12th Edition
August 2005
A newsletter dedicated to the distributors of disability insurance published by
JHA, the leader in disability reinsurance, consulting and research.
 


Premium and Policies by Gender: Of the Non-Can new policies issued in 2004, 58% are male.  Almost 70% of the Non-Can inforce policies are male.  For GR, over 61% of the new policies issued are male, and 74% of inforce policies are male.

Source: JHA 2004 U.S. Individual Disability Income Market Survey



One of the new disability products released since our last edition is in the individual disability income insurance arena.  MaxElect(SM) from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company is a guaranteed standard issue individual disability income insurance product available to employers with as few as 10 eligible employees.  It is designed to target those earning $70,000+ annual income to fill the gap created by a typical 60% group LTD contract cap.  It is non-cancellable and guaranteed continuable to age 65.

There are a variety of plan design options for this product such as pre-existing condition limitations, waiting periods, and maximum benefit periods.  These allow the employee flexibility in designing a product that integrates with their employers’ group LTD plan, and depending on the selections made, may also provide some cost savings.

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Recently, Diane Koken, President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, gave testimony regarding the NAIC’s position on the SMART Act (State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency) Act. As part of her testimony, she provided a summary of some of the major initiatives and goals of the association. The following article describes her comments and presents her update.

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Do You Know What The Average Annual Premium Per Life Is For LTD?

The JHA 2004 U.S. Group Disability Market Survey includes an interesting statistic, “The Average Premium Per Life (PPL) for new sales premium and inforce premium of LTD business. Why is the PPL data important enough to always be included in the executive summary of the JHA Market Survey? We believe it is an interesting proxy for overall rate levels for the entire industry. Often times, employers are surprised to learn that LTD only costs just over $200 per employee per year.  For approximately $15 to $20 a month, you can get a very valuable benefit.  The PPL for the 2004 LTD Group market was $210 for new sales premium and $224 for inforce premium. Both of these numbers increased 2% from the prior year.

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Please send email responses, in reference to 4 Corners, to Editor: Mary Beth Carion
Special thanks to contributing editors: Perry St Louis and Bill Mariski


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