Description: The Canadian Institute of Actuaries CIA recently updated its studies of lapse experience under universal life UL level cost of insurance COI and term-to-100 T100 policies. These studies can help U.S. actuaries set lapse assumptions for other lapse-supported products where no or little ultimate lapse experience exists, such as return of premium ROP term and UL with no lapse guarantees. The financial implications of overestimating ultimate lapse rates for these products can be significant.

Description: Summary of recent changes to IRS Section 7702 Interest Rates, and how it will impact the design of life insurance products in the future.

Description: Future mortality improvement has been a common assumption in life insurance and annuity pricing and forecasting for many years. However, experience over the last decade suggests this might be an assumption that merits reconsideration in the United States. This article will take a closer look at factors that impact mortality improvement trends and discuss why insurers may want to reevaluate product designs to better manage the associated mortality risk. We then introduce a product idea with this in mind, where premiums are based on a life expectancy index and insurers share the risk (and opportunity) or mortality improvement with policyholders.

Description: The paper describes a cost-benefit analysis to determine the value of electronic health records (EHRs) in life insurance accelerated underwriting programs. Sample cases from a carrier were underwritten pre-EHR and post-EHR and the mortality savings estimates from risk class changes using EHRs was compared to procurement costs. Results were developed to cover a range of scenarios. Factors to consider for carriers evaluating the cost-effectiveness of using EHRs in their own accelerated underwriting programs are also described.

Description: Discusses insurance company considerations and approaches when dealing with the complexities of deferred lives within pension plans.

Description: Update on Federal Tax Issues Under the 2001 CSO Mortality Tables

Description: This article discusses the concept of Conservation of Mortality ("Conservation"). Conservation is the modeling principle that ensures consistency between assumptions of the total mortality of a population and mortality among population subsets. This article discusses the use cases for Conservation and the many ways that one could implement it in a model or an experience study. This article also discusses the potential issues that arise when using Conservation, and how one might solve or alleviate these issues.

Description: Accelerated underwriting expert, Ryan Holt, FSA, gives a brief history of the confusion matrix and how its use came into the accelerated underwriting space. An in depth discussion of estimating mortality impact using underwriting audits follows. Three key assumptions that effect mortality impact are discussed. Readers will leave with an understanding of how to estimate mortality impacts using audit results from any new under writing program as well as the considerations that should be taken around key assumptions. Background articles are provided for readers that are less familiar with the subject matter.

Description: Summary of the December 2003 NAIC Meeting

Description: This article details different methods for calculating mortality impact associated with new underwriting programs. A common simplified calculation is compared and contrasted with two first principles approaches. The strengths and weaknesses of both approaches are discussed.