Description: Discussion of the proportion of the increase in life expectancy at a given age that can be attributed to the change in mortality rates at and over some higher age and methods as to how this proportion can be measured. Followed by several discussion papers submitted

Description: The article is Part 1 of two articles that provide a case study for the development of a profitability and risk dashboard. The sample dashboard provides distilled information regarding actual to expected (A/E) ratios for key risks, agent quality scores and customer value scores. The dashboard would also provide the value of new business written, surplus strain, debit balances, and expected losses on debit balances at different levels, down to the agent level. A product mix index is provided, together with visual comparisons of key metrics to the company's business plan. The Part 2 article will add information to the dashboard regarding risk margins, target capital, and company value.

Description: The percentage of the population who are obese has grown dramatically worldwide over the last several decades, although stabilizing recently in the United States. Studies have found the effects on mortality to be inconsistent and controversial because of methodological differences and the complexity of the relationship between obesity and mortality. This paper discusses this relationship and sheds light on the likely effects of this epidemic. Issues associated with the so-called obesity-mortality paradox, where mortality experience is lower for those individuals who are overweight and in some who are obese compared with the mortality of those in the normal weight category, are examined. Although certain recently reported studies of the relationship between mortality and obesity indicate that obesity is related to a reduced percent of additional mortality, this may in part be due to the shorter average time that those currently obese have been exposed to their condition. Nevertheless, the amount of health care costs and rates of disability associated with being obese are significant, contributing to the increase in overall health care costs as they become more numerous and age. Although obesity is being addressed with a great deal of activity and publicity, they will continue to prove challenging for individuals and society to manage and overcome.

Description: The article discovers that mortality is higher for females than for males at higher ages, and suggests "stress" as the explanation. It then discusses mental illness research, including recovery therefrom.

Description: Article Board Of Governors by Bog in The Actuary, March 1979, Volume 13, Number 3

Description: Identifies current trends and considerations when setting the mortality improvement assumption for individual life insurance in the US.

Description: This investigation was undertaken to determine what the electrocardiogram and X-ray, if used routinely, would contribute to the selection of risks with an elevated blood pressure, and to test the accuracy of our impression that women tolerate hypertension better than men.

Description: Table of Contents for 1952 Reports of Mortality and Morbidity Experience

Description: This paper examines the effects of selection procedures used in epidemiologic studies and suggests that similar procedures could be employed to select standard ordinary insurance risks at the older ages. The experience in this paper was developed from a prospective epidemiologic investigation launched by the American Cancer Society in the fall of 1959 to learn how personal characteristics, living styles, and environmental conditions influence health and longevity.

Description: This is a study of irregularities in pulse beats detected by the electrocardiogram and the impact on mortality experience at one company. Followed by a discussion paper