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November 20, 2023 at 04:30 PM
Insurers should screen their own insureds for mortality risk factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry group says.
The group, the Insurance Collaboration to Save Lives, or ICSL, wants insurers to encourage insureds who get results on the voluntary tests to ask their doctors for advice.
ICSL has been working since April to develop post-pandemic screening packages based on the kinds of tests already used in life insurance underwriting exams.
The insurance group does not yet have data showing whether COVID-19 has changed the prevalence of bad screening test results, but some doctors believe that the tests reflect pandemic-related mortality risk, and ICSL hopes that addressing bad results will keep people alive.
What it means: Eventually, if the group succeeds at persuading insurers to take its advice, insurers could ask some clients to go in for a post-pandemic screening exam.
Mortality: Insurance actuaries have argued that mortality for insured populations is getting back to normal, but Josh Stirling, ICSL’s president, said in an interview that he believes that mortality rates for some groups of insureds are still higher than they were before the pandemic started.
The proposals: ICSL has started by sketching out three possible screening test packages.
The least expensive could cost about $100. It would include screenings for inflammation factors and factors related to immune system, metabolic and cardiovascular health.
Candidates include tests for cholesterol levels, white blood cell counts, vitamin D levels and D-dimer blood clot risk levels. High blood clot risk levels could show that COVID-19 has hurt people’s arteries and increased their risk of suffering from strokes or heart attacks.
