Doctor's Crossing Podcast Spark-notes: Life Insurance Medical Director
Job: Life Insurance Medicine
Person on Podcast: Dr. Megan Levan
Job She Was in Prior to Career Switch: Outpatient Internal Medicine
What Do You Do?:
- Analyze medically complex insurance applications that are submitted by underwriters and assessing the mortality risk and sometimes morbidity risk in long term care or disability care
- read lots of EKGs, stress tests
- assist life and disability claims
- continue medical education to underwriting staff
- Can also do analytic research, product development, marketing
- lots of on the job learning esp with mentor
For Example:
Case 1: 64yoM applying for life insurance policy w/ PMH HTN, prostate cancer s/p surgery c/b recurrence, CAD s/p stent. The question from the underwriter could be, does this guy qualify for life insurance given his prostate cancer has recurrence? Can we consider this applicant based on his probable mortality risk?
Misconception:
- Doing life insurance examinations
- Selling life insurance
How to Prepare to be a Great Candidate:
- Get a contract to work at life insurance prior to full time
- Can take morbidity/mortality conferences/courses you can take for job
- Networking
- Multiple years (~10 years) in medicine
- Residency trained, board certified and licensed
- Internist, Family Medicine, Neurology
Compensation:
Range contingent on number of years working in field: 175k-300k. Average is 220-250k.
Resource:
- American Academy of Insurance Website - what is insurance medicine. Consider Membership. When you get membership, then you get paired up with a mentor.
- Access to Journal of Insurance Medicine - understand the literature