The medical officer's role in critical illness insurance product development

Critical illness insurance is a new (to the US), medically sophisticated insurance product that is tantalizing some US insurers. Few have brought a product to market, but many opine that a US breakthrough is in the offing. Would you rise to the challenge and craft an opportunity to participate in the development of a new product concept? How do medical officers bring value to the product development world? Do medical officers belong in the domain of product actuaries and consultants who bring new product ideas to life? Dr. Jan von Overbeck and I presented a workshop at the 2004 AAIM meeting to discuss the role of the medical officer in the development and evaluation of critical illness insurance. This article summarizes that discussion for the Journal's readers.