life insurance

In this age of amazing medical advances, it seems as though anything broken can be fixed.  In my native South Africa, the surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard proved that even defective hearts can be replaced when he performed the first heart transplant in 1967.

Rapid medical advances, as well as growing volumes of health and mortality data, are transforming cancer risk assessment. RGA's Neil Parkin explores our deepening understanding and insurance implications.  

Top industry analysts discuss hot technology issues such as blockchain, insurtech, cybersecurity and more. These present both challenges and opportunities.

Urine drug testing is a cornerstone of the overall testing in proposed insureds and yields a lot of valuable underwriting information. So how long do a lot of drugs stay in the system and at what time frame would they be likely to trigger a positive test?

On 19 January 2019, the New York State Department for Financial Services (DFS) issued a circular letter concerning the use of external consumer data and information sources for life insurance underwriting. This followed a prior notice sent to insurers that the Department was investigating the use of such data for potentially unfair or discriminatory practices.

The life industry finds itself at an inflection point as insurers come under growing pressure to position themselves to embrace genomics and genetic testing. Best's Review explores the underwriting implications of rapid advances in genomics, including research by RGA and King’s College London into the risk prediction potential of polygenic risk scores for incidence and death from breast cancer and coronary artery disease.

When it comes to Electronic Health Records (EHRs), for some time now life insurers have wondered when or if EHRs would become a reality. This is no longer in question, and RGA's Sue Wehrman now explores the question of how the industry will use this new technology. 

Rates of diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disorders, certain cancers and other non-communicable diseases are increasing globally, and a growing body of evidence links lifestyle behaviors, such as physical inactivity, poor nutrition and smoking, to the increase.

As the use of algorithms and public data to inform insurance premiums becomes more common, we’ll need to decide what is and isn’t okay