The Medicare Supplement Application: Lookback Periods
In the world of insurance, especially with Medicare supplement plans, lookback periods are key. They're like a window into an applicant's medical past, often going back several years. For insurers and brokerage agents, understanding these periods is vital because they directly impact risk assessment and pricing.
For insurers, lookback periods are essential for a few reasons.
They help assess an applicant's health history thoroughly, predicting future claims and setting accurate premiums.
They help manage risk by identifying individuals with pre-existing conditions or higher health risks.
Understanding lookback periods ensures that the insurer can offer the right coverage at the right price, maintaining a healthy business and giving a competitive edge.
By knowing what other companies are doing and which health conditions they're looking for, insurers can fine-tune their own processes. This ensures they're not missing anything important and stay competitive in the market.
For brokerage agents, understanding lookback periods and the health conditions different insurers focus on is crucial. Here’s how:
This knowledge allows agents to guide clients to insurers offering the best terms based on their medical history, minimizing coverage denials or higher premiums due to pre-existing conditions.
Ultimately, it ensures clients receive the most suitable coverage and enhances the agent's reputation for making informed decisions that prioritize client satisfaction.
In short, lookback periods in Medicare supplement applications are a big deal. They shape risk assessment, pricing, and client outcomes. For insurers and brokerage agents, understanding them is essential for making smart decisions and getting the best results in a competitive market.
Diving into Data: Prevalence of Common Conditions
For these reasons, we will delve into the Medicare Supplement insurance applications of 95 carriers to pinpoint the most prevalent health conditions that insurers inquire about.
This examination provides us with invaluable insights into insurers' risk assessment strategies and policy-setting practices, and also sheds light on the factors shaping underwriting decisions.
Our goal is to provide you with a snapshot of underwriting conditions in the Medicare supplement market. For a more detailed analysis tailored to your needs and those of your clients, please reach out to the Telos Actuarial team. We're here to partner with you and provide the insights you need.
We’ve opted to abbreviate certain health conditions for clarity and to enhance the visual appeal of our charts.
Here are the shortened versions we used:
Our findings highlight the importance of some common health conditions in shaping insurers' decisions. These insights allow us to better appreciate the strategic maneuvers employed by insurers to navigate risk and tailor coverage offerings.
By identifying which health conditions garner the most attention in these applications, we gained a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics at play during the underwriting process.
Inquiries related to Kidney Disease/Failure, Dialysis, and Renal Insufficiency/Failure feature prominently, appearing in 97.89% of the applications we examined.
Similarly, questions pertaining to Internal Cancer and Stroke are prevalent, found in 96.84% of applications.
Data derived from CSG Actuarial, LLC. (2024)
The high frequencies suggest that insurers prioritize assessing risks associated with these conditions when underwriting policies.
Kidney disease, cancer, and stroke are significant health concerns that can lead to costly medical treatments and potential claims for insurers.
Diving into Data: Lookback Periods for Top Conditions
Next, we will take a deep dive into the lookback periods associated with some of the most common medical conditions in Medicare Supplement insurance applications shown above.
Among applications that specifically inquired about Rheumatoid Arthritis and Heart Disease, their lookback period was less than 5 years in over 90% of cases.
However, for inquiries regarding Arterial Fibrillation, Dementia/Alzheimer's, and COPD, the lookback period was less than 5 years in fewer than 50% of applications.
Unsurprisingly, Dementia/Alzheimer's and COPD, had a lookback period of more than 10 years in over 50% of applications, while Rheumatoid Arthritis and Heart Disease had a lookback period of more than 10 years in fewer than 5% of applications.
Data derived from CSG Actuarial, LLC. (2024)
Elevate Your Strategy: Let's Collaborate!
We invite you to reach out to us for a deeper analysis tailored to your specific needs.
If you’re an insurer, our analysis can serve as a valuable benchmarking tool.
By comparing your own practices with those prevalent in the industry, you can ensure your offerings remain competitive. Moreover, you can identify potential areas of anti-selection risk if you are not asking about conditions that competitors are considering.
On the other hand, if you’re an agent, these insights can enhance your ability to assist a diverse range of insureds.
By understanding which questions are most frequently asked by top companies and their corresponding lookback periods, you can better prepare your clients for the application process and help them find the right coverage.
Whether you’re an agent seeking to better support your clients or an insurer aiming to enhance your competitiveness, we’re here to help. Let’s work together to navigate the complexities of Medicare Supplement applications and make the most of the opportunities they present.
For more information contact us at: info@telosactuarial.com
