While the story focuses more on the issue of discrimination and rights, from a planning perspective this is an important reason why working with an independent advisor is so important. Simply calling an insurance company and getting your call farmed out to one of the company's advisor generally leads to a very simplified sales process. I've had clients denied insurance or had policies offered with more expensive (rated) premiums, but I keep working with them to adjust coverage to fit their budgets or find other insurers. In many cases I approach various insurers to get a "preliminary review" for a client who may have some medical issue which would put an application in question. The main point is that the client needs someone to plan for them and lead them through the process, not simply try to sell them something.