Description: Opioids overdoses have contributed to increases in mortality among white American. This article gives some detail on the speed and the reach of the epidemic.

Description: This panel discussion session presents social indicators using a variety of statistical approaches and relates them to societal changes. The concept of using mortality data as a social indicator is also discussed.

Description: An examination of the increase in mortality rate for Alzheimer's during the period 2000-2010

Description: This article is a book review of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism written by Anne Case and Angus Deaton. The book highlights factors that have attributed to the decline in life expectancy in the U.S. over the past two decades. Overall, there has been a significant increase in deaths of despair from drug overdoses, suicides, and alcoholic liver disease that has impacted life expectancy. The review of this book highlights key points and factors in this increase in deaths of despair based on the research of the authors. From an actuarial perspective, this book identifies areas within the U.S. society and economy that would continue this trend and impact future mortality rates and improvement scales.

Description: Medical and underwriting experts discuss medical developments and underwriting practices that could improve mortality rates and risk classification, respectively, in the future. From the 1988 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 14, No. 3.

Description: This paper is the final report in a project commissioned by the Society of Actuaries Social Security Committee. The paper considers a variety of possible risk classification factors that could be used in estimating the value of any mortality based benefit for retirees. As many countries consider mandatory individual retirement accounts as their answer to a secure Social Security system, the question arises as to whether all workers can get true 'market value' annuities when they retire. It is clear today that private sector life annuities are priced assuming that the applicant is healthy-very healthy. Very little underwriting or risk classification now exists in the individual annuity marketplace. This paper reviews 45 recent research papers that look at factors that affect mortality after retirement. In particular, factors that seem to be important in predicting retirement mortality include: age, gender, race and ethnicity, education, income, occupation, marital status, religion, health behaviors, smoking, alcohol, and obesity. For each factor, this paper gives highlights relative to the named factor of the impact expected from that variable as described in the 45 reviewed research papers.

Description: This paper demonstrates and quantifies death-rate differences by marital status, explores the reasons why mortality rates for the unmarried exceed those for the married, and encourages actuaries and others to contribute their thoughts on these perplexing matters. From the Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1994, Vol. 46.

Description: Examines historical life insurance and annuity policyholder mortality improvement trends and/or mortality improvement rates and how they compare to that of the general US and international populations. Discusses techniques for modeling and projecting future mortality improvements

Description: Survey of post level term lapse and mortality assumptions for level term premium plans.

Description: The Human Mortality Database is a unique open‐access collection of detailed mortality and population data for 38 countries.