Best’s Review Recognizes RGA Reinsurance Company for Successful Innovation
ST. LOUIS, January 20, 2012 – RGA Reinsurance Company has been recognized for its Prescription History Mortality Research and its Automated Selection and Assessment Program in the Innovators Showcase, published in the January 2012 edition of Best’s Review magazine.
For its Prescription History Mortality Research, RGA analyzed the mortality risk of more than one million insurance applicants based on their prescription drug. This study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Life Underwriting, was used to develop underwriting rules based on individual use of more than 50,000 prescription drugs, with risk assessment variations by gender, age, mode of delivery and frequency of drug fills. These risk assessments reduce the amount of underwriter time spent researching all the different drugs and deliver results to clients via RGA's proprietary automated underwriting tool.
Upon reviewing this submission, Robert Stein, Vice Chairman of Global Financial Services, Ernst & Young wrote, "It is a strong application of predictive modeling techniques to the life insurance industry. RGA has commercialized new knowledge and has made it available to the industry, which is an important component of innovation and a step that much pure research does not accomplish."
ASAPSM (Automatic Selection & Assessment ProgramSM), a proprietary web-based underwriting process, was developed by RGA to provide automatic facultative assessment for common impairments as substandard table-shave programs began to be phased out throughout the industry. RGA’s placement rates, increase in case volume per year and new clients added to the program are evidence of ASAP’s success. In 2010, ASAP processed approximately 10,500 cases involving $5.1 billion of face amount.
The ASAP program has innovated underwriting from the direct company underwriter perspective by streamlining the facultative shopping process. Direct company underwriters receive a facultative decision for one or two impairment cases in minutes rather than days.
“One of RGA’s core strengths remains our expertise at analyzing and synthesizing data and insights from our mortality experience, and developing truly innovative research studies and products that ultimately help our clients improve their ability to assess risk profitably,” said Anna Manning, Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Markets, Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated.
Innovators Showcase is a forum for recognizing forward thinking among insurance organizations. A panel of insurance industry experts assessed the relative merits of nearly 70 submissions. Best’s Review is published by the A.M. Best Co. for insurance professionals, including home office executives, agents and brokers.
“RGA associates continue to share new insights and ideas with our clients and the industry, and have demonstrated innovation in many ways over the years. I am very pleased to see their work recognized by industry experts, and gratified that both RGA innovations submitted to the Innovators Showcase were selected to receive these recognitions among the other excellent innovations chosen by Best’s Review,” said Greig Woodring, President and Chief Executive Officer, Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated.
To read about RGA’s recognized innovations, visit:
http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/getpublication.asp?issueid=72ecd829&pageid=34
and
http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/getpublication.asp?issueid=72ecd829&pageid=31
About RGA
RGA Reinsurance Company is the principal operating subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA). RGA is among the largest global providers of life reinsurance, with operations in Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Worldwide, the company has approximately $2.6 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $31.2 billion.
For its Prescription History Mortality Research, RGA analyzed the mortality risk of more than one million insurance applicants based on their prescription drug. This study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Life Underwriting, was used to develop underwriting rules based on individual use of more than 50,000 prescription drugs, with risk assessment variations by gender, age, mode of delivery and frequency of drug fills. These risk assessments reduce the amount of underwriter time spent researching all the different drugs and deliver results to clients via RGA's proprietary automated underwriting tool.
Upon reviewing this submission, Robert Stein, Vice Chairman of Global Financial Services, Ernst & Young wrote, "It is a strong application of predictive modeling techniques to the life insurance industry. RGA has commercialized new knowledge and has made it available to the industry, which is an important component of innovation and a step that much pure research does not accomplish."
ASAPSM (Automatic Selection & Assessment ProgramSM), a proprietary web-based underwriting process, was developed by RGA to provide automatic facultative assessment for common impairments as substandard table-shave programs began to be phased out throughout the industry. RGA’s placement rates, increase in case volume per year and new clients added to the program are evidence of ASAP’s success. In 2010, ASAP processed approximately 10,500 cases involving $5.1 billion of face amount.
The ASAP program has innovated underwriting from the direct company underwriter perspective by streamlining the facultative shopping process. Direct company underwriters receive a facultative decision for one or two impairment cases in minutes rather than days.
“One of RGA’s core strengths remains our expertise at analyzing and synthesizing data and insights from our mortality experience, and developing truly innovative research studies and products that ultimately help our clients improve their ability to assess risk profitably,” said Anna Manning, Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Markets, Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated.
Innovators Showcase is a forum for recognizing forward thinking among insurance organizations. A panel of insurance industry experts assessed the relative merits of nearly 70 submissions. Best’s Review is published by the A.M. Best Co. for insurance professionals, including home office executives, agents and brokers.
“RGA associates continue to share new insights and ideas with our clients and the industry, and have demonstrated innovation in many ways over the years. I am very pleased to see their work recognized by industry experts, and gratified that both RGA innovations submitted to the Innovators Showcase were selected to receive these recognitions among the other excellent innovations chosen by Best’s Review,” said Greig Woodring, President and Chief Executive Officer, Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated.
To read about RGA’s recognized innovations, visit:
http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/getpublication.asp?issueid=72ecd829&pageid=34
and
http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/getpublication.asp?issueid=72ecd829&pageid=31
About RGA
RGA Reinsurance Company is the principal operating subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA). RGA is among the largest global providers of life reinsurance, with operations in Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Worldwide, the company has approximately $2.6 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $31.2 billion.