The connection between OSA and SCD is getting stronger according to a recent study by the Mayo Clinic. This information has profound implications for how life underwriters approach this combination of impairments. When I started in the profession last century, not much thought (or rating) was given to OSA. Times have changed and we now know more about the risk.
Will we use this new data or once again succumb to market forces?
My inner protective sense of cynicism has worked well in the underwriting of mortality risk. Let’s hope the results of this small study are spurious. Otherwise, we’ll all have just one more thing to worry about on that case we accepted where the PSA levels miraculously normalized.
www.mayoclinic.com has posted an overview of coronary calcium scans on their website. You can access the article through the link above.
I am admittedly less antagonistic about more widespread use of statins in adults due to the the results of the Jupiter Study than about feeding statins to kids. Check out this NT Times article. And in case the link doesn’t work, here is the full permalink address.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/health/10heart.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
I’ll continue following the medical community reaction to this study.
According to the CDC, the incidence of diabetes increased 90% during the 10-year period ending in 2007. So is any company working in the brokerage market surprised to hear that some competitors are now offering Preferred rates to applicants who have IGT?
“He doesn’t have diabetes. He has IGT, not diabetes.”
This is one slippery slope. I strongly caution underwriters to be extremely selective when offering the best mortality rate for future diabetics. Take a hard look at the applicant’s health behaviors trend. Whether or not an individual goes on to develop full-blown diabetes from an impaired glucose tolerance state is strongly dependent upon current and future behaviors.
Last century when I was President of the Texas HOLUA I had the opportunity to ask one of the leading diabetes specialists some questions about my personal situation. Dr. Norman Kaplan at Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas, Dallas addressed the group and I talked family history with him. I mentioned my strong family history for diabetes and asked Dr. Kaplan how I could avoid diabetes in the future. His reply was simple and eloquent:
“Stay as thin as you possibly can.”
Good advice for a lot of what ails you.
I was planning on doing some work this past Saturday until my Internet connection crashed. After waiting a few hours (maybe the problem was out there somewhere) I got the sinking feeling my problem was internal. I called my Internet provider and got a computer. I followed all of the computer’s instructions for around 15 minutes before I was connected to a human. Another 15 minutes passed and the techie on the line determined my cable modem had fried.
Panic was not an option. After all, it was Saturday and hopefully someone could get to the house early Monday so that I could begin the work week without any hassles.
“Could you possibly get someone out early Monday morning?”
“How about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? It’s Sunday.”
“Yup.”
The technician arrived Sunday morning at 9:00 AM, did his techie evaluation, and told me my cable modem had fried. 45 minutes later, my new cable modem was installed and I had Internet access once again.
The take home message of my little story is simple. Managers need to know what Internet providers their remote underwriters use and the service capabilities of each provider. Managers also need to know what to do and who to call if the problem is determined to be a non-service provider problem. The cable modem was provided to me by my Internet provider, so they replaced it. If I had a wiring issue, router issue, hardware or software issue, the provider would not have helped me.
Can your remote underwriters resolve their Internet access issues on a Sunday? If not, do they wait until Monday morning before calling and asking for help?
Are these and other technology support issues are included in your department’s operational plans?
Please tell me you have a plan.
Back in May the FDA released an advisory on Chantix. The same month a study from The Institute for Safe Medication Practices shed light on the numbers:
I think I’d rather keep smoking.
The time usually spent on reading and writing this past month was completely devoured by reading and staying current on the global financial meltdown. It is at precisely times like this when we try to figure out what’s happening and what it means to each of us. After absorbing a riduculous amount of information I came to the realization that this was becoming an obsession. As events continue to unfold I’m certain my obsession will only get worse.
OK. What if I manage a life underwriting division for an insurance company? I thought about the possibilities and decided to make some predictions. If I’m wrong, who cares? But if I’m right, my blog traffic will go through the roof.
In no particular order this is what I think could happen.
Peter Drucker once said there is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. There will be new and better models for the underwriting function that at present do not exist. If you’re excited about remote underwriting, the future gets even better with talent spread around the world, web meetings, office-less office workers, and more.
I have added a link on the sidebar to a website that has a pretty extensive list of medical abbreviations. The online version is free. I only wish I had this when I started out a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away…
Four more deaths have been reported. Underwriters beware…
lifeunderwriter.net 
You must be logged in to post a comment.