Issue: September 2019 | Medicare Supplement | Download PDF | English By Lisa Bolduc, Life/Health Market Research,
Project Leader, Portland
Region: North America
Region: North America
Gen Re
is pleased to present this summary of key highlights from our 2018/2019 U.S. Medicare Supplement Market Survey. The full report
covers Medicare Supplement results and market trends for 2018, capturing sales
and in-force data, claim trends and staffing, underwriting tools and practices,
rate increase activity, compensation and distribution details. The
comprehensive report is made available only to participating companies.
A total
of 52 questionnaires were completed for this year’s survey, representing
84 companies with Medicare Supplement (Med Supp) business. Throughout
this summary report, the percentage (or number) of companies refers to the
52 completed questionnaires. Depending on the type of question, not all
companies were eligible to provide a response. To aid in your review, the
number of responding companies is displayed as “R=.”
Participating
companies were segmented by whether they have open and/or closed blocks of Med
Supp business. “Open blocks” refers to blocks of business that accepted new
applications in 2018. The majority of companies (61.5%) manage both open and
closed blocks. (Exhibit A)
Total Annualized In-force Premium and Lives for 2018
Participating
companies reported $24.2 billion of Med Supp in-force premium for
2018, representing an increase of 6.6% over 2017. When focusing on companies’
open blocks exclusively, in-force premium increases by 14.3%.
(Exhibit B)
Total Annualized Sales Premium and Lives for 2018
In 2018,
companies with open blocks reported just under $1.6 billion of
Med Supp sales premium, representing a decline of 3.2% compared to 2017.
Participants reported covering over 991,000 lives; a decline of 3.7% over 2017.
(Exhibit C)
Source of Sales Premium and Lives
In 2018,
Plan F was the most widely sold plan. Excluding two companies that sell
only in waiver states, all participating companies sold Plan F. Plans G
and N were also popular with over 80% of participants selling those plans.
(Exhibit D)
For 2017
and 2018, over 45% of the sales premium could be attributed to open enrollment
applications. Sales premium from underwritten applications increased slightly,
from 37.5% in 2017 to 38.5% in 2018. (Exhibit G)
2018 Claims Trend
The
observed claims trend for 2010 Standardized Plans averaged 8.5% for companies
with closed blocks compared to 6.5% for companies with open blocks.
(Exhibit H)
Lapse Rates
For 2018,
the average lapse rate was 9.8% for open blocks and 14.7% for closed blocks.
(Exhibit I) Compared to 2017, 47% of open blocks faced an increase and 44%
experienced a decrease, while 60% of closed blocks experienced
an increase.
Underwritten Applications (Open Blocks Only)
On
average, 74.4% of underwritten applications were approved and placed, while
18.4% were declined. (Exhibit J) Of the 34 participating companies,
13 reported a decline rate of more than 20%.
Processing Time for Underwritten Applications (Open Blocks Only)
In 2018,
the average turnaround time on underwritten applications was 4.4 business days.
About 52% of the participating companies processed their underwritten
applications in four days or less.
On
average, participating companies keep an application open 34 days to
obtain a requirement before closing it due to incomplete information. Over 60%
of companies keep it open for 30 days or less.
For the
purpose of this survey, an automated underwriting system was defined as a
system to approve underwritten, web-based applications without human
involvement. Of the 39 companies, 10 use an automated underwriting
system and seven plan to implement a system within the next 24 months.
Distribution (Open Blocks Only)
Direct-to-consumer
was defined as selling a Medicare Supplement policy over the phone, online, via
mail or a combination of these methods without assistance from a traditional
agent who is paid a traditional compensation. More than half of the
participating companies currently sell direct-to-consumer, while 10% are
looking to develop this capability. (Exhibit K)
Most
companies use an in-house call center as well as online support for their
direct-to-consumer business. Sixteen companies reported using more than
one method. (Exhibit L)
Download the PDF version
for a list of participating companies.
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