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.
To provide you with a snapshot of underwriting conditions in the Medicare supplement market, Telos Actuarial returned to the Medicare supplement insurance applications of 95 carriers to identify the most prevalent health conditions that insurers inquire about.
This abbreviated examination provides invaluable insights into insurers’ risk assessment strategies and policy-setting practices. To enhance clarity and visual appeal, certain health conditions were abbreviated. Here are the shortened versions used:
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.
Next, we take a deeper dive into the lookback periods that are under 5 years and associated with some of the most common medical conditions in Medicare supplement insurance applications.
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.
A deeper dive into this subset of applications using lookback periods of less than 5 years shows:
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over 50% only use a 2-year look back period for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Mental/Nervous Disorder, Stroke, Heart Disease, and Arterial Fibrillation.
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the two most common conditions that utilize a 3-year look back are Arterial Fibrillation and Internal Cancer
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of the top 11 most prevalent conditions found on Medicare supplement applications, 8 of them were found in over 10% of the applications to use a 5-year lookback period
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