older (new age bracket) and has High Blood Pressure. So now his premium was to be even higher than before. I explained to him how both the High Blood Pressure and being older now had an impact on his rates, and how if we had done this a year ago it wouldn’t have been an issue.

He said, “Warren, you know I’m still trying to get this business of the ground and can’t afford that right now.”

I showed him some options, the Cancer, (remember he now has High Blood Pressure so no Critical Illness) and the MMXC, but he said if he couldn’t get the Flex, he’d just wait.

Well, we’ve spoken to, and seen, each other at various gatherings and last December he said we need to do this.

Of course now, I’ve got the Flex+ in my bag. We started at the 100K, then the 75K, and settled on the 50K with the Additional Dr. Benefit and the Accident.

He said, “Warren, you know I’m still trying to get this business of the ground and can’t afford that right now.”

I showed him some options, the Cancer (remember he has High Blood Pressure so no Critical Illness) and the MMXC, but he said if he couldn’t get the Flex+, he’d just wait until after Christmas to ensure he had the cash flow after buying presents and we set up a day to get back together. He called me after Christmas and said he’d have to put me off until mid-January. I called him January 15th, we spoke and he said he’d call back that afternoon after he saw his schedule for the next week. He never called back.

I called him this morning and left him a message, “Hey, buddy, this is Warren—we need to get together to do something about your health insurance.”

He called back a little later. It turns out; he had gone to the Dr. during this time for a check up. The Dr. didn’t like something he saw and said he needed to have a colonoscopy ASAP. The Dr. called him back this morning with the results---COLON CANCER! The only thing left for the Dr. to determine now is whether to take the whole colon or just part of it. They have another colonoscopy scheduled.

It was obvious that he was really shaken by the news. I could hear it in his voice. He was concerned about his family, his health, and his business and his clients.

He said, “Warren, you know, this business is just getting of the ground, I don’t have insurance and my family can’t afford this right now.”

I now had no options to show him, no Cancer, no Critical Illness, no MMXC, and no Flex+.

Because he had never considered getting his health insurance in place as a priority, he was now un-insured, and un-insurable!

All I could offer him now, was my continued friendship, and my prayers.
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I wrote this for a corporate newsletter a couple of years ago, so I apologize for some of the acronyms used in the article that may not make much sense to you. It wasn't written as an advertising piece, but as a reminder to all in my industry as to why we need to convey the urgency of the products we offer to our clients.

I ran across it as I was looking back on notes from previous Decembers, so I thought I'd re-post it here.

What I would like you to take away from this article, is the knowledge that you never know when something like this will happen to you or your family. You owe it to yourself and your family to protect yourselves by getting a quality health insurance plan in place.

The discount plans may knock a little off the bill, but you will still be left holding the bill.

Have a GREAT day,
Warren