We applied for a life policy and i was just curious as to what information is found out through a life insurance swab test.
Total Comments: 27
Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 07:34 pm Post Subject:
I realize this message is more than 2 years old but wanted to caution anyone else who reads it.
In the last few years, I have investigated several companies whose agents conducted swab tests at the point of sale. Although the laws/insurance codes broken by the agents had absolutely nothing to do with the swab tests, the companies were sued for not being honest with their policy owners.
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 02:10 am Post Subject: swab tests
Does dipping show up in the swab test? Or is it for smokers only?
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 06:11 am Post Subject:
By "dipping" I assume you mean the use of chewing tobacco. Tobacco contains nicotine and nicotine will be present in your saliva if you smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco, or even if you use the nicotine gum.
Questions on a life insurance application commonly include: "Do you use tobacco or products containing nicotine?" and if you do, your answer needs to be "Yes."
Do insurance companies use the saliva test -- which is intended to identify HIV-positive status -- to identify tobacco users, drug users, or persons with specific genetic traits? They may. State laws govern what they can and cannot do with any information they obtain. Tobacco use is fair game, genetic information is not under most circumstances.
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:48 pm Post Subject: DNA Saliva Test
An insurance company just misrepresented themselves to me saying the swab test was to detect tobacco, When I asked to see the paperwork I found out it was testing for hiv, drugs and all manor of ilness and disease. I sent them packing and called the Florida Insurance Commissioners office. Unfortunately I had already allowed my mentally challenged daughter to do the test before seeing the consent form which was another misrepresentation. Beware!
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:44 am Post Subject:
Even though the insurance company or agent may have verbally concealed (not misrepresented) the fact that the saliva test is primarily for HIV/AIDS, what is the harm to you if they obtain other results? You received a copy of the written disclosure notice, and read it, and made a decision based on what you read.
The saliva test is not going to reveal "all manner of illness and disease" and the disclosure does not say that it does. Although they could, most companies do not use it to screen for the use of drugs -- that's too expensive and unreliable from a saliva test alone. They prefer to use a blood test for those results. The saliva test is great for detecting the present of HIV/AIDS and nicotine, and costs the insurance company about $10-$30 per test.
By comparison, a full panel blood test will cost $100-$200. It can reveal medical conditions such as high cholesterol, liver enzyme irregularities, diabetes (or it precursors), sickle cell disease, and others, plus a blood sample can be tested for the presence of all sorts of chemical compounds, such as nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin/opiates, methamphetamine, and other substances.
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 02:01 am Post Subject: Nicotine swab test
I quit smoking about seven years ago however once in a while I will smoke one here and there. Well our life insurance person shows up asks if I am a smoker and I say no because I don't consider myself a smoker anyway I had smoked half a cigarette about two hours before he came will that show?
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:02 am Post Subject:
I quit smoking about seven years ago however once in a while I will smoke one here and there
Then you haven't "quit" smoking, you have only tremendously reduced your use of cigarettes. You are in denial if you think otherwise.
I say no because I don't consider myself a smoker
Again, you are in denial. If you smoke an occasional cigarette, you are a smoker. That's what the insurance company would say, and I would agree.
The question on the application was probably not worded simply "Are you a smoker?" For the agent to ask the question in that manner is probably not the best way to ask it.
Regardless of how it's worded on the application, I ask the question in a way that gets more correct answers: "Have you used tobacco products in any form, such as cigarettes, cigars, pipe or chewing tobacco, or products containing nicotine?" How would you answer that question? If you answer, "No," by your own admission, you are lying.
But your question is about the saliva test. It is mostly used to detect the presence of HIV. A side benefit is that the insurance company may choose to also pay for a nicotine test. If it does in your case, the answer is, yes, it might detect the presence of nicotine, and if it does, you will properly be rated as a tobacco user, and the premium you will be asked to pay could be 50%-100% more than for a non-tobacco user.
The saliva test for tobacco is sensitive enough to detect the nicotine in gum that some people chew to deal with their tobacco addiction, and they, too are rated tobacco users -- even though they don't even smoke "one here and there.".
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 03:55 am Post Subject:
Yes DNA testing is too expensive, they don't do it. The swab gives info on drugs, tobacco and HIV.
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 04:22 am Post Subject:
I work for a life insurance comp & we check to confirm that you are not a smoker, checks for HIV, AIDS & hard drugs
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 04:26 am Post Subject:
Is def denied if hard drugs are present. You just get a letter in the mail stating your policy was denied, not sure if it says exactly why but the agent def knows exactly why when the results come back the next day.
Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 07:34 pm Post Subject:
I realize this message is more than 2 years old but wanted to caution anyone else who reads it.
In the last few years, I have investigated several companies whose agents conducted swab tests at the point of sale. Although the laws/insurance codes broken by the agents had absolutely nothing to do with the swab tests, the companies were sued for not being honest with their policy owners.
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 02:10 am Post Subject: swab tests
Does dipping show up in the swab test? Or is it for smokers only?
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 06:11 am Post Subject:
By "dipping" I assume you mean the use of chewing tobacco. Tobacco contains nicotine and nicotine will be present in your saliva if you smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco, or even if you use the nicotine gum.
Questions on a life insurance application commonly include: "Do you use tobacco or products containing nicotine?" and if you do, your answer needs to be "Yes."
Do insurance companies use the saliva test -- which is intended to identify HIV-positive status -- to identify tobacco users, drug users, or persons with specific genetic traits? They may. State laws govern what they can and cannot do with any information they obtain. Tobacco use is fair game, genetic information is not under most circumstances.
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:48 pm Post Subject: DNA Saliva Test
An insurance company just misrepresented themselves to me saying the swab test was to detect tobacco, When I asked to see the paperwork I found out it was testing for hiv, drugs and all manor of ilness and disease. I sent them packing and called the Florida Insurance Commissioners office. Unfortunately I had already allowed my mentally challenged daughter to do the test before seeing the consent form which was another misrepresentation. Beware!
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:44 am Post Subject:
Even though the insurance company or agent may have verbally concealed (not misrepresented) the fact that the saliva test is primarily for HIV/AIDS, what is the harm to you if they obtain other results? You received a copy of the written disclosure notice, and read it, and made a decision based on what you read.
The saliva test is not going to reveal "all manner of illness and disease" and the disclosure does not say that it does. Although they could, most companies do not use it to screen for the use of drugs -- that's too expensive and unreliable from a saliva test alone. They prefer to use a blood test for those results. The saliva test is great for detecting the present of HIV/AIDS and nicotine, and costs the insurance company about $10-$30 per test.
By comparison, a full panel blood test will cost $100-$200. It can reveal medical conditions such as high cholesterol, liver enzyme irregularities, diabetes (or it precursors), sickle cell disease, and others, plus a blood sample can be tested for the presence of all sorts of chemical compounds, such as nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin/opiates, methamphetamine, and other substances.
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 02:01 am Post Subject: Nicotine swab test
I quit smoking about seven years ago however once in a while I will smoke one here and there. Well our life insurance person shows up asks if I am a smoker and I say no because I don't consider myself a smoker anyway I had smoked half a cigarette about two hours before he came will that show?
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:02 am Post Subject:
I quit smoking about seven years ago however once in a while I will smoke one here and there
Then you haven't "quit" smoking, you have only tremendously reduced your use of cigarettes. You are in denial if you think otherwise.
I say no because I don't consider myself a smoker
Again, you are in denial. If you smoke an occasional cigarette, you are a smoker. That's what the insurance company would say, and I would agree.
The question on the application was probably not worded simply "Are you a smoker?" For the agent to ask the question in that manner is probably not the best way to ask it.
Regardless of how it's worded on the application, I ask the question in a way that gets more correct answers: "Have you used tobacco products in any form, such as cigarettes, cigars, pipe or chewing tobacco, or products containing nicotine?" How would you answer that question? If you answer, "No," by your own admission, you are lying.
But your question is about the saliva test. It is mostly used to detect the presence of HIV. A side benefit is that the insurance company may choose to also pay for a nicotine test. If it does in your case, the answer is, yes, it might detect the presence of nicotine, and if it does, you will properly be rated as a tobacco user, and the premium you will be asked to pay could be 50%-100% more than for a non-tobacco user.
The saliva test for tobacco is sensitive enough to detect the nicotine in gum that some people chew to deal with their tobacco addiction, and they, too are rated tobacco users -- even though they don't even smoke "one here and there.".
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 03:55 am Post Subject:
Yes DNA testing is too expensive, they don't do it. The swab gives info on drugs, tobacco and HIV.
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 04:22 am Post Subject:
I work for a life insurance comp & we check to confirm that you are not a smoker, checks for HIV, AIDS & hard drugs
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 04:26 am Post Subject:
Is def denied if hard drugs are present. You just get a letter in the mail stating your policy was denied, not sure if it says exactly why but the agent def knows exactly why when the results come back the next day.
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