If a candidate wants to work as a health underwriter, many companies require him or her to have completed a bachelor’s degree, a trainee program, and an industry designation. Those who want to work as a health underwriter should have a degree in insurance, risk management, or finance, though other degrees are acceptable. Fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU), Registered Health Underwriter® (RHU®), and Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®) are all industry designations. To work as a health underwriter, many companies require insurance licenses.
Clients seeking life, health, or disability insurance have their risk potential assessed by health underwriters. To work as a health underwriter, you’ll need to know how to look at medical records, health indicators, and mortality and morbidity tables. An applicant may be required to undergo a medical examination and complete a detailed medical questionnaire by health underwriters. The health underwriter uses the results of the evaluation, the questionnaire, and the applicant’s medical history to determine whether the applicant is a good risk for the company.
A person who wants to work as a health underwriter must first work as a health underwriter trainee after graduating from college. The trainee will go through a rigorous training program to learn the fundamentals of underwriting health products. The trainee will also learn about the company’s specific underwriting guidelines, products, and marketing during the course.
Before a candidate is hired, some companies will require that he or she be licensed to sell insurance. Other companies will allow an underwriter trainee to obtain their license while still working for them, and will even pay for the course of study and licensing fees. The majority of licenses required to become a health underwriter require the completion of a course of study and the passing of an exam administered by a governing body.
The typical training period for a health underwriter trainee is one to three years, during which time they will learn both industry and company-specific standards. During this time, the trainee will assist with the processing of applications, interactions with brokers and clients, and product knowledge. The trainee may also be asked to join a professional association such as the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and attend local chapter meetings in order to earn an industry designation.
The trainee must complete a course of study and pass exams administered by the issuing body in order to earn industry designations. Because health underwriters deal with such a diverse range of life and health products, trainees can often tailor their education to a specific branch or specialty. Life underwriting, medical health underwriting, disability underwriting, and specified disease underwriting are some of the specialties.
A candidate is qualified to become a health underwriter after completing training, becoming licensed, and earning an industry designation. The trainee’s services will usually be retained by the company that invested in him or her as a full-fledged underwriter. The underwriter will then be able to bind coverages and issue policies with complete autonomy and authority.