Underwriting

We must chart a course that continues producing robust mortality gains absolutely critical to our bottom lines … despite the challenges posed by the incipient 2020 Great Recession and the protean consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article identifies and discusses core factors that I believe will determine how all of this sorts out over the next decade. It also suggests how we can greatly minimize mortality-related adversities via prudent changes in how we underwrite life insurance.

Mortality results are of paramount importance to your bottom line. Here, a seasoned industry expert explains what the current situation is, why we are where we are, and how we can survive.

Life and Health Insurance Underwriting is entering a “new normal”. The industry is moving beyond exploring new technologies, such as advanced data analytics and automation, to real-world applications. In this new environment, innovation is not seen as novel but as critical to the success of the insurance enterprise. Insurers are taking tangible steps to fundamentally change the ways that global life and health risks are underwritten.

As accelerated underwriting (AU) and artificial intelligence (AI) begin to turn life underwriting upside down, several NAIC working groups are seeking to bring order to the disruption.

Part II in a series of articles on developing underwriting thought processes, this second installment focuses on potential challenges and shortcomings related to decision-making skills. RGA’s underwriting experts outline strategies to help neutralize heuristics and biases in the underwriting process and become effective in critical thinking.
 

Life insurers were prepared to embrace the COVID-19 challenge. Most carriers had pre-planned models and analytics ready for such an eventuality. The companies immediately calibrated their responses to the pandemic and responded with their own versions of shutdowns through product withdrawals, price increases in some cases, age limitations, offer restrictions, and postpones for clients with pre-existing conditions.

Pandemic-driven pressures are magnifying existing challenges within the underwriting profession. RGA's Lars Haaland and Catie Muccigrosso look into potential solutions that might help insurance companies emerge as leaders post-COVID-19. The key is to implement processes and partnerships geared toward the future of underwriting.
 

Endometriosis is a condition where normal tissue that lines the uterine cavity is found outside the uterus, mainly in the area of the pelvis and the ovaries. It is a common source of pelvic pain in women, and is an increasingly diagnosed entity in workups for infertility.

The practice of underwriting has often been described as both a science and an art – and for good reason.