Medical Underwriting

Medical Underwriting: The Times They Are A-Changin’

It is a long way from Bob Dylan’s realistic prophecy of what was happening and what was to come back in 1964 when he wrote the song. No one can disagree with the state of the world protests and the COVID pandemic that the times certainly are a-changin’. This is also the phenomenon happening in underwriting and risk selection, and we have to be prepared to meet the changes to insure a positive outcome no matter our underlying feeling about what those changes are.

Link

Medical Underwriting: The Times They Are A-Changin’

technology

trends

Medical Underwriting: The Race against Antibiotic Resistance (RGA)

Are Miracle Drugs Being Outmatched by Superbugs?

Link

rgare.com

antibiotic resistance

drugs

Medical Underwriting

Underwriting

Health Market Needs Medical Underwriting, Analyst Says

Merrill Matthews Jr., a health policy analyst, says one key to reviving the U.S. individual major medical market is bringing back medical underwriting.

http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2016/11/23/health-market-needs-medical-unde...

Health

health insurance

Medical Underwriting

Mortality Trends with Alzheimer’s Disease (Slides)

Slides from Dr. Brian Ivanovic’s presentation at the SOA Underwriting Issues & Innovations Seminar, Aug 1-2, 2016 in Chicago have been posted.

https://www.soa.org/Professional-Development/Event-Calendar/2016/underwr...
(Go to “Medical Topics” at the 8:05-9:40am time slot to download PDF)

ReFlections Medical Underwriting Newsletter Vol 35

Articles in the latest edition of RGA's ReFlections Newsletter include:

Trends in Respiratory Diseases
Biomarkers: Can They Add Value? Part 2
Pediatric Underwriting
What Does the Continuity of Care Documents Hold for Underwriters?

http://www.rgare.com/knowledgecenter/Documents/ReFlections%20Spring%2020...

pediatric underwriting

respiratory disease

Underwriting

Monoclonal B-Cell Lymphocytosis (MBL)

Wed, 06/29/2011

Have you ever heard of this condition? Is it in your underwriting manual? It should be!

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MBL

Medical Underwriting

Underwriting

The Theory and Practice of Rx Profiling in Mortality And Morbidity Risk Underwriting

Wed, 09/23/2009

As mortality and morbidity underwriting undergoes a much-anticipated metamorphosis to accommodate the demands of the 21st century, the need for fast, reliable and cost-effective screening resources has come into clear focus. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which Rx profiling is one of these resources. Knowing which pharmaceuticals an insurable applicant is taking has always been a key goal of medical history-taking. It is axiomatic that if we know what Rx an individual is taking, we have keen insight into his medical history. It is an a priori assumption, therefore, that Rx profiling services will serve to enrich our ability to relate pharmaceuticals to medical histories.

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Medical Underwriting

Rx profiles

Challenging Myths and Rethinking Priorities in Older Age Underwriting: An Essay

Wed, 09/23/2009

To determine insurability of applicants age 65 and over on the same basis as we do at younger ages all but guarantees a botched job. This is because factors that we know contribute to premature death in young and middle-aged adults differ dramatically from those linked to excess geriatric mortality. These examples give clear evidence of this too-often-overlooked reality.

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older age underwriting

Serum Hyaluronic Acid (HA): A Potential Reflexive Test for Further Evaluating Individuals with Chronic Hepatitis B and C, NASH and Other Liver Pathologies

Wed, 09/23/2009

In underwriting, we are seeing an increasing number of cases of chronic hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (especially nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) wherein the proposed insured has not had a sufﬁcient clinical workup to determine if advanced liver pathology (signiﬁcant ﬁbrosis, cirrhosis) is present. This is a key determination regarding insurability and the absence of this information has forced us to take uncertain actions…certainly insuring some who are bad risks while postponing others who are insurable.

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alcohol use

hyaluronic acid (HA)

Medical Underwriting

ALT and Muscle Trauma: What Every Underwriter Must Know

Wed, 09/23/2009

“In the literature, there is still a pervasive lack of recognition between skeletal muscle injury and ALT elevation, which has led to the unsubstantiated conclusion that serum aminotransferase elevations are due to liver injury...”

Rahul A. Nathwani et al.
Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases
University of Southern California School of Medicine
Hepatology
41(2005):380-82