View of four seasons in a single view
Articles January 2017
Seasonality of Mortality
This article focuses on understanding how seasonality varies by country and region, and how flu and pneumonia mortality correlates with other causes of death.
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Articles January 2017
Alzheimer's: An Update on an Old Disease

Given the pace at which the world’s population is aging, Alzheimer’s disease  may well be the next worldwide epidemic. Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment  present serious challenges to the insurance industry. Knowledge of progression factors cr...

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Big Data: Image of ethernet cables in a mainframe computer
Articles January 2017
The Four R's Data Privacy: Regulations, Reasonable Expectations, Risks, and Reward
By focusing on regulations, reasonable expectations, risks and rewards concerning data, insurers can create a better customer experience for policyholders. Read More
Articles January 2017
Cancer Immunotherapy

This article reviews the recent and unprecedented acceleration in the understanding of cancer pathophysiology, which has led to the subsequent development of novel cancer immunotherapies. In part, this new direction in cancer treatment has been advanced by a greater ...

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Multicolored data visualization in waves
Articles January 2017
Demonstrating the Value of Data

Estimating the cost to use the data is often more difficult, since you may need to consider the cost of hardware, software and staff to do the work, including acquisition and implementation time. Each of these may entail incremental spending or opportunity costs due ...

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Articles January 2017
Application Language and Simplified Issue in Asia: Five Keys to Effective Screening Questions

Recent years have seen a significant shift in underwriting methodology, with the demand for simplified issue (SI) insurance increasing for all types of risk, from life to disability products. The ideal SI product balances streamlined processes that drive sales volume...

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Articles January 2017
Telephone as Case Management Tool

A real conversation conducted over the telephone remains an important tool, if not the most important, for a disability case manager. Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP has observed in claim reviews over the years that the quality of the phone summary content is often lacking. This article of...

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Illustration of multiple paths
Articles January 2017
Opinion: Four Steps to Accountability - Ethics in Insurance

When it comes to business, however, knowing the path you wish to take can and does matter. If you don’t know where you want to go, any path can seem fine. Unfortunately, many of us have also learned that following just any path easily leads to chaos and a culture in ...

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View of four seasons in a single view
Publications January 2017
ReFlections Volume 40/39, January 2017
Delve into Alzheimer’s disease, explore seasonal mortality and more.
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Claims analysts frantically climbing up ladders in illustration versus an individual sailing away
Articles December 2016
Global Claims Views: Claims Management Challenges – Real or Imagined? A Changing World – Environmental Factors
Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP undertook to survey its claims managers around the world, asking them to share their thoughts and experiences about current and developing changes and challenges in their markets. The results reveal a rapidly changing environment, driven by technological and medical... Read More
Articles December 2016
Non-Natural Death Trends in the United States
Non-natural causes of death include motor vehicle accidents, falls, suicides, homicides, drowning, poisoning, complications from medical or surgical treatments, and exposure to smoke and fire.
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Articles December 2016
Friends for Life
The world is in the grip of a health crisis. Obesity, inactivity, and our poor diets are key factors in the growing trend of chronic illness. This in turn places significant stress on our healthcare systems as medical providers attempt to keep pace with demand. Read More
Articles December 2016
Opinion: The Morality of Life Insurance

Life insurance, at its core, is a product that provides a financial benefit to the dependents of a buyer in the event of untimely death. Insurers price and sell contracts based on assumptions made about the policyholder’s health and potential lifespan

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Articles December 2016
2016: Expect the Unexpected
In May, the Leicester City Football Club, an organization that spent most of its 132-year history on the outside looking in at the titans of soccer, shocked the world to win their first English Premier League title. This result was, to put it mildly, unex... Read More
Articles December 2016
Cancer protection
In Korea, cancer product design may have been a contributor to some of the market’s poor early 2000s experience; Hong Kong cancer products are more varied and flexible than those in Korea; and both Korea and Hong Kong insurers as well as those in the rest of Asia, have ... Read More
Articles December 2016
Don’t Click that Bait: Ransomware, Data Security and the New Frontiers of Fraud

Three simple information security steps can make a difference:

  1. ASSIGN a dedicated expert or team to security and privacy awareness.
  2. INVOLVE security and privacy representatives in product development pro...
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Articles December 2016
Wearable Wellness and Life Insurance: Five Quick Takeaways from Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP’s Fitness Tracker Study

Using wearable fitness tech to develop insurance wellness programs has been the subject of an industry-wide discussion for years. And as the technology improves, the conversation grows. At Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP, we wanted to gather meaningful data and gain experience over theory in ou...

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Snapshots of actuaries throughout the world
Articles December 2016
Actuary, the Job of the Future: Why we need to promote careers in actuarial science
Four reasons actuarial careers are exciting:  
  • Big data 
  • Shifting demographics 
  • Regulatory change 
  • Increasing innovation
  • ...
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Articles December 2016
Bugs, Behavior, and Beyond! Lessons from Recent and Historical Epidemics
On October 13, 1976, an unassuming package arrived at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from Zaire (Congo). The specimen inside soon revealed a terrifying secret: the slender looping tail of the Zaire Ebola virus, the cause of one of the most lethal he... Read More
Articles December 2016
Genomics Is Changing the Rules for Underwriting Breast Cancer Patients

The science of genomics is changing the game in breast cancer treatment and in the medical field in general. Life and health insurers will need to adapt to keep pace.

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