If you have shopped for or renewed a life insurance policy lately, you know it has gotten fairly convenient to check all the boxes needed to complete an application.
For one thing, most applications can be processed digitally now. With the use of #docusign and other electronic document platforms, we no longer need to do much scanning or faxing. By loading documents in the secure environments of the insurance agent, what was once a pen to paper exercise is now faster and more convenient than ever.
Second thing is, we no longer have to go to the actual “doctor” to get the required bloodwork drawn. A lab tech or clinician of some kind, will come right to your living room and collect the specimen. Urine can also be obtained, and weight and height measured right at home!
I can’t think of many activities I’d rather avoid, than having a complete stranger walk into my home with a scale, and instruct me to get on it. And I have a feeling the lab techs don’t love it either. I say this because in general I feel pretty fit and well. Yet when I saw the number on the scale, I jumped off in disbelief! And I bet that reaction was not unique to me.
Thirdly, thinking intentionally about life insurance requires us to actually consider death, specifically our own. Which can put a lot of people on edge. Throw in the stranger with the scale and needle showing up in our homes, and the entire situation can be extremely nerve racking.
Yet like most worthy considerations, the discomfort is all part of the process. We don’t fail to die just because we don’t have insurance so might as well complete it.
Still, I can’t help but think that anyone doing data collection would have some great stories to tell. If I jumped off the scale in shock over a couple of pounds, I can only imagine what hilarious, common humanity tales have been observed in many homes, by many clinicians.
If you happen to do this type of work, please share anything that you think we’d like to hear about!
If you are in the market for life insurance, rest in the knowledge that it is easier to apply than ever before. Just make sure you take some deep breaths and get centered before taking on your own mortality, and your weight, all in the same day!