This week, my husband and I each had the physical exam that is required in order for us to get life insurance. This is the last step in the long process that one must go through in order to be approved for a life insurance policy. Soon, we should hear something from the insurance company that informs us if we have been accepted, or rejected, for life insurance policies.
We had a woman from the insurance company come to our home to do the exams. Her name was Marla. She said that sometimes she goes to people’s workplaces instead. It is basically up to the customer where they want the exam to take place. She called us the day before to confirm the appointment, to remind us that we needed to fast after midnight the night before the exam, and to reiterate that we needed to be drinking lots of fluids. We assured her that we were doing what she asked, and that we still wanted to do the exam as scheduled.
She arrived with plenty of supplies. She carried with her an electronic scale, an electronic blood pressure kit, a manual blood pressure kit, and kits to collect samples of blood and urine. She had a clipboard, and paperwork, and a pillow. It took a canvas bag and a wheeled suitcase to bring all of this from her car into our house.
We decided that I would go first. I was given a cup to collect urine. Marla said that I should call her as soon as I was “done” so she could check the temperature of the urine. Apparently, this is to ensure that no one uses an old sample, or gets a sample from a healthier friend, and stores it for the insurance company to collect. Next, Marla needed to take my blood pressure. The form she had to fill out for the insurance company required her to take my blood pressure three times, and so she did.
In between, she asked me other questions from the form. This included my name, social security number, address, telephone number, and driver’s license number. I was asked three separate questions that all asked if I used tobacco, or tobacco products. She asked me how tall I was. I was asked if I was pregnant, or menstruating at this moment. She needed the name and address of my physician, and had to write down how long it had been since I last visited my doctor. We used the scale to find out how much I weighed.
The last thing Marla needed was a blood sample. She used the pillow to rest my arm on. She needed to take two vials of blood, and was so good at doing this that I didn’t even feel the needle go into my arm. Once this was over, Marla went through the entire procedure with my husband. Yes, she also was required to ask him if he happened to be pregnant or menstruating! She gave us a pamphlet about AIDS and HIV before she left, since our blood will be checked for it. All that is left is to wait for the insurance company to tell us if we have been approved, or rejected, for life insurance.
Image by Rob Pongsajapan on Flickr