A New Disease – Underwriting Without Evidence

Link: https://www.genre.com/knowledge/publications/uwfocus20-2-tiedemann-en.html

Excerpt:

As mentioned above, the selection of appropriate evidence is one of the most important steps in the derivation of evidence-based risk assessment guidelines. With little evidence available, this choice becomes easy, but the output may not always be satisfactory.

In the case of COVID‑19, it is not the lack of evidence as such, but the lack of long-term evidence that is a challenge. In contrast to this, the quantity of available short-term evidence is and has been record‑breaking.

This included numerous clinical studies. Since the beginning of the pandemic, new ones have been published seemingly almost every minute. While the quality of the studies may be good, they often look at small case counts only. In many instances, they were published in a preliminary stage to speed up the process of understanding the new disease. While this is reasonable to drive the scientific process, the level of certainty needed for decisions requires long-term evidence.

Author(s): Annika Tiedemann, Life/Health Underwriting Manager, Cologne

Publication Date: March 2021

Publication Site: Gen Re