Thursday, March 4, 2021

No. 411: More on COVID-19 and the Underwriting of Life Insurance

In No. 409 (February 11, 2021), I reported that the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) had written a letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) about COVID-19 and the underwriting of life insurance. The letter grew out of developments reportedly occurring in Europe. The CFA sent copies of the letter to the chief executive officers of several large life insurance companies based in the United States, as well as to the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). In No. 409, I provided this link to the CFA letter.

The ACLI Letter to the CFA
I said I would write soon to the NAIC, the ACLI, the CEOs of a few of the companies to which the CFA had written, and a few other CEOs. I also said I would ask for their comments, and would post a follow-up report on the responses. However, I changed my mind when I received from the CFA a copy of a two-page letter it had received from Susan K. Neely, president and CEO of ACLI. The ACLI letter is here.

The CFA Reply to the ACLI Letter
Shortly thereafter, I received from the CFA a copy of its reply to the ACLI letter. The CFA reply to the ACLI letter is here.

General Observations
I think the original CFA letter, the ACLI letter to the CFA, and the CFA reply to the ACLI letter together contain a great deal of food for thought. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the NAIC does about the problem. I plan to report about significant further developments on the subject.

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