Article by Tia Goss Sawhney

Abstract:
The author proposes a new framework for individual health insurance underwriting and briefly describe the application and underwriting process changes necessary to implement the new framework.

Additional Description:
In describing the need for a new framework the author asserts 1) that the health risk of an applicant is best thought of as several discrete risks which need to be evaluated separately and 2) that a current approach to individual health underwriting which relies primarily on diagnostic history does a poor job of evaluating these risks, and 3) that there is significant non-diagnostic-related information concerning health risk of applicants that health insurance underwriters could collect, but are not currently not collecting or, if collecting, not using.

Published by:
This article was published in the March/April 2008 edition of Contingencies:

http://www.contingencies.org/marapr08/holistic.pdf