This issue of the Disability Newsletter includes three recent articles related to the market. The first article highlights the key results from a survey of the insurance industry about the impact of COVID-19 on individual disability income (IDI) insurance. Another paper features the results from a 2019 statutory non-cancelable (non-can) financial study, a longitudinal view from 2010 through 2019. The third piece covers the supplemental health insurance market, with a summary of market research surveys related to critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance products.
Editor’s note
I remember reading about pandemics as an actuarial student. The coursework included literature on the 1918 pandemic, and essays that discussed the risks to insurance companies if another pandemic were to occur. I’ll admit that, as a student reading through this material, I never thought it would become a reality, nor could I have ever imagined its devastating impact.
As the end of 2020 draws near, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the health and income of American workers and the operations of American businesses. Recently, Milliman surveyed the insurance industry about the impact of COVID-19 on individual disability income (IDI) insurance. This issue of the Disability Newsletter includes an article highlighting the key results from the survey, and provides a link for readers to obtain the full survey report on the Milliman website. The survey responses provide insights into how the pandemic has affected IDI claim experience and sales. They also shed light on how carriers have adapted to the pandemic, through changes in underwriting, distribution, and product design. The survey is the first in a series that Milliman will be conducting to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on IDI business.
This issue also features the results from the 2019 statutory non-cancelable (non-can) financial study. This study provides a longitudinal view of non-cancellable IDI experience from 2010 through 2019. We are pleased to report favorable trends in the profitability of non-cancellable IDI business over the past several years and very strong financial results from 2019. With so much uncertainty around COVID-19, however, we’ll just have to wait and hope that these trends will continue in 2020 and beyond.
The third article in this issue covers the supplemental health insurance market. Specifically, it includes a summary of market research surveys related to critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance products.
Finally, I want to mention a change in the format and distribution of the Disability Newsletter. Starting spring 2021, the newsletter will be available on milliman.com and will no longer require a subscription or be published in hard copy. Go to the back page for details on how to receive the newsletter in the new format.
Paul L. Correia is a consulting actuary at Milliman. He can be reached at [email protected].
The Disability Newsletter has gone digital. We are ensuring our disability insurance insight from leading experts reaches the widest audience possible and supports Milliman’s environmentally sustainable goals, therefore a subscription is no longer required. Past issues can be found here.