Muscle Mass and BMI

Hi Guys,

My son has had his battles with weight issues like his Mom.  He is now down to around 200, 6'4" and body building, bench pressing 400lbs. His problem is his body weight is mostly muscle mass but when he tried to get life insurance (newly married) they said per his BMI he is level 2 obese and has to pay the highest premium and if he weight 10 pounds more they would not insure him.

How do you guys deal with his issue?  Once you lost the weight and started working out, did  you find you were discriminated against per your BMI?

Thanks for any suggestions and input you have.   

I have always been a big, athletic and helthy guy but NEVER fit into the molds of a "healthy" weight by doctor standards.

My Senior year of high school 6' 260'



In college 6' 275lb benching in the high 400's squatting high 600lb ect.




I aplied for life insurance several times with different employers and insurance companies and was denied more often than now.  I did find that State Farm actually did some health and medical checks on me and approved me even though my premium is a little higher.  My agent also stated when I loose my excess weight from surgery to come back and he would see what he could do to lower those premiums.  I really don't have a lot of advice to add but know what your son is dealing with.

 Thanks, it was State Farm that he applied with and was told to pay the highest premium and be glad they approved him at all....

Sigh, if you guys can prove it's muscle and not fat then hell they should adjust.

Take care and love your photos!!!

 He can appeal this, probably will have to have his actual fat ratio measured, perhaps professionally (where they dunk you)  That is the definitive test to measure muscle/fat ratios and is supervised by a MD, etc.

That should satisfy their requirements / they should override the computer.

You could start by using one of the at home scales to measure muscle/fat ratios, I use mine to make sure I am staying on track.  This is the one I use.

http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-510W-Composition-Monitor-Sca le/dp/B001IV61J4/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1350911115&sr=8-11& keywords=fat+scale

Sam

 Thanks Sam,

He applied with State farm and I am going to advise him to go to one of the brokers that have access to muliple insurance companies.  I also suggested he get the sugery where they remove the skin on his tummy as that would help too.

Thanks again!

I have been an insurance agent for 25 years so here me out.  First off State Farm is not the place to purchase Health Insurance they are not a big player.  The suggestion above to go to a broker with many companies is the correct choice, they can work with each company's strengths and weaknesses to find the right fit.

Insurance carriers are only interested in covering risks that they have statistics to understand the risk.  They don't have a very good picture yet of the long term effects of weight loss surgery, so post surgery we all have a hard time getting insured.  They do have very good statistics though on obesity and the numbers aren't good.  With a broker you should be able to find a company that will work with you and he may get one to give standard rates, but I'm sure he will never get preferred rating. That's just the way it is.   

Good information!