Bancassurance is growing in many Asian markets, buoyed by deregulation of banking sector on one hand and insurance companies intending to optimize distribution via banks on the other. On the local level, bancassurance business in Asia-Pacific countries has evolved in different ways.

The consulting firm announced its 50 top U.S.-based life and health insurer list for the 20th straight year.

Proposed legislation would impose new requirements on carriers now also under scrutiny from the NAIC, Veterans Affairs Department and New York State’s attorney general.

To estimate the prevalence of any tobacco and polytobacco use, CDC analyzed data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (the most recent data available) module on use of other tobacco products, which was implemented by 13 states.

Carriers use a number of tools to measure the performance of their underwriting shops, ranging from periodic internal reviews to using third-party consultants to audit operations. In its purest intent, the reinsurance underwriting audit is just one of these third-party reviews.

Most underwriters recognize the value that reinsurance audit feedback can provide. When concern arises, it usually is directed at the process, which has changed little since the first underwriting audit was conducted decades ago.

A look at an innovative method to reflex to hemoglobin A1c (A1c) for the detection of diabetic applicants in the form of a Diabetes Risk Score from Heritage Labs.

Smoking, as most of us know, carries quite measurable health risks. The Surgeon General warning on every pack of cigarettes is virtually self-explanatory. The increased mortality risk of heart attack, stroke, worsening of diabetes, lung cancer, chronic pulmonary disease, and vascular disease is well studied, and even smokers without complications pay an increased premium for their policies.

Needless to say, there is a lot at stake for both the insurer and applicant in smoker and non-smoker classification.