Actuaries seek better data on troubling age 80+ mortality trend
July 1, 2025 by John Hilton
Regulators and actuaries are considering a data change to better account for a puzzling mortality degradation in individuals ages 80 and older.
The Life Mortality Improvement Subgroup of the Mortality and Longevity Oversight Advisory Council wants to switch from general population data to insured population data. The two datasets are fairly similar up until age 80, when insured population mortality improvement sharply drops.
Wink’s Moore on the Market: Why are experience studies showing n increase in mortality, after age 80?
“One suggested possibility is that this is due to the impact of the life settlements market on insured data, leading to decreased lapses at older insured ages and therefore more impaired lives in this segment of the population.”
THAT never would have occurred to me.
It is not the only possible reason though.
A Swiss Re report “concluded that excess mortality is likely to persist for as long as another decade.”
There are a number of interesting insights in this article. I believe it is worth the read.
Thanks, John Hilton at InsuranceNewsNet! -sjm
