COVID-19’s ongoing effect on life insurance underwriting – InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading From The Field Exclusive News
Topics
    • Life Insurance
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Content
    • Webinars
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
From The Field Exclusive News
From The Field Exclusive News RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
July 15, 2022 From The Field Exclusive News No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

COVID-19’s ongoing effect on life insurance underwriting

By Chris Cook

Depending on what you read and who you follow, we are still in a pandemic phase or transitioning from the pandemic to the endemic phase of COVID-19. This has an ongoing impact on the life insurance industry.

The virus continues to mutate and, thus far, almost 90 million individuals in the U.S. have already reported being infected with the COVID-19 virus, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID Resource Center.  No matter where we are in the phasing, COVID-19 and its ongoing mutations are with us to stay. The severity of a person’s COVID-19 infection can be wide-ranging, and residual symptoms are affecting a growing percentage of these people. This is referred to as long COVID-19. These post-infection symptoms can be a challenge to diagnose due to the wide range of symptoms, which can translate into additional challenges regarding the underwriting of insurance products.

Long COVID-19 symptoms can range from minimal to severe. The symptoms are broad and may include respiratory symptoms, muscle aches and pains, weakness, gastrointestinal symptoms, brain fogginess and general malaise. Because of ongoing viral inflammation, a person can be impacted in many different ways. Each person impacted can vary widely in their presentation and severity, making true long COVID-19 difficult for a clinician to diagnose.

When reviewing attending physician’s statements, the presentation can show that doctors are assessing the wide range of symptoms in multiple ways with an eye on the specific but also the broader potential of the chronic long COVID-19. This makes the clinician’s job extremely challenging. When considering that currently, there is no single specific long COVID-19 “test,” a series of protocols will ultimately result in the determination of long COVID-19.

In 2021, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (aka ICD-10-CM) introduced a diagnosis code of U09.9 “Post COVID-19 condition, unspecified.” The medical claims codes are important data points for insurance carriers using automated decision engines in their analytic and screening underwriting. Now more than ever, it is vital for comprehensive field underwriting to understand the history of proposed insureds to best direct them in navigating the insurance marketplace today. AU09.9 ICD code could create an underwriting challenge for a client.

Case delay, on hold, ultimately placed

We are currently in a cautious, risk-averse versus a risk-aware insurance marketplace, especially in the over-age-70 demographic. The unknowns of acute COVID-19 infection and long COVID-19 symptoms that impact a patient/client long-term remain challenging. Investigation and diagnoses are significant and are definitely a cause for a diligent approach to risk assessment in the insurance marketplace today.

With the ongoing waxing and waning of COVID-19 mutation spike activity, protecting the insurability of the proposed insured is paramount. For example, an individual in the over-age 70 demographic recently received a Preferred underwriting classification. There was a delay for varying reasons in placing the contract in force, and due to the length of the delay, there was a change in health: The client contracted COVID-19.  Due to the client’s older age, it presented a challenge, and the carrier needed to understand the severity as well as any suggestion of long COVID-19 concerns, thus creating further delay. Depending on the specifics, the Preferred pricing could have changed to a Postpone or even Decline. Fortunately, the interim information allowed for contract placement.

Don’t wait

It’s important, particularly for clients over 70 years of age, to protect their insurability. If a policy is issued as applied, the goal should be to place it in force as quickly as possible to avoid any change-in-health scenario such as the above example.

COVID-19 will continue to be part of our lives. The potential for a client being infected, re-infected or diagnosed with long COVID-19 is real. Don’t miss the opportunity to protect clients with insurance coverage or be adversely impacted due to a change in health by delays in policy placement.

 

Chris Cook is senior vice president and head of underwriting at Crump Life Insurance Services. Chris may be contacted at [email protected].

© Entire contents copyright 2022 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Older

How financial advisors can master social media and dramatically grow your  practice

Newer

Data mining social media aims to replace cold call insurance leads

Advisor News

  • U.S. markets close flat as more positive inflation data rolls in
  • 69% of Americans concerned about their current financial situation
  • Expand your Social Security knowledge with these four terms
  • FINANCIAL FOCUS: Are you properly insured?
  • Liz Weston: 3 ways to fight inflation and win the long game
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • National Western Life introduces new fixed indexed annuity, NWL New Frontiers
  • Jackson National announces second quarter 2022 results
  • Brighthouse Financial adds to Shield Level annuity suite with new product
  • Prudential FlexGuard reaches $10B total sales milestone at record pace
  • Retirees can rely on annuities as a source of guaranteed income for life
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • UnitedHealthcare introduces new business unit Surest
  • Texas lawmakers ask feds to reconsider Medicaid expansion proposal
  • Plan to help poor Mississippians with health insurance stripped from latest federal bill
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo invests in telehealth company
  • Drug companies are warning that pricing reform spells doom. Don't fall for it
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance

  • Alex Murdaugh petitions to delay Mallory Beach trial amid murder charges
  • Sales of life combination products rebound in 2021, LIMRA reports
  • Integrity Marketing Group acquires Richman Insurance Agency
  • How to get the most out of Life Insurance Awareness Month
  • Life application activity down in July, MIB Index reports
More Life Insurance

- Presented By -

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

FEATURED OFFERS

Get Linked INN to your industry Connect with INN on LinkedIn to be first on all the news and insights that matter to your industry.

Press ReleasesAll press releases

  • National Western Life introduces newest fixed indexed annuity, NWL® New Frontiers
  • CybeReady Supports Security Defenses with CISO Toolkit
  • Life and Disability Income Insurance Products from MassMutual Now Available on iPipeline®’s End-to-End Digital Platform
  • Business on the Go with The Crump Mobile App
  • iPipeline® Provides Advisors Excel with Unified Path Toward Accessing Core Data Analytics in Financial Services
Add your Press Release >

Topics

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Content
  • Webinars
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2022 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your INNsider Account

Not registered? Become an INNsider.