What if life insurers could help all policyholders with cancer live at least two years longer than they would have otherwise? Just imagine what that sort of breakthrough would do to how people perceive life insurance, while delivering massive gains in profitability to the insurers.

“We think that is doable, today,” Greig Woodring, the longtime CEO of RGA, told me when we talked recently about the future of life insurance and, in particular, the phenomenal potential of genomics.

Woodring, who retired as CEO in 2016 after building RGA into a giant with approximately $3.5 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $89 billion, was referring specifically to what’s he’s seen through Genetic Life, a services company he’s been involved with for years. It offers a product that will pay to sequence the genome of a member’s cancer to help inform precision treatment and “provide a cancer support specialist and concierge navigation services that help them get through the disease,” he says. “We’ll also get our members into clinical trials at a much higher rate than they would if left to their own devices and steer them to the best cancer centers.” 

He says the goal is “to get to the point of helping insurance companies largely eliminate cancer among their policyholders as cause of death. And right now, for most of them it’s a leading cause of death; underwriters don’t screen out cancers as well as they do, for example, cardiovascular deaths. You’ll be able to tell your policyholder base that, look, we’ll help you increase your health lifespan, at least partially, as best we can. This is a good message for a life insurance company.”

But understanding cancers more precisely and attacking them more effectively is really just the start of what we covered in the interview (whose full text you can read here). The backdrop is that the cost of sequencing a genome is plummeting, so it is becoming ever easier and cheaper to understand the genetic code of, well, everything.

While it took 13 years and billions of dollars to sequence the first human genome, finished in 2003, sequencing now costs less than $1,000 and can be done in hours. A $100 price point is in sight, based on devices under development now, and attachments are already available that let you sequence a genome using an app on your smartphone.

Combine that sort of understanding of the genetic code with the developments in the delivery of mRNA into the body that allowed for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines, and you can perhaps see the way to vaccines for cancers and many other diseases.

Artificial intelligence is speeding the progress of medicine, and at an accelerating rate. AI is, for instance, letting scientists see how proteins fold, which determines how they interact with each other. Determining how a single protein folded had until recently been too complex a problem for computers to solve and had required a complex chemical process that relied on a special type of X-ray produced by a synchrotron the size of a football stadium. The process could take a year and cost $120,000. But, in a development I wrote about here, Google’s DeepMind research arm used AI to solve the problem in late 2020 and now, within hours, can determine a protein’s folded shape more accurately than that elaborate chemical process. With the omicron variant of COVID, scientists knew from the genome what the virus looked like well before anyone could put it under an electron microscope.

AI will also help scientists and doctors understand how to use CRISPR, the near-magical gene-editing tool, to treat diseases by manipulating an individual’s genome — without causing all sorts of unintended consequences.

If it seems that I’m getting worked up about the potential of genomics here, it’s because I am. I recently published a book with two colleagues that goes into detail on how genomics will deliver nearly unlimited possibilities by 2050, so I’ve been stewing in genomics for years as we worked on the book.

If you’re interested in learning more on the subject than I’ve been able to cram into this short space, you can read an excerpt from the book here. (The excerpt includes the introduction and a chapter on climate change; the genomics material starts on p. 35.) If you’re interested in our vision for how genomics can play out, in combination with technologies in the other six areas (computing, communication, information, energy, water and transportation) where we see nearly limitless bounty by 2050 at near-zero cost, check out the book website.

Add up all the progress, and Woodring says:

“Many researchers believe, and are intensively investing money and effort, in the pursuit to extend the maximum human lifespan beyond the 100-year or 115-year mark to maybe 120 to 150. But who wants to live to 150 unless they’re healthy? So, life insurers may be well-positioned to extend the ‘healthspan’ of their policyholders. Life insurers should be concerned about the health of their policyholders more actively.”

Sign me up.

Cheers,

Paul

The Genomics Revolution in Life and Health Paul Carroll, Editor-in-Chief of ITL What if life insurers could help all policyholders with cancer live at least two years longer than they would have otherwise? Just imagine what that sort of breakthrough would do to how people perceive life insurance, while delivering massive gains in profitability to the insurers. “We think that is doable, today,” Greig Woodring, the longtime CEO of RGA, told me when we talked recently about the future of life insurance and, in particular, the phenomenal potential of genomics. continue reading > New Majesco Webinar Register now for a "crystal ball" view into 2022 to understand where your customers, martkets, technology and competitors are heading so that you can adapt to capture these opportunities. Register Now SIX THINGS 20 Insurance Issues to Watch in 2022 by Kimberly George and Mark Walls High-impact issues relating to workers’ comp, healthcare and risk management need more attention. Read More Top 5 P&C Insurance Trends in 2022 by Susanna Gotsch The trends stem from a changed work landscape, expanded use of ADAS, climate change, new customer expectations and complexity. Read More How to Lay the Groundwork for Innovation in Commercial Underwriting   Sponsored by Intellect SEEC In this webinar, ITL Editor-in-Chief Paul Carroll sits down with Jim McKenney, chief strategy officer and products business head at Intellect SEEC, and Sandeep Tandon, CTO of Intellect SEEC. Read More Keeping Human Element in AI by Tom Warden We all have a responsibility to see that AI is done well, that it has a humanizing influence, not a dehumanizing one. Read More The Evolution of Leadership Intelligence by Christopher Linke Meeting the high demand for effective leadership requires a special type of intelligence, one that has evolved far beyond traditional IQ. Read More Going Beyond the Incremental by Shantanu Tewari Most transformation programs include a focus on efficiency or process improvement. All of this progress proves incremental, at best. Read More Educating Owners on New Risks by  Steve Prymas Only 22% of SME owners and founders have read and understood all their policies. 29% let their insurance auto-renew without changes. Read More The Virtual Insurance Agent Sponsored by Creative Virtual  With conversational AI, insurance companies can deliver easier and more convenient digital support to customers, improve agent experience and productivity, and reduce contact center traffic. Read Now MORE FROM ITL January Focus: Parametric Insurance "By having a simple yes/no metric, such as a temperature that rises above a certain level or drops below a specified level for an agreed-upon amount of time, parametric insurance removes the need to have an adjuster go into the field to inspect..." Read More Global Insurance Forum Experts Series   Sponsored by International Insurance Society  Over this six-part series, hear from industry leaders about building an innovation culture, leveraging data for success, and more. Watch Now Partner with ITL to create expert thought leadership content. Custom Content Promoted Content Display Advertising Custom Webinars Monthly Topic Sponsorships ITL Partner Packages and more Learn more and get the 2022 Media Kit GET INVOLVED Write for Us Our authors are what set Insurance Thought Leadership apart. Get Started SPREAD THE WORD Share Share Tweet Forward SUBSCRIBE TO SIX THINGS

What if life insurers could help all policyholders with cancer live at least two years longer than they would have otherwise? Just imagine what that sort of breakthrough would do to how people perceive life insurance, while delivering massive gains in profitability to the insurers.

"We think that is doable, today," Greig Woodring, the longtime CEO of RGA, told me when we talked recently about the future of life insurance and, in particular, the phenomenal potential of genomics.

Woodring, who retired as CEO in 2016 after building RGA into a giant with approximately $3.5 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $89 billion, was referring specifically to what's he's seen through Genetic Life, a services company he's been involved with for years. It offers a product that will pay to sequence the genome of a member's cancer to help inform precision treatment and "provide a cancer support specialist and concierge navigation services that help them get through the disease," he says. "We’ll also get our members into clinical trials at a much higher rate than they would if left to their own devices and steer them to the best cancer centers." 

He says the goal is "to get to the point of helping insurance companies largely eliminate cancer among their policyholders as cause of death. And right now, for most of them it’s a leading cause of death; underwriters don’t screen out cancers as well as they do, for example, cardiovascular deaths. You’ll be able to tell your policyholder base that, look, we’ll help you increase your health lifespan, at least partially, as best we can. This is a good message for a life insurance company."

But understanding cancers more precisely and attacking them more effectively is really just the start of what we covered in the interview (whose full text you can read here). The backdrop is that the cost of sequencing a genome is plummeting, so it is becoming ever easier and cheaper to understand the genetic code of, well, everything.

While it took 13 years and billions of dollars to sequence the first human genome, finished in 2003, sequencing now costs less than $1,000 and can be done in hours. A $100 price point is in sight, based on devices under development now, and attachments are already available that let you sequence a genome using an app on your smartphone.

Combine that sort of understanding of the genetic code with the developments in the delivery of mRNA into the body that allowed for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines, and you can perhaps see the way to vaccines for cancers and many other diseases.

Artificial intelligence is speeding the progress of medicine, and at an accelerating rate. AI is, for instance, letting scientists see how proteins fold, which determines how they interact with each other. Determining how a single protein folded had until recently been too complex a problem for computers to solve and had required a complex chemical process that relied on a special type of X-ray produced by a synchrotron the size of a football stadium. The process could take a year and cost $120,000. But, in a development I wrote about here, Google's DeepMind research arm used AI to solve the problem in late 2020 and now, within hours, can determine a protein's folded shape more accurately than that elaborate chemical process. With the omicron variant of COVID, scientists knew from the genome what the virus looked like well before anyone could put it under an electron microscope.

AI will also help scientists and doctors understand how to use CRISPR, the near-magical gene-editing tool, to treat diseases by manipulating an individual's genome -- without causing all sorts of unintended consequences.

If it seems that I'm getting worked up about the potential of genomics here, it's because I am. I recently published a book with two colleagues that goes into detail on how genomics will deliver nearly unlimited possibilities by 2050, so I've been stewing in genomics for years as we worked on the book.

If you're interested in learning more on the subject than I've been able to cram into this short space, you can read an excerpt from the book here. (The excerpt includes the introduction and a chapter on climate change; the genomics material starts on p. 35.) If you're interested in our vision for how genomics can play out, in combination with technologies in the other six areas (computing, communication, information, energy, water and transportation) where we see nearly limitless bounty by 2050 at near-zero cost, check out the book website.

Add up all the progress, and Woodring says:

"Many researchers believe, and are intensively investing money and effort, in the pursuit to extend the maximum human lifespan beyond the 100-year or 115-year mark to maybe 120 to 150. But who wants to live to 150 unless they’re healthy? So, life insurers may be well-positioned to extend the 'healthspan' of their policyholders. Life insurers should be concerned about the health of their policyholders more actively."

Sign me up.

Cheers,

Paul

Out Front Ideas with Kimberly and Mark kicks off every year with our popular 20 Issues to Watch webinar. While there are certainly more than 20 issues to discuss after the last two years of new challenges, we focused on the high-impact issues relating to workers’ compensation, healthcare and risk management that need more attention. These are essential issues for every risk manager and insurance professional to monitor in 2022. 

1. Vaccine Mandates

The vaccine mandates have remained at the forefront of controversy. In December, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported that 75% of survey respondents said they would not likely require vaccination or testing if the Supreme Court permanently blocked the mandate. However, large employers have finally received some clarity on the issue after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a vaccine-or-testing mandate for organizations with over 100 employees. 

Alternatively, SCOTUS allowed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate to go into effect, affecting all healthcare workers at CMS-funded providers. The logistics of the healthcare mandate require working through medical and religious exemption policies, vaccine tracking and record keeping. 

2. 2022 Elections

While all eyes will be on the outcome of the House of Representative and Senate races, it is critical to note the importance of state elections. In the last two years, governors have issued emergency orders and used state agencies to regulate the day-to-day lives of their citizens. With 36 gubernatorial seats on the ballot this year and insurance regulated at the state level, carriers will need to pay special attention to changes in appointed regulators, administrative law judges and insurance department priorities. 

3. Talent Challenges

Upskilling and reskilling the workforce to prepare a new generation of claims and risk professionals has long been a focus as mass retirements continue in the industry. Still, the profound changes in the workplace throughout the pandemic created a new set of retention challenges. With many organizations in a work-from-home or hybrid work environment, leaders had to evolve to provide meaningful training and support while ensuring each employee is heard. Organizations committed to recruiting efforts have found success when a stronger emphasis is placed on environmental, social, governance (ESG), diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and employee resource groups (ERGs).

4. Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)

ESG was unheard of just a few years ago but has become a standard method for evaluating how companies manage a wide variety of social and environmental issues. Many publicly traded companies have already developed formal policies as investors demand transparency around these issues. ESG principles should also include evaluating your vendors, so these principles eventually extend to all companies. In the insurance industry, certain state regulators are implementing ESG standards as a requirement for doing business in that state, including things like board composition and prohibitions on doing business with industries such as coal. 

5. Technology and Data

Many companies are focusing on digital strategy and data science as crucial components of their value story that transcend the expectations of customers and employees. Data continues to be a key business asset, and it is no longer the size of the dataset providing the most significant value. Instead, the value lies in how an organization uses data to create new models, automate solutions, improve the underwriting process and support a risk manager’s awareness of trends and opportunities.

With talent challenges and expectations for improved customer service, there will be technology evolutions, such as:

• Improved two-way conversation between claimants and claims professionals, moving beyond texting to real-time online communication.
• Deployment of intelligence automation, allowing automation of decision making via artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning and natural language processing.
• Robotic process automation in data entry and policy administration, freeing employees to work more efficiently and focus on work that requires engagement and critical thinking skills.
• Companies hyper focused on balancing technology transformation while preserving the human touch.

See also: Bright Prospects for 2022

6. COVID-19 Continued

The pandemic dominates the national conversation, with new cases setting records every week. While the severity in patients seems to be lesser, it is still wreaking havoc on employers, with constantly changing government guidelines and compounding staffing shortages. The pandemic now represents the third-largest insurance industry loss from any catastrophe after Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There is significant litigation over COVID-19 coverage, especially regarding business interruption under property insurance and event cancellation coverage. There is also concern about the potential for long-term symptoms from COVID-19 and how that could affect workers’ compensation.

7. Economic Impact

By the end of 2021, the U.S. dealt with the highest inflation rate in 39 years, at nearly 7%. With rising prices, significant inflation is expected in the first half of 2022 due to supply chain concerns and a worker shortage. Inflation is predicted to recede mid-year, and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research predicts the inflation rate will fall to 2.3% by the fourth quarter. Analysts report that the Federal Reserve will likely increase the federal funds rate target at least three times this year, raising interest rates closer to 0.75% by the end of the year; they have been essentially at 0% since March 2020. 

A fourth-quarter chief financial officer (CFO) survey by Deloitte found 97% expect their spending on labor to increase in 2022, with the CFOs also raising their planned capital spending, hiring and compensation. Deloitte’s 2022 insurance outlook suggests insurers expect accelerated premium growth in the coming year. By all accounts, 2022 should see economic growth of around 3.9%. Overall, the gross domestic product is expected to grow by nearly 3% in 2022, which is much slower than last year.

8. Independent Contractors vs. Employees

An essential element of workers’ compensation is determining whether a worker is considered an employee or an independent contractor. Unfortunately, this issue has become more complicated because of different payroll regulations and varying state legislation. States have attempted to clarify the issue through legislation over the last couple of years, but the courts have invalidated some of those laws. Carriers only seek certainty in who is covered under their policies. While policyholders may abide by every regulation, the courts often find coverage in spite of this. 

9. Expansion of Mental Health Access

Mental health care is vital, and millions of Americans face a crisis care shortage. 20% of adults are experiencing a mental illness, equivalent to 50 million Americans, with 4.9% experiencing a severe mental illness. The estimated number of adults with serious suicidal thoughts is over 11.4 million, increasing 664,000 people from last year’s data set. In November, the Compacts, Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) Act was introduced, aiming to reform medical licensure to expand interstate access to mental health resources, which is desperately needed to ensure a better supply of mental health providers. Additionally, all telecommunications companies will have to make the necessary changes by July, so calls to 988 will be directed to the current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline call centers after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s designation in July 2020.

Virtual mental health, telepsychiatry and teletherapy will continue to grow this year. This treatment can remove barriers, like time away from work or family or the potential stigma that some still feel. Aside from the digital well-being companies, like Talkspace and BetterHelp, employee assistance programs (EAP) and telemedicine partners are popular options for employers. Mental Health America and The Center for Workplace Mental Health have additional resources and reports that employers should keep in their toolbox to review the best practice strategies and tips so employees know that their mental health is of the utmost importance to an organization. 

10. PTSD and Presumptions

Presumptions now cover many common diseases, including cancer and heart disease, dramatically increasing the workers’ compensation costs for public entities. The most recent presumption legislation trend involves post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These laws can create a presumption often without following long-established diagnosis and treatment guidelines, which significantly affects municipalities’ budgets and staffing for law enforcement agencies. 

11. Employee Benefit Integration

Talent marketing in 2022 will consistently focus on employee benefits, access to care and services to support living a fulfilled life, company culture and career opportunities. Benefits can cover various aspects of life, from pet insurance to student loan assistance and well-being programs. While engagement in benefits utilization is higher, the industry may still rely solely on the system in an injured worker’s recovery. Employers, payers, and case management firms should strongly consider benefit integration in an injured worker’s health and recovery plans. Assessing social determinants of health, employee benefits and community health resources is critically important for a full recovery.

12. Labor Shortage Impact on Workers’ Compensation

With a widespread labor shortage affecting every industry, wages rise as businesses compete for workers, translating to higher costs for consumers. The labor shortage partially stems from caregiving challenges due to school and childcare closures. However, some economists believe the labor shortage may be a permanent change as the pandemic accelerated the retirement of the baby boomers. 

With workers’ compensation premiums tied to payrolls, fewer workers mean fewer premiums, and, while higher wages may offset this somewhat, overall industry premiums are down. Additionally, inadequately trained staff, longer shifts and fatigue could lead to increased claims frequency. The costs of workers’ compensation services are also being affected by a dramatic increase in rates associated with home health care services due to staffing shortages. 

13. Return to the Office

Many organizations have continued to push back their return to the office while contemplating what a hybrid or agile working environment means for their organization. With company culture entrenched in an office setting, HR and operations leaders are deeply invested in creating employee connections at work and creating a sense of belonging in the remote work environment. Employees will likely have more options for flexible work hours and when they are in the office, but there are a couple of items to contemplate as workspaces change. How do carriers consider the safety of remote work locations in the insurance and underwriting process? Are employers accurately reporting the state with which people work in a remote work setting? This can have significant tax implications. 

14. Future of Communicable Diseases in Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation was designed to cover risks particular to employment, from traumatic injuries to occupational diseases, not global pandemics. However, many states have enacted presumptions that COVID-19 is work-related under certain conditions. Some states expanding compensability beyond COVID-19 could open the door to future disease outbreaks being covered under workers’ compensation.

See also: 2022 Resolutions to Foster Innovation

15. Social Inflation

With nuclear verdicts ever-increasing, social inflation continues to be a problem for businesses and public entities. For some, the result is lowered limits on what protection carriers are willing to provide, leaving businesses uninsured for the full exposure of the nuclear verdicts occurring. This puts the viability of the business at risk. Tort reforms and liability limits could provide some relief, but there seems to be little appetite for these in state legislatures. Eventually, this will affect the supply of services in certain areas, much like runaway medical malpractice awards resulted in a lack of obstetricians in some areas.

16. Evolving Risks and Insurance Coverage Gaps

Coverage gaps developing in response to emerging risks and changing risk profiles continue to challenge risk managers. For example, businesses that used to be able to secure coverage for Legionnaires’ disease or other disease outbreaks are now seeing widespread communicable disease exclusions on their policies. The pandemic has also led to tightening policy language around business interruption and event cancellation insurance. Carriers are reducing capacity and raising prices in many liability lines of coverage, including general liability, commercial auto and public entity liability, resulting in risk managers finding it increasingly difficult to limit all of their potential exposures with insurance coverage.

17. Ransomware and the Cyber Market

Cybercrime is at an all-time high. With the increase in digitization and technology advancements, there are new and evolving cyber security threats and resilience requirements to keep a business safe. As part of risk mitigation and planning, organizations should know what companies they will use in the event of an attack and what internal teams will need to assist. 

The cyber insurance market has seen many challenges in the past few years, and premiums have soared. Marsh’s cyber insurance market overview released in December indicates pricing increased an average of 96% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2021 as organizations faced an onslaught of cyberattacks. Cyber carriers are less risk-tolerant and now require extensive knowledge and awareness of an insured’s cyber security protocols and remediation plan. Even with the improved understanding, a company may experience reduced policy limits and adjustments to the terms and conditions.

18. Burden of Bureaucracy

Workers’ compensation is the most highly regulated line of insurance, from underwriting policies to claims payments and posting notices governed by rules, with associated fines and penalties for mistakes. Regulations were added during the pandemic, but often these didn’t consider existing rules that already addressed the concern. The pandemic also exposed outdated regulations, like required paper documents that are physically signed or checks instead of electronic banking or debit cards. 

Additionally, staffing challenges at state agencies increase delays in the system, increasing costs. Modernizing workers’ compensation starts with efforts to dramatically reduce the administrative burden and make the system more efficient.

19. Evolving Workers’ Compensation 

Employers are furthering their desire to streamline workers’ compensation claims processing by evaluating intake efficiency and unnecessary or redundant forms and how their process can improve the stakeholder (adjusters, injured workers and supervisors) experience. With turnover being a continuing challenge in claims management roles, risk managers and claims managers are more aware of how their approach affects experience and thus engagement. 

20. Workplace Violence

Law enforcement officers, healthcare workers and K-12 teachers and staff have dealt with workplace violence for many years. Now, retailers are facing rising crime. The transportation industry is also subjected to frequent assaults on bus drivers, flight attendants and other workers. While most of these occupations cannot separate themselves from the general public, de-escalation training can help in some situations. The solutions for this issue are complex and must come from a societal level.

Listen to the archive of our complete Issues to Watch webinar here. Follow @outfrontideas on Twitter and Out Front Ideas with Kimberly and Mark on LinkedIn for more information about coming events and webinars.

It’s hard to talk about 2022 without a look at 2021 first.

We all experienced how COVID accelerated adoption of technologies like cloud, AI and mobile. We also saw the disruption in supply chains and the shortages of both materials and labor that emerged as the economy recovered.

But COVID also spurred innovation, whether in how businesses engaged with their customers or the proliferation of new advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) added to vehicles to improve safety and create better driving experiences.

With these innovations and others came new levels of complexity for the industry. And while the industry has begun to adapt, its future is still developing.

The Road Ahead

Which leads to 2022 and what appears to be another year of COVID uncertainty.

Here are the five big 2022 trends we’ve identified:

1. The changing work landscape and its continued impact on auto sales, traffic volumes and accident severity
2. The growth of ADAS and connected vehicle technologies
3. Climate change and its emergence as a significant factor in the future of insurance risk and regulation
4. New customer expectations in our on-demand, need-it-now world
5. A carry-over from 2021: increasing complexity given all these factors continuing to disrupt the status quo

1. The Changing Work Landscape

Let’s look at the changing work landscape and its impact on auto sales, travel and accident severity.

According to a survey by Workplace.com, 37% of U.S. employees will work remotely in 2022.

The changing nature of work along with the cash pumped into the economy from federal aid prompted many people to buy their very first vehicle in 2020.

New vehicle registrations in New York City alone rose 37% between August and October 2020.

This year, U.S. auto sales are expected to rise from 15 million to 15.7 million, with short supplies limiting sales but boosting pricing power. Both point to strong recovery for the auto industry.

In 2020 and 2021, we saw unprecedented declines in miles driven. The new omicron variant is the big unknown in forecasting traffic volume in 2022, with inflation also clouding the picture. Through September, government data shows miles driven still down 5% from 2019. It is anticipated that miles driven will recover in 2022, but where and when people drive will be different.

2. The Growth of ADAS

The second trend is the increase in the overall number of vehicles equipped with ADAS and connected car technologies.

According to data from MarketWatch, ADAS is anticipated to rise at a considerable rate between 2022 and 2027. Recent reports from OEMs suggest that nearly 80% of vehicles purchased in the U.S. market between Sept. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021, were at least equipped with automatic emergency braking.

Access to connected car data is a central part of the right-to-repair legislation now making its way through the courts. And with more vehicles now coming equipped with semi-autonomous features, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s interest in understanding more about the impacts of these systems on real-world driving drove the issuance last year of a standing general order outlining reporting requirements the OEMs and other companies must now meet.

See also: P&C Claims: 4 Themes for the Future

3. Climate Change

The third trend is climate change. The P&C insurance industry has been at the forefront of feeling the effects of climate change, as the number and severity of severe storms has grown. And more frequent catastrophic events combined with evolving regulatory requirements could threaten company business models and make insuring some risk unaffordable for customers or unfeasible for insurers.

4. Changing Customer Expectations

Next are changing customer expectations, where digital, mobile and personalized experiences have become table stakes.

According to a recent study of P&C insurance customers conducted by JD Powers, while the industry is investing heavily in back-end technologies like straight-through processing to improve the claims experience, there’s still room for improvement.

The study found that while the technology is there, adoption may be a barrier.

5. Complexity

Our last trend is complexity. The year ahead promises more vehicle technology such as ADAS, more data and more disruptive entrants turning heads and turning traditional business models upside down. In 2022, the industry will continue to turn to technology and connected systems to simplify and streamline processes to ultimately create better customer experiences.

You can read more about the trends that made headlines in 2021 here.

Grief is a natural human response when faced with sudden or expected loss of someone or something important to you.

While grief is common and normal, there is no “normal” amount of time to experience it. Personality, level of functioning, age and the nature of the loss will all affect how long someone grieves.

While grief may be unpleasant, it is purposeful. According to grief expert J.W. Worden, the four primary tasks of grief are:

• Accepting the reality of the loss
• Experiencing the pain of the loss
• Adjusting to a new life without the lost person
• Reinvestment in the new reality

Grief and depression are not the same, but they can look the same on the surface. Depression is a mental health condition otherwise known as "major depressive disorder" that involves persistent feelings of hopelessness, sadness and loss of interest or pleasure for at least two weeks. One difference is that people fighting depression often tend to be more isolated and disconnected and may actively avoid support. 

Nevertheless, grief can become more protracted and complicated for some.

If you are wondering if grief response may have become debilitating, ask these questions after a few months have passed:

• Have you found it hard to focus on anything but your loss?
• Is it hard to reconcile that the loss has actually taken place?
• Are you still experiencing intense yearning, sorrow and pain?
• Do you want to escape or avoid things that remind you of your loss?
• If a loved one has died: Do you have “survivor guilt” (the belief that you should’ve died instead of your loved one or that you might’ve been able to do something to prevent their death)? Do you fantasize about your own death, so you can be reconnected?

Rituals to Help People Cope With Grief

Below are a number of effective rituals that can provide closure in supporting you and your loved ones through grief.

• Rituals of remembrance: Light candles for or say the names of your loved ones.
• Rituals of communication: Write a letter to your loved one and say the things you couldn’t or didn’t while your loved one was alive.
• Rituals of nurturing: Soothing music, affirmations or other grounding practices can help restore yourself.
• Rituals of reflection: Meditation, prayer, journaling or drawing.
• Rituals of community connection: Balloon releases, dove releases and walks with similar loss survivors.
• Rituals of release: Express guilt, anger and regret on paper and then burn or bury the paper as a symbol of letting these toxic emotions go. 

Suicide Bereavement

Every year, about 1 million people in the world die by suicide. Every year, tens of millions of family members and friends are left behind to make sense out of the death.

A number of circumstances about a suicide death may influence traumatic grief reactions and lead to complicated bereavement. For most survivors of suicide loss, the death is unexpected, thus there is no opportunity for goodbyes, unfinished business, resolution of conflict or answers to questions. Very often, the bereaved are left with endless “woulda-coulda-shouldas” and “what ifs.”

When loved ones die from a prolonged illness, by contrast, people have time to prepare themselves for the transition to loss. A sudden death leaves people with no time to make amends, express how much the person mattered or say goodbye.

In addition, deaths that involve suffering or extreme pain may cause horrifying traumatic imagery and intrusive thoughts – whether or not loved ones actually witnessed the death scene or the body. If the death occurred at a place where the loved ones frequent, that space will most likely continue to trigger traumatic reactions. Sometimes in high-profile suicide deaths, the news media might consider the story newsworthy and then the wider public’s reactions and gossip causes additional strain on loved ones. When friends and family did not foresee suicide as a possibility for their loved one, the experienced randomness of such a loss can trigger a greater sense of vulnerability and anxiety. This shock is often the case when there were no apparent warning signs before the person died.

See also: New Guidelines for Preventing Suicides

Suicide, thus, evokes complicated experiences for both grief and trauma. Ronnie Janoff-Bulman’s groundbreaking book talks about how trauma leaves shattered assumptions in its wake. Her basic premise is that traumatic events shatter three world views that all people tend to hold: benevolence of the world (“people are generally good”), meaningfulness of the world (“good things happen to good people”) and self-worth (“I am good and can keep myself and those who love me safe and healthy”). These shattered core beliefs are usually at the heart of the moral injury and survivor guilt experienced by many friends and family who loved someone lost to suicide. Because of these experiences, the processing of the trauma often gets “stuck in the craw” of those left behind because many believe they must pay penance for their perceived failure at keeping their loved one alive. 

For these reasons, it is not uncommon for people bereaved by suicide to also experience suicidal thoughts. If you are worried about someone who is experiencing despair from depression, complicated grief or suicide bereavement, reach out and offer support. Show up and share caring messages. Most importantly, listen deeply without judgment. If you need additional tools or guidance, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) or the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741).

The demand for effective leadership is at an all-time high as we move through times of rapid change and uncertainty. According to a recent Korn Ferry study, many companies are concerned about not having the right leaders in place or a sufficient pipeline of talent. The research conducted by DDI in their 2021 Global Leadership Forecast reported similar findings, with 89% of surveyed companies stating they do not have a “strong” or “very strong” leadership bench, reflecting the lowest ratings over the past 10 years. The shortage is not of individuals in leadership roles, it’s having the right individuals in those roles. Studies have shown that the skills and intelligence it takes to be an effective leader have evolved, along with how intelligence is generally defined.

The original meaning of intelligence dates back to the 14^th century, when it was broadly defined as “the highest faculty of the mind” and the “capacity to comprehend general truths.” It wasn’t until 1905 that Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon introduced a more abbreviated meaning through the creation of their Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. This in turn led to Lewis Terman’s adaptation of the scale and the creation of the broadly recognized intelligent quotient (IQ). The original purpose of the scale was simply to help identify students who needed additional help at school, but over time the resulting IQ has been used in much broader applications. Although Binet’s work ultimately established the foundation for this reduction of intelligence down to a single IQ number, research has shown his high respect for the diversity of intelligence and his concern that IQ was unable to yield a truly comprehensive measure of intelligence. He was keenly aware of his original purpose for the scale and that it was designed to measure certain cognitive competencies that were focused on pattern recognition, math, memory and processing speed. 

When looking to define intelligence beyond the limits of IQ, Binet described it as the fundamental faculty of judgment, stating, “To judge well, to comprehend well, to reason well, these are the essential activities of intelligence… Indeed the rest of the intellectual faculties seem of little importance in comparison with judgment.” Binet’s research and perspectives, along with recognition of how intelligence was originally defined, invites a deeper analysis of the formal research conducted on the diversity of intelligence.

Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner captured the diversity of intelligence in his theory of multiple intelligences (MI). He recognized that “the conventional concept of intelligence was too narrow and restrictive, and measures of IQ often miss out on other intelligences that an individual may possess.” The theory established research-based criteria that enabled each intelligence to be distinguished from mere personality traits. The MI theory also clarified that although individuals possess all of the recognized intelligences, the level within each is unique based on an individual's background and experiences. Using the established criteria, the MI theory formally recognizes eight independent forms of intelligence. 

See also: Creating Room for Innovation

Theory of Multiple Intelligences

It is through this spectrum that we can appreciate the true diversity of intelligence. The comprehensive definition recognizes the unique expression of an individual’s faculty for comprehension, reason and judgment.

In his book, "Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century," Gardner uses the MI theory to highlight the areas of intelligence that are important for individuals in leadership positions. His research supported that intrapersonal, interpersonal and linguistic dimensions make up the triad of intelligence that is crucial for effective leadership.

Leadership Intelligence

Intrapersonal Intelligence

Intrapersonal intelligence is the capacity to know yourself. As Aristotle stated, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” This part of leadership intelligence is reflected in the ability to be introspective, inwardly focused and intuitive. The ability to take the time to slow down, reflect on your thoughts, emotions and motivations is what determines your level of intrapersonal intelligence. 

Interpersonal Intelligence

The importance of interpersonal intelligence to leadership is eloquently captured in the words of Colin Powell. “Leadership is all about the people. It is not about organizations. It is not about plans. It is not about strategies. It is all about people motivating people to get the job done. You have to be people-centered.” Very simply, there is no opportunity to be a leader without having people to engage, and your level of interpersonal intelligence is how effective you are in that engagement.

Linguistic Intelligence

Completing the triad of leadership intelligence, is linguistic intelligence. It all comes down to communication, the foundation and framework for all engagement with others. As a leader, your ability to express yourself through spoken and written languages is what determines your level of linguistic intelligence.  

See also: The Key to ‘Augmented Intelligence’

Although displayed here in three equal parts, the three forms of intelligence exist in varying degrees based on each individual’s background, experiences and development. The research has shown that those who have developed high levels of intelligence within these areas are the ones found to be most effective in their roles. 

Meeting the high demand for effective leaders requires individuals in those roles who recognize that true leadership intelligence has evolved far beyond IQ. Leaders must take the time to reflect on individual competencies in each of these areas of intelligence and make the commitment to the personal development that is needed. These are the leaders who will effectively meet the needs of their teams and help their organizations maintain success through challenging times.

Disrupt or get disrupted. More than ever, that's true for incumbent insurers today more than ever because of the rise of insurtechs and the rapid shift in customer expectations.

It is not as if large incumbent insurers are unaware of this shift. The challenge facing them is overcoming the inertia and finding ways to transform their operations and business models beyond incremental improvements.

Incremental transformation is an oxymoron but reflects the reality

Global investment in insurtech startups totaled $10.5 billion in the first nine months of 2021, and traditional insurers are feeling the heat from the disruptive business models and innovative offerings from these digitally native startups.

Traditional insurers are impeded by technical debt. When they leverage digital technologies, those benefits are often incremental because of legacy burdens. Most transformational programs are laced with initiatives focused on internal operational efficiency, cost reduction or improvement of existing processes for a better customer experience. All of this progress proves incremental, at best.

See also: 2022 Resolutions to Foster Innovation

What would disruptive innovation look like?

Large incumbent insurers must transform their business models by challenging some of their principles. They need to begin charting a destination and create a vision for the organization. 

Some of these transitions can be disruptive, internally as well as externally, such as the following:

1. From agent-based models to total customer ownership

The traditional agent-based models worked well in an era where distributed ownership was the de facto model for offering a personal touch to customers spread all over. Digital technologies offer insurers the ability to offer highly personalized services without intermediaries by enabling total customer ownership.

2. From risk mitigation to risk prevention

The broader market trends toward casualty prevention and general safety are rapidly changing insurers' underlying risk management paradigm. Automotive safety equipment and healthy living mechanisms are examples in auto insurance and health insurance, where insurers must strategically partner with manufacturers and service providers. Insurers must shift focus from traditional reactive underwriting to strategic risk management. 

3. From drawn-out underwriting to single-click policy issuance

Insurtechs, price comparison providers and aggregators are compelling traditional insurance product leaders to offer near-real-time underwriting. Customers expect single-click purchase of insurance products the same way they do in other aspects of their lives. Automated ingestion and processing of customer documents and supporting media can enable quick and accurate extraction and processing of relevant information. Real-time underwriting, when combined with analytics, can make this possible. 

4. From hindsight-based risk profiling to foresight-based risk assessment

With increasing data sources and the improved ability of insurers to gather intelligence, insurers are now faced with the challenge of processing larger sets of parameters for risk assessment. On the other hand, increased uncertainty means that such parameters are not the true indicator of impending future risks. Hence, historical trends are giving way to predictive insights as a means of risk assessment, both in terms of personal risk profiles as well as broader risk spreading.

5. From multi-stage claim assessment to digital real-time claim approval

Traditional assessments of claims involved multiple checks and balances and surveys. The availability of mobile devices for real-time capture of claim proofs along with locational accuracy, drones for surveys and automated image and video processing combined with artificial intelligence (AI) for claim assessment can truly transform the way claims are processed. 

Real-time underwriting, single-click product purchase, drastically reduced claim approval cycles, optimized costs and real-time availability of risk profiles and claims data can enable insurers to offer divergent insurance products that could not be conceived earlier.

See also: Creating Room for Innovation

A platform approach is pivotal

Most transformation opportunities didn't seem real until digital technologies made them possible. However, just because these possibilities look feasible today doesn't mean that they are easy to accomplish.

Success in any of these areas, let alone all of these together, requires a concerted effort that is consistent across the organization. Insurance providers need a cohesive and agile operational strategy that is backed by a platform that can support these transformational processes and systems across the enterprise. 

This is critical because, even if an insurer implements mobility for omnichannel engagement, the underlying process needs to be integrated and nimble. Similarly, speed and accuracy remain compromised without access to the appropriate context in the form of documents and media and real-time intelligent processing. The same is true for other digital technologies, such as AI and analytics. In short, integration is key. 

A platform-based approach addresses the end-to-end customer journey while integrating all the digital capabilities that are part of the disruptive innovation jigsaw.

Following his induction into the Insurance Hall of Fame at the Global Insurance Symposium held by the International Insurance Society last year, I sat down -- via Zoom, of course, in these pandemic days -- with Greig Woodring for what I thought would be some reflections on the history of the life insurance industry. After all, Woodring was the longtime CEO who built RGA into a giant with approximately $3.5 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $89 billion. 

In fact, he led us into a fascinating discussion of the future of life insurance, based on some developments in genomics that could make life insurers partners in health and greatly reduce (and eventually even eliminate?) many cancers as a cause of death among their clients.

Here is a lightly edited transcript of our discussion:

ITL:

You’re often eloquent about the sweeping changes in life insurance that you’ve witnessed in your distinguished career, but I’d like to zero in on the opportunity you’re pursuing now, to exploit the extraordinary progress in understanding the human genome. You—and I—think genomics will have a profound effect on life insurance, among many areas, and I’m hoping to explore the opportunities. 

Greig Woodring:

Our increasingly detailed understanding of genetics and how it affects our health will turn a lot of the life insurance selection process on its head. The change will accelerate when the cost of sequencing a person’s genome drops from $1,000—roughly where it is today—to $100, which will be so cheap that pretty much everybody can have a copy of their genetic information. And the drop in cost isn’t that far off.

Many have gotten some information from some of the consumer tests, the 23andMe-type tests, and there's going to be a time in the near future where you get all the information about your genome from advanced genomic sequencing.

Life insurers can also use genetic information to improve the health of existing, in-force policyholders, for the benefit of all. The interests are perfectly aligned. Life insurers want their policyholders to live longer, just as they themselves do. 

Many researchers believe, and are intensively investing money and effort, in the pursuit to extend the maximum human lifespan beyond the 100-year or 115-year mark to maybe 120 to 150. But who wants to live to 150 unless they're healthy? So, life insurers may be well-positioned to extend the “healthspan” of their policyholders. Life insurers should be concerned about the health of their policyholders more actively.

Life insurers will have to get up a genomics learning curve. They haven't really begun that yet. And I think the understanding and usage of genetic information will separate companies that are successful in this next wave from the ones that fall behind a bit.

ITL:

I can imagine an adverse selection problem. I mean, if I'm the one who pays $200 to have my genome sequenced and interpreted, I’m going to know much more about my likely lifespan than an insurer can, without access to that information. Does that seem to be a big problem, or do you see ways around the adverse selection issue?

Woodring:

I think that is a serious problem. Insurers will have to deal with that whether they want to or not. When consumers know their genetic information and can decide whether to buy life insurance, and how much, based on that information, the underwriting process needs to adapt. In the near future, clinical grade genomic information will be inexpensive and widely available.

ITL:

Tell us a bit about Genomic Life, a company that you’ve been involved with for several years now and that I think illustrates the kind of opportunity that genomics will create, whether for insurers or for others.

Woodring:  

Genomic Life is a service company, not a life insurer. A product that we're offering first and have been for a couple of years now with good success is a cancer product. If someone gets cancer, we'll sequence the cancer to help inform precision treatment, and we will provide a cancer support specialist and concierge navigation services that help them get through the disease and its emotional body blows. We'll get our members into clinical trials at a much higher rate than they would if left to their own devices and steer them to the best cancer centers. 

It's very difficult to navigate through the labyrinth of a disease like cancer in the environment that we have for healthcare delivery in the U.S. market. So, we help people get through that.

ITL:

And, at least as I see it, that sequencing of the cancer’s genome is just the start. AI will kick in, in terms of the analysis of people’s genomes and what they say about, among other things, propensity for certain diseases, as well as in terms of possible treatments for diseases. A business owned by Google showed earlier this year that its AI could determine how proteins fold, more accurately than the chemical process that had been used up until now—and that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and required more than a year just to determine the shape of a single protein. The final shape of a protein—and not just the string of amino acids that compose it—determines so much about how that protein acts. And once you can do this kind of analysis, about the shape, in a computer rather than in a lab, the pace of analysis kicks into an exponentially faster gear. 

Woodring:

I agree. That was a really big deal, even if it was little-noticed outside of the world that follows those sorts of things. If you think about the rapidity of the development of COVID vaccines, the same mRNA technology that was used for that could be used to develop cancer vaccines. 

That is extremely possible and a logical next step. There are people working on it right now. So, don't be surprised if there's a whole host of cancer vaccines coming in the next couple of decades.

ITL:

Are all these developments in genomics a separate stream that branches off from what you've done in life insurance or do they then feed back into life insurance?

Woodring:

It all feeds back into life insurance. Think about a life insurance company with a million policies. Those million policies are going to get 50,000 cancer cases a year. Now imagine we can keep each of those 50,000 people alive for an extra two years. What is the value of that to the insurance company? And we think that is doable, today.

We're just touching the surface of dealing with cancer today compared with when you have liquid biopsies [blood tests that can detect a broad array of cancers] and other genetic-based tests coming along that will lower the death rates. 

We'd like to get to the point of helping insurance companies largely eliminate cancer among their policyholders as cause of death. And right now, for most of them it’s a leading cause of death; underwriters don't screen out cancers as well as they do, for example, cardiovascular deaths. 

You’ll be able to tell your policyholder base that, look, we’ll help you increase your health lifespan, at least partially, as best we can. This is a good message for a life insurance company.

ITL:

Fascinating. That feels like a reasonable place to end things. But do you have any parting words? 

Woodring:

As you said, artificial intelligence has a big role to play. As you begin to use artificial intelligence in combination with genetic information, I think we'll find doors to rooms we didn't know existed. So, I'm really excited about the future of life insurance, and in a different way than it's been in the past. Not only protecting you and your family from the adverse effects of premature death but helping maintain you in the best position to live a healthy, long life. 

If that's what a life insurance company becomes, I think that everybody will be excited.

COVID-19 changed everything, including insurance. New risk opportunities emerged with each lockdown that included increased cyber threats among a dispersed workforce. With risk evolving at such a rapid rate, one can’t help but wonder: Does the average founder of a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) understand their risks and business insurance? Do SME clients understand the importance of risk transference should a data breach occur? 

My team at Embroker conducted a survey of 500 SME owners, CEOs and tech startup founders and found a discrepancy between what founders know about risk and the actions they have taken to mitigate that risk. Embroker found that only 22% of owners and founders say they have read and understood all of their policies. 

The good news is half of the owners and founders rely on a broker to sign up for coverage, which may improve their understanding. Embroker research also shows that SME owners lack an understanding of insurance industry standards regarding risk mitigation and often look to brokers for better education. 

Trusting Brokers 

The report shows that 25% of owners and founders rely on the broker to fully research and price out their options. One in five admitted to not knowing how their insurance purchases are handled.

Almost one in three (29%) SME owners allow their insurance to auto-renew without making changes, while 74% of tech founders either engage with a broker or have someone internal to assess their needs and options upon renewal.

See also: A Commentary on Agents & Brokers

Cyber Risk

As business threats intensify and concern grows, both owners (46%) and tech founders (57%) fear they don’t have sufficient coverage in the event of a ransomware attack. But the concern about this risk remains low: 63% of SME owners believe they are unlikely to face a data breach or ransomware attack.

Tech founders, on the other hand, are more aware of cyber risks than other industry business owners. 58% of tech founders believe they are likely to face a data breach or ransomware attack. However, tech founders are still not securing coverage, with only 34% having cyber policies. Why is this? 

It’s likely tech founders don’t understand how transferring their risk in the event of a cyber attack can dramatically help their business, or they accept the popular assumption that obtaining cyber insurance puts you at greater risk of an attack. This is simply not true. Here’s the reality: It’s not if a company will face a cyber attack, but when.

We now know that COVID-19 pandemic created a dispersed workforce and thereby created more opportunities for hackers to spot weaknesses. Ransomware-as-a-service is becoming an increasingly common tool. According to ABC News, cybercrime is up 600% as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To learn more about the business insurance approach for SME owners, CEOs and tech founders, download the full report here.