The Insurance Buying Guide: Medical Profile
Naturally, the insurance company will be interested in your medical history and your current condition. If you have chronic back problems, you obviously are more likely to become disabled than if you are completely healthy.
Most disability insurance companies ask you about your medical history -- and your family's -- on a policy application. They also may ask you to take a physical exam (usually at the company's expense).
If you have to have a physical examination performed by a doctor in lieu of simply answering medical questions, your application normally is referred to as a medical application. If the company obtains medical information simply by reviewing answers to questions on the application, it is referred to as a non-medical application. Depending on the medical problem, your personal physician may be asked to complete an Attending Physician's Statement. The purpose of this report is to provide more detailed information about your medical history or current physical condition.
Past medical history refers to what was; current physical condition refers to what is. These two factors, plus hereditary traits -- such as heart disease or diabetes -- would indicate what will be (or a prognosis for the future).
Example: Ralph has just been given a clean bill of health following a physical exam. A week later, he has a severe heart attack and becomes totally disabled.
How can this happen? The family physician normally is looking at the patient today -- at a specific moment in time. It is entirely possible that at that precise moment, Ralph appeared to be in excellent condition.
He came from a family with a history of heart problems, though. And for many years he had been overweight, with a high cholesterol diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Even though he had trimmed down a bit before his physical, he was a candidate for heart problems.
Due to the evasive nature of disability, an insurance company will look at your medical history and your family's medical history, as well as your current condition, in its attempt to determine whether there is any unusual physical or medical risk involved.
