Financial Services Updates

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Updates as of 4/17
New e-app on the iPipeline/iGO platform starting 4/23 now gives clients the options to complete the full app/medical background online or via teleinterview

Cincinnati Life

At this time, Cincinnati Life is not waiving paramedical requirements.  They are going through the cases they currently have in underwriting to determine if there are any cases that they have sufficient information at this time to make offers, even if they decide not to go after APS’s.  Cincinnati Life is planning to use Statements of Good Health on all newly issued policies as a delivery requirement.

Updates as of 4/24

Effective 4/20/2020, we are implementing temporary changes to our life insurance underwriting guidelines for newly submitted applications received on or after 4/27/2020

• Extending underwriting window by 30 days to allow additional time for exams to be completed and medical records to be received.
• We will need to wait 30 days to consider anyone who has been out of the country from the time they return to the US
• We will not accept any applications on anyone over age 80 for any product
• We will not issue any policies below a table 2 for anyone aged 60-79.
• We will continue to keep cases open for 90 days in lieu of 60 days to collect necessary requirements. Any cash with the app will still be returned after 60 days.

John Hancock

John Hancock will continue to follow their guidelines related to the evidence required to complete the underwriting process, including paramedical exams where indicated. To the extent their vendors are still offering paramedical exams in your area, please be assured that these vendors are taking extra precautions as they relate to conducting their business and completing insurance specimen testing, including following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s interim guidance. They have also stepped-up safety precautions to safeguard the health and integrity of our customers. That said, John Hancock understands that some of your clients may be uncomfortable being in close contact with other individuals, including paramedical examiners. If paramedical exams are not available in your area, or if your client is uncomfortable completing an exam, please contact your BGA case manager/firm contact so that John Hancock can determine how they might obtain the required evidence without necessitating the presence of an examiner in their home, for example by ensuring you are taking full advantage of our non-invasive underwriting process eligibility or through evidence obtained from an applicant’s physician.

Policy Contract Delivery
John Hancock realizes many of their firms have adopted flexible work arrangements and people may not be in the office to receive the policy contract for delivery to the client. Until further notice, they are sending all policies via email. The firm contact will receive a non-watermarked PDF copy of the contract via Office 365 Encryption.

 Underwriting Updates as of 4/08

• Human API portal – clients can provide direct access to their health records through Human API patient portal. This will becoming available starting April 13, 2020. Click here to learn more about Human API
• During this time, they will not be making final underwriting offers on cases where the insured is 80+. They will continue to receive and review new applications for these clients with the goal of moving on them quickly when circumstances change.

Updates as of 4/15

Now awarding points for at home workouts on Vitality policies. Points will also count towards Apple Watch payments.

Updates as of 5/12

Updated Grace Periods

• In an effort to stay aligned with state guidelines issued in response to COVID-19, we are refining our practices relating to extended grace periods. Effective May 15, 2020, if customers are experiencing a hardship and having difficulty paying their premium due to challenges presented by COVID-19, we will provide a total grace period of 90 days. We will continue to review and adjust this approach as appropriate and will of course follow any specific state requirements. We are here to support you and your customers during this challenging time.

Updates as of 6/10

• Lifting restrictions and proceeding to finalize offers on client’s ages 80-90 who are at Standard or better risks. This is only for client’s who are truly Standard or better and no concessions, exceptions, or waiving of requirements will be made. Sub-standard risks will continue to be a postpone for now with no ETA on when John Hancock can consider those insureds.

Updates as of 6/29

• Resumed accepting and processing applications on individuals up to and including age 90

Lincoln

Lincoln is working closely with their vendor partners; however, you may experience delays as a result of the inability to retrieve an APS and medical records, criminal reports and/or obtain exams or labs during this time. Lincoln will work with clients to schedule exams and/or obtain necessary information as normal business operations begin to resume. Life insurance applications are good for 1 year from the date of submission, and Lincoln will keep the file open as we work to obtain outstanding requirements. Please note that exams, medical and other requirements will not be waived, however if Lincoln can obtain information in a different format to move the business forward, they will (ex: digital medical records).

Policy Prints for Life and MoneyGuard are temporarily suspended with electronic delivery options available effective Friday, March 27

Underwriting updates as of 4/15

Click here to view recent underwriting updates.

Updates as of 5/12

Effective June 1, 2020, Lincoln will no longer print and mail hard copies of life insurance annual and quarterly statements, or VUL confirmations, to financial professionals. For easier, faster access, all materials are available electronically at LincolnFinancial.com.

If you are not registered, please take the following steps:

1. Go to LincolnFinancial.com and click on LOG IN/REGISTER in the upper right-hand corner
2. From the registration page, select Industry Professionals
3. Select I Sell Lincoln Products
4. Enter personal ID information and Lincoln-specific contact information

Mutual/United of Omaha

As COVID-19 cases increase within the United States and around the world, Mutual of Omaha is issuing the following underwriting guidance on new and pending applications for life and health products:

• If the proposed insured or any member of his or her household has traveled or resided outside of the United States within the past 30 days, the application will be postponed until 30 days following their return.
• If the proposed insured or any member of his or her household has come into close contact with anyone known to the insured to have tested positive for COVID-19, the application will be postponed until 30 days following their exposure.
• In addition, anyone testing positive for the COVID-19 virus or those who have been hospitalized or quarantined for the virus will have their application postponed for a minimum of 90 days.

Accelerated Underwriting Program updates

• Increased face amount to $2M
• Issue Ages 18-55
• Face Amounts: $100,000 – $2,000,000
• Available Products:  Term Life Answers 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-years, Income Advantage IUL and Life Protection Advantage IUL
• Speed eTicket (Drop Ticket) process only

All fully underwriting products will now require a signed Statement of Good Health at delivery.

Updates as of 4/17

• Effective 4/16/2020, Mutual of Omaha will not be accepting LTC applications for individuals age 65 and older. All LTC cases not already approved or issued will be postponed and process as an incomplete application.
• They will continue to prequalify applicants 64 and younger. The prequalification will be good for 60 days. If the health of the client changes or the prequalification is past 60 days, you will need to prequalify the applicant again.

Nationwide

Updates to their Intelligent Underwriting (accelerated underwriting)

• If acceleration is not possible, they will consider client-provided personal health records and exam results that have been completed within the past 24 months
• Face amounts
  • Age 18 to 50: $100,000 to $2 million
  • Age 51 to 60: Up to and including $1 million
  • Now allowing Standard or better risk classifications
  • If exams are needed, we will consider a completed physical, including labs, with all results normal within the prior 24 months
  • We can confirm the exam and lab results through digital health data
• Face amounts
  • Age 18 to 50: Over $2 million
  • Age 51 to 60: Over $1 million
  • Case meets regular accelerated underwriting guidelines for eligibility
  • Applicant has had a complete physical, including labs, with all results normal within the prior 24 months
  • We can confirm the exam and lab results through digital health data
  • Standard or better risk classifications only

OneAmerica

If required paramedical services cannot be completed, OneAmerica will consider proceeding with the case so long as the insured has seen their physician with in the last 6 months and records can be obtained. Based on information in the records, it is still possible an exam would be needed.

Updates as of 4/24

The following temporary changes to their business limits will apply to new business received after 5/01/2020

• Care Solutions, Ages 70 and above
  • Only single pay is allowed
  • COB must also be single pay
  • Annuity-Funded Whole Life and Asset Care 2 & 3 remain available
  • The full suite of Annuity Care products remains available (COB pay periods remain as they are today on annuities)
  • No rated cases allowed
  • We are suspending the following:
    • Asset Care Recurring Premium Whole Life
    • Asset Care 4
    • Asset Care with Return of Premium
• For ages 70 and above, cases not meeting these criteria will be postponed.
• Ages 69 and below – no changes to current guidelines

For all underwritten products, both traditional and Care Solutions, OneAmerica will require a Certificate of Insurability (COI) upon policy delivery for all sales.

Updates as of 6/22

In March, we announced several temporary changes to our underwriting processes that offered flexibility while the COVID-19 environment unfolded around us. Since then, we’ve stayed in close contact with our vendors and underwriters, and we’ve seen better than expected results for the completion of in-person underwriting requirements. Our key vendors have indicated that in nearly all locations, they’re able to complete exams and provide timely data back to insurers. This is consistent with the experience we’ve seen on our business.

One America will be moving to traditional age and amount requirements on July 1, 2020 and will be pursuing exams and labs based on those age and amount requirements.

Principal Life

Effective March 24, 2020, for any pending or newly submitted formal applications, Principal is offering additional solutions to underwrite without exam requirements. Their Principal Accelerated Underwriting^SM program may meet the needs of many, but they have also developed some temporary guidelines during this challenging time to help. Note, Principal will regularly review these guidelines and reserve the right to make changes at any time.

Applicant ages 18-40

• For face amounts up to and including $1,000,000 – no change to Accelerated Underwriting program
• For face amounts from $1,000,001 to $2,500,000, and meets the following requirements:
  • Case meets regular Accelerated Underwriting guidelines for eligibility
  • Applicant has had a complete physical, including labs, with all results normal within the prior 24 months
  • Principal can confirm the exam and lab results through digital health data

Applicant ages 41-60

• Face amounts up to and including $1,000,000 – no change to Accelerated Underwriting program
• Face amounts from $1,000,001 to $2,000,000, and meets the following requirements:
  • Case meets regular Accelerated Underwriting guidelines for eligibility
  • Applicant has had a complete physical, including labs, with all results normal within the prior 24 months
  • Principal can confirm the exam and lab results through digital health data

Digital health data or attending physician statements (APS)
Principal will initiate the requests for digital health data, including the use of patient portal information through the vendor Human API. They have other sources of digital health data as well, so please do not request patient portal information or traditional APS without first consulting with your Principal underwriter.

Effective immediately, Principal is  implementing the contractual $1M premium limit on life insurance policies

• Applies to all policy years as well as recurring premiums, 1035 exchange values, lump sums, and multiple applications on the same insured.
• Applies to all universal life, survivorship universal life, indexed universal life, and variable universal life products
• Any application signed on or after April 13, 2020 must adhere to this premium limit

Starting May 4, all term policies will be electronically delivered

Principal is now working with Human API to allow clients to share their medical records electronically when needed. Digital records are available to the underwriter in minutes rather than weeks. This safe and secure method keeps information protected and allows the underwriting process to keep moving. If you have questions, contact your case manager.

Updates as of 4/15

• Underwriting updates: effective for any formal application dated March 25,2020 and after as well as any formal app dated prior to March 24, 2020 and received at Principal by April 9^th.
  • Insured ages up to 59 will have a maximum table rating either Table 6 or a flat extra of $10/1000 of coverage.
  • Insured ages 60-80 will have a maximum table rating of either Table 2 or a flat extra of $5/1000 of coverage
  • Ages 81+ will not be considered at any rate class until further notice
• For survivorship cases, both lives need to meet the new guidelines.
• Risks with a combination of a table rating and flat extra will be postponed (Principal does not convert table ratings to flat extras nor flat extras to table ratings)

Updates as of 6/8

• Grace period extension has ended for most states. The temporary 60-day extended grace period has ended for all policies going into grace June 1 and after except those in AZ, MI, MO, NJ, NM, NY, OH, and OR. Those policies granted an extended grace period prior to June 1 will continue to receive the full extended 60-day grace period. All others have the standard, contractual grace period.

Updates as of 6/29

Temporary underwriting guidelines extended through July 31:

• Effective March 24, temporary underwriting guidelines were put in place to provide additional help for pending or newly submitted formal applications

Principal Disability

Principal Will No Longer Be Requiring Exams for the Following Amounts: 

1. Individual Disability – $10,000
2. Business Overhead Expense – $25,000
3. Disability Buy Out / Key Person – $1,000,000

If Applying for Over These Amounts
With the clients permission (short email sent to the client), Principal will use their Human API technology to obtain the clients records / exams from their online portal that most doctor’s offices are now using.  They would then work with their reinsurers on a case by case basis on using the clients lab results that were obtained from their portal, to make the offer without ordering labs.  Going forward Principal will be using this service with all cases to speed up the records process while doctor’s offices may be bogged down with seeing patients.

Tax Records
Principal will do their best to just use the 2018 tax documents and any documents that may be available for 2019 in decision making.

Updates as of 6/29/2020

Temporary benefit update guidelines and grace period extension ending:

• Beginning July 1, customers will once again need to purchase at least 75% of eligible coverage to get the Benefit Update (BU) rider. There will be a 30-day transition period for business quoted in advance of this date. So, cases quoted prior to July 1 and with an application received by July 31, will have the temporary BU provision (50% of eligible coverage) honored.
• Also beginning July 1, billing grace periods will no longer be automatically extended. They’ll revert back to the grace period outlined in the policy (certain state exceptions will apply).

Protective

Currently, Protective can potentially use a full exam/bloodwork from a PCP if done over the last 12 months but it is on a case by case basis. For those cases that don’t have enough information to use they would probably be put on hold, but Senior management is looking at all options and as Protective gets any updates they will let you know.

Effective immediately, Protective will temporarily waive the witness signature on delivery requirements for life and annuity policies.

Good Health Statement
Effective March 26, 2020, any coverage approved on life insurance applicants aged 60 or older will require a Statement of Health to be signed on delivery.

Cash with Applications
Effective March 26, 2020, Protective will no longer accept cash with applications to bind coverage under the Temporary Insurance Agreement in the states of California and Kansas. Any premium submitted with California or Kansas applications as of this date will be returned.

Updates as of 4/17

• Statement of Health will now be needed on delivery for all individuals regardless of age or face amount.
• Age and rating limitations:
  • Protective will postpone coverage on individuals who are age 80 and above.
  • Ages 70-79: Applicants must qualify for Standard rating or better and have no significant underlying medical condition or treatment that makes them more susceptible to COVID-19 death. *
  • Ages 60-69: Applicants must qualify for Table 4 rating or better and have no significant underlying medical condition or treatment that makes them more susceptible to COVID-19 death. *
  • Ages 0-59: Protective will consider applicants with all medical impairments through Table 4. Applicants rated over Table 4 will be considered on a case-by-case basis if the individual has no significant underlying medical condition or treatment that makes him or her more susceptible to COVID-19 death. *
• *The medical conditions and treatments referred to above include, but are not limited to:
  • Heart disease; Significant cancer in the last 10 years; Diabetes; Pulmonary disease (COPD, Asthma, etc.); Autoimmune or Immunosuppressive Disease; Any medication that causes immunosuppression (Biologic, Prednisone/Steroid, Methotrexate, etc.)

Updates as of 7/28

Click here to view the latest COVID underwriting guidelines for Protective.

Prudential

Underwriting updates

• Extending the threshold of face amounts for new life insurance policy applications submitted via PruFast Track (accelerated underwriting) from $1 million to $3 million.
• Discontinuing the need for medical exams/labs, where possible, for new life insurance policies with face amounts of less than or equal to $3M for individuals 60 years of age and under.
• Temporarily restricting new applications at age 80 and over—we will no longer accept any application at age 80 and over until further notice, effective April 6, 2020.
• Postponing any applications at ages 65 and over with a rating class of Table D or higher.
• Postponing any rated case in which the client presents a chronic respiratory condition.
• Postponing any proposed insured who has tested positive for COVID‐19 for 30 days with full recovery.

Click Here to view the COVID-19 Service Update.

Updates as of 4/30

• Apps submitted after March 1^st, 2020 for ages 18-60 and face amounts of $3M and under, will be automatically reviewed to determine if they can move forward without an exam and blood test. For most cases, they must have solid medical records (Human API – digital records acceptable) to move forward
• Pending cases with medical records outstanding that meet the above criteria (submitted after March 1, 2020, age 18-60, face amount $1M and under) will be reviewed to determine if digital health records (Human API) can be obtained.
• Starting April 27, 2020, the Consent for Electronic Policy Delivery form will be sent with every policy and is required to complete placement whenever the policy is provided in a non-paper format.

Click to view underwriting updates

The Standard

Standard Will Accept More Applications With No Labs or Exams.
Starting immediately until May 31, 2020, labs or exams are not required for applicants of all ages for:

Standard will accept applications signed on or before May 31, 2020, under the new guidelines. Their underwriters are reviewing open cases and will process those that qualify under the new guidelines.

Please note, Standard may also waive labs and exams for applicants seeking higher benefit amounts, depending on medical history and other information available. Please contact your underwriter directly if you have a case you’d like reviewed.

Updates as of 4/15

Premium payment grace period has been extended to 91 days for all individual disability insurance customers

Updates as of 4/17

Effective Immediately (4/17/2020) The Standard will no longer accept GME requests for Proposals on new programs. This will not affect existing programs.

Updates as of 4/28

BIR (Benefit Increase Rider) Changes

• We’ve lowered the requirement that applicants accept 75% or more of the maximum benefit amount they qualify for to receive the BIR. Now accepting as little as 50% will make them eligible for the BIR, if the application is signed by May 31, 2020. Existing eligibility requirements apply.
• We’ll automatically renew the BIR for policies with BIR option dates between March 1 and May 31, 2020, even if applicants haven’t applied for an increase or have accepted less than 50% of the maximum increase amount they qualify for.

Updates as of  7/23

As we all adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, The Standard introduced several temporary guidelines to help customers get and keep IDI. On July 31, 2020, these temporary guidelines will expire and we’ll return to our normal guidelines with one exception. We’ll continue to not require labs or exams for some applications through Sept. 30, 2020. Click here for details