Insurance Newsletter Issue 15 – Life Insurance Insights: Lingering Excess Mortality, The Life Insurance Consumer Awareness Gap, and More
Insurance Newsletter – Issue 15
In the September edition of Sikka’s life underwriting newsletter, we look at the potential for excess mortality to linger for a decade, the life insurance consumer awareness gap, Aetna’s new lawsuit on their approach to covering gender-affirming care, and burial insurance market trends.
Excess Mortality May Stay High for a Decade, Swiss Re Warns
Four years after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries continue to report elevated all-cause excess mortality rates compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from Swiss Re Institute. The report, titled “The Future of Excess Mortality After COVID-19,” warns that without intervention, excess mortality could remain up to 3% higher than pre-pandemic levels in the United States and 2.5% in the United Kingdom by 2033 Paul Murray (pictured above), CEO of Life & Health Reinsurance at Swiss Re, highlighted that COVID-19 continues to have a significant impact on mortality rates.
Released September 16, 2024:
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Life Insurers Face a Young Consumer Awareness Gap: Capgemini
Baby boomers and members of earlier generations will soon begin to die in large numbers, leaving houses, cash and life insurance death benefits to their heirs. Samantha Chow, the global life, health and annuity sector leader at Capgemini, believes that marketing problems will make it hard for life and annuity issuers to capture much of that asset flow. Life insurers let marketing slide during the 2010s, when low interest rates made providing attractive products at attractive prices difficult. Now, “the pendulum is not swinging in the right direction,” Chow said.
Released September 16, 2024:
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Aetna Hit With Lawsuit After Trans Women Denied Coverage for Gender Confirming Facial Surgeries
Three transgender women from across the U.S. filed a federal class action civil rights lawsuit against Aetna Life Insurance Company after the women were denied coverage for gender-affirming facial procedures. Announced Tuesday, the complaint said the Hartford-based company refused to pay for these surgeries based on a policy that excludes gender-affirming facial procedures from the types of medically necessary gender-affirming surgery they cover. The policy, CPB 0615, states that gender-affirming facial procedures are a form of "cosmetic" and "medically unnecessary."
Released September 11, 2024:
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Burial Insurance Market Trends, Segmentation, and Regional Insights | Datapoint, AIG, The Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company, Aflac
Burial insurance, often referred to as final expense insurance, is a type of life insurance policy designed specifically to cover the costs associated with a person’s funeral and burial expenses. This Burial Insurance Market product targets individuals, particularly seniors, who may not have substantial life insurance or savings to handle end-of-life costs. With the rising costs of funerals, which can range from $7,000 to $12,000 or more in certain areas, burial insurance provides an affordable means for people to relieve their families of the financial burden when they pass away.
Released September 18, 2024:
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Learn more about Sikka and how our Oral Healthcare data can help with mortality risk – email lewis.goldman@sikka.ai.
Join us for our Machine Learning and AI Life Insurance webinar on Oct 24th @ 1-2pm ET!
In this webinar, we'll dive into discussions with panelists from New York Life Insurance Company, Milliman, and RGA about:
- How much of the life insurance sales cycle can be automated with generative AI - from lead generation and quoting, underwriting, fraud detection, policy management, and even retention and claims?
- How much of the underwriting process could or should be automated, and what are the potential dangers or regulatory impacts?
- As the world shifts towards machine learning and AI, how important will investing in and acquiring new data sources be?