Jill A. McArdle
Director of Underwriting

“Do it with passion or not at all”
– Dawn Abraham

Jill joined Gateway in 1998, after serving in an underwriting and client‐service capacity at a major life insurance carrier for almost 20 years. With underwriting offers having such a dramatic impact on the cost of insurance, Jill’s primary responsibility is to negotiate with each carrier so they concede their best and most competitive underwriting offer. While Jill coordinates all aspects of the life insurance acquisition and implementation process, from the initial client interview to policy placement, for each client who undergoes medical underwriting, she:

• Assembles a list of underwriting requirements published by each carrier (i.e. attending physician statements, medical exam, lab tests, etc.) and checks for consistency and justification. If a carrier requests a requirement that is not reasonable, Jill negotiates with the carrier to have it waived or substituted.
• Interviews the client and obtains authorization to procure their medical records from their physicians, then reviews the medical records, checking for consistency and accuracy compared to information received from the client. When discrepancies are found, assists with reconciliation.
• Understands that a client’s health records and health‐related discussions are delicate in nature and confidentiality is of utmost importance. For this reason, data in transit (emails) and data at rest are encrypted with Transaction Layer Security (TLS) and password‐protected. Access is on a strict “need to know” basis.
• Schedules and coaches the client through the medical exam and any applicable lab tests, providing the client with “exam tips” (and in some cases interview tips) to help clients achieve the most favorable results.
• Submits the client’s underwriting requirements on an “informal” basis to avoid the potential for a detrimental record with the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) client record.
• Consults with the client’s physicians when a client has a challenging health condition or impairment for the purposes of advantageously positioning the circumstances with carriers and increasing their comfort‐level in accepting the underwriting risk.
• Works with M Financial’s dedicated underwriting advocacy team of specialists to overcome complex challenges in the risk assessment process, enhancing Gateway Financial’s ability to simplify the underwriting experience for clients and facilitate competitive underwriting offer.
• Develops and implements a calculated methodology for approaching the insurance marketplace when large cases approach industry‐capacity thresholds. This practice maximizes capacity at the least possible cost, while avoiding “reinsurance gridlock”.
• Coordinates the completion and submission of all insurance‐application related paperwork to the insurance carrier.

A Pittsburgh native, Jill resides in the South Hills (Brentwood) with Bill, her husband of 40 years, and their chocolate lab, Ally. Jill enjoys spending time with her daughter and husband, watching movies and listening to music. Fun Fact: Jill loves to cook and entertain for family and friends.

Education:

• Business Accounting, Robert Morris University