How to get Attending physician statement

An attending physician statement (or APS) is a document that can be requested by an insurance company if you are applying for life insurance or living benefits products. It allows the insurance company to better understand health risks associated with an applicant. Typically, this document is requested from your family doctor and the insurance company pays a fee for the request.

Do insurance companies always request an attending physician statement?

No, insurance companies do not always request an APS. In fact, most fully underwritten insurance policies do not need an APS. It is more likely to be requested for large coverage amounts, for elderly applicants, and people who have health issues. When possible, insurance companies prefer avoiding it as it comes with a fee that the insurance company has to pay.

Which insurance products might require an attending physician statement?

Life Insurance, Disability Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, and Long-Term Care Insurance are among insurance products that might require an APS. As mentioned earlier, not every application will require an APS. It is only for select cases such as large face amounts (coverage limits, e.g. several million), known health issues, or elderly applicants.

No Medical Life Insurance products, such as simplified issue life insurance and guaranteed issue life insurance, do not require an attending physician statement.

Who completes an attending physician statement?

Typically, it is your family doctor who completes your attending physician statement, but there are situations when this can be not possible, e.g.:

• No family doctor available (e.g. newcomers)

In these cases, an application may be postponed until someone has the required records. In some cases, insurance companies can reach out to specialists – this will likely increase the application processing time.

What does an attending physician statement cost?

Each attending physician statement can cost around $350 for the insurance company to pay. That explains the fact that insurance companies prefer to not request it unless it is really necessary. Some companies, such as Humania, try to move away from the APS by using intelligent underwriting that assess other underwriting factors with help of artificial intelligence (AI).

How long does it take to issue an attending physician statement?

An attending physician statement issue timeline can vary greatly, anywhere between two weeks and six or more months. It varies greatly from doctor to doctor. If an insurance company has to contact a specialist, it can take even longer. Some doctors still do not use email and will only respond by fax.

Can an insurance company decline your application based on the attending physician statement?

Yes, an insurance company may decide to decline your life insurance or living benefits application based on the information in your APS. In this case, you have an option to apply with another carrier (which might decide not to request an APS) or apply for no medical life insurance, which does not require an APS. Please note that different insurance companies have different underwriting protocols and parameters.

Attending physician statement, example

Here is a sample Attending Physician Statement from one of Canadian insurance companies, RBC Insurance

Source: RBC Insurance

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When applying to get life insurance the insurers will look to see if you are a higher risk applicant. And their determination will impact you once you get your quote.  Either your premium will be standard or they’ll charge you more depending on what their risk-outcome algorithm states.

When you need to provide more information when applying for life insurance policies, the attending physician statement is the standard way to obtain that information.

Essentially, the attending physician statement (APS) is a report from a doctor or medical facility that either has treated or is currently treating someone that is seeking life insurance.

In applying for life insurance, this is perhaps the top ordered source of background information.

What Exactly Is Your Attending Physician Statement?

The attending physician statement is one of the most difficult and time consuming requirements needed when applying life insurance, but it is also the most sound and proven form of additional background information.

Since the statement can only be written when the doctor has the free time to do so, it can often be weeks or a month for this information to arrive. Once it does, then it can take quite a bit of time to verify for use in the overall medical information history of the person applying life insurance or other policies.

Essentially, when applying life insurance there are numerous medical questions that must be asked in order to secure the type of policy that is sought. If there was a previous medical condition or current treatments underway, then there must be real verification by the attending physician in order to provide the proper perspective.

Evaluating How Risky You Are

When the medical risk to the patient is evaluated, the attending physician’s statement needs not only to be included, but summarized by the underwriter. This summary can vary depending on the underwriter and the style, focus or method that they choose. Quite often, the summary can vary in some detail, but normally the general focus of the statement is held true in the summary.

However, there are times in which the summary can be misleading or even wrong which can greatly affect the position of the insurance policy. In this case, finding an experienced, solid underwriter can make a contrast preparing an accurate summary of the attending physician’s statement. Any missing information, however subtle, can have a powerful effect on whether insurance is approved.

Many underwriters use a template structure, a common form of writing that allows them to summarize the information in a structure that is recognizable. This structure allows for the summary to include all the pertinent information which allows insurance companies to make more proper evaluation about the information presenting in the attending physician’s statement.

How Insurers Interpret Your Attending Physician Statement

Evaluating medical risks is the job of the underwriters when they take the attending physician’s statement. This means using a solid template so that all the pertinent information can be gathered and evaluated properly. The attending physician’s statement is vital to properly evaluating medical risk whether they have occurred in the past or present for insurance companies to make informed decisions.

Insuring that the attending physician statement is accurately summarized is a vital part of providing accurate information to the insurance company when they make decisions about life insurance policies. One mistake or misrepresentation can be costly the person applying for the life insurance or the company itself.

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Do No Medical Exam Plans Still Obtain Physician Statements?

A no medical exam is an excellent option for life insurance coverage for any applicant that has been declined for coverage or has several pre-existing health complications such as diabetes. If it isn’t obvious by now, we’ll let you on a little secret, no med exam is required to get the protection life insurance offers in these plans. There is a lot of confusion about these policies and what information the insurance company will require before they accept your application.

You could apply for a plan with several different companies but results could be all over the place because no insurer has the same requirements for how they handle no medical exam life insurance plan.

For the most part, the insurance company is not going to get a physician statement with a no medical exam plan. With most no medical exam policies, the insurance company will only ask a handful of questions during the application process.

If you’re looking to get life insurance coverage, and you’ve been declined in the past, or you have pre-existing conditions, this plans could be an excellent option for you.

There are some advantages to these no medical life insurance programs to be mindful of as you look for coverage. We want you to get the best plan to meet your needs, and you should compare all of the different options before purchasing a plan.

The first advantage is life insurance is open for all! Health issues? You can get a plan. Pre-existing problems? You can get a plan! with a no medical exam, your health won’t keep you from getting a policy.

Another significant advantage is how quickly a life insurance policy can be issued if you go this route. Since there’s no exam or underwriting the application is normally approved once the payment is received. This certainly helps you out if you’re in a situation where health could decline rapidly in the near future and no life insurance protection is possible or the premiums could be out of your budget.

However, every advantage has its disadvantage, and the biggest one is that these plans will cost more per monnth than a policy that requires a medical exam. The purpose of the exam is to let the insurer know what your overall health is. Without the picture, they are taking a much greater risk by giving you life insurance and by taking that risk it’ll end up hurting your wallet more than you originally realized.

Lastly, is that the insurance company can limit how coverage you can buy. Many companies will only allow you to purchase around $250,000 of life insurance. Unfortunately for many this won’t cover all they need it to. If you need more than this, your only option is buying two of them.

Don’t let some of this knowledge discourage you from buying insurance and protecting your family’s finances from future debt.