scholarly journals The Negative Impact of COVID-19 on Life Insurers

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Zhang ◽  
Pu Liao ◽  
Xiaohua Chen
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Interest Rate Risk ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Life Insurers ◽  
Force Of Mortality ◽  
Jump Model ◽  
Mortality Effect ◽  
Life Insurer

Understanding COVID-19 induced mortality risk is significant for life insurers to better analyze their financial sustainability after the outbreak of COVID-19. To capture the mortality effect caused by COVID-19 among all ages, this study proposes a temporary adverse mortality jump model to describe the dynamics of mortality in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world based on the weekly death numbers from 2015 to 2021 in the United States. As a comparative study, the Lee-Carter model is used as the base case to represent the dynamics of mortality without COVID-19. Then we compare the force of mortality, the survival probability and the liability of a life insurer by considering COVID-19 and those without COVID-19. We show that a life insurer's financial sustainability will deteriorate because of the higher mortality rates than expected in the wake of COVID-19. Our results remain unchanged when we also consider the effect of interest rate risk by adopting the Vasicek and CIR models.

Health Communication: Implications for Diverse Populations

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Amy Hasselkus
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
Health Care Decisions ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Health Related

The need for improved communication about health-related topics is evident in statistics about the health literacy of adults living in the United States. The negative impact of poor health communication is huge, resulting in poor health outcomes, health disparities, and high health care costs. The importance of good health communication is relevant to all patient populations, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Efforts are underway at all levels, from individual professionals to the federal government, to improve the information patients receive so that they can make appropriate health care decisions. This article describes these efforts and discusses how speech-language pathologists and audiologists may be impacted.

Mobilized by Injustice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah L. Walker
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Racial Boundaries ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
Depth Interviews

Springing from decades of abuse by law enforcement and an excessive criminal justice system, members of over-policed communities lead the current movement for civil rights in the United States. Activated by injustice, individuals protested police brutality in Ferguson, campaigned to end stop-and-frisk in New York City, and advocated for restorative justice in Washington, D.C. Yet, scholars focused on the negative impact of punitive policy on material resources, and trust in government did not predict these pockets of resistance, arguing instead that marginalizing and demeaning policy teaches individuals to acquiesce and withdraw. Mobilized by Injustice excavates conditions under which, despite otherwise negative outcomes, negative criminal justice experiences catalyze political action. This book argues that when understood as resulting from a system that targets people based on race, class, or other group identifiers, contact can politically mobilize. Negative experiences with democratic institutions predicated on equality under the law, when connected to a larger, group-based struggle, can provoke action from anger. Evidence from several surveys and in-depth interviews reveals that mobilization as result of negative criminal justice experiences is broad, crosses racial boundaries, and extends to the loved ones of custodial citizens. When over half of Blacks and Latinos and a plurality of Whites know someone with personal contact, the mobilizing effect of a sense of injustice promises to have important consequences for American politics.

Accidental Sustainability

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Jones
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Organic Food ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Natural Beauty ◽  
And Diffusion ◽  
Whole Foods

This chapter examines the scaling and diffusion of green entrepreneurship between 1980 and the present. It explores how entrepreneurs and business leaders promoted the idea that business and sustainability were compatible. It then examines the rapid growth of organic foods, natural beauty, ecological architecture, and eco-tourism. Green firms sometimes grew to a large scale, such as the retailer Whole Foods Market in the United States. The chapter explores how greater mainstreaming of these businesses resulted in a new set of challenges arising from scaling. Organic food was now transported across large distances causing a negative impact on carbon emissions. More eco-tourism resulted in more air travel and bigger airports. In other industries scaling had a more positive impact. Towns were major polluters, so more ecological buildings had a positive impact.

scholarly journals Reserved Bed Program Reduces Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit Capacity Strain: An Implementation Study

Neurosurgery ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-138
Author(s):  
Christopher D Shank ◽  
Nicholas J Erickson ◽  
David W Miller ◽  
Brittany F Lindsey ◽  
Beverly C Walters
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Implementation Study ◽  
Service Line ◽  
Hospital Units ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
Operational Issues

Abstract BACKGROUND Neurosciences intensive care units (NICUs) provide institutional centers for specialized care. Despite a demonstrable reduction in morbidity and mortality, NICUs may experience significant capacity strain with resulting supraoptimal utilization and diseconomies of scale. We present an implementation study in the recognition and management of capacity strain within a large NICU in the United States. Excessive resource demand in an NICU creates significant operational issues. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of a Reserved Bed Pilot Program (RBPP), implemented to maximize economies of scale, to reduce transfer declines due to lack of capacity, and to increase transfer volume for the neurosciences service-line. METHODS Key performance indicators (KPIs) were created to evaluate RBPP efficacy with respect to primary (strategic) objectives. Operational KPIs were established to evaluate changes in operational throughput for the neurosciences and other service-lines. For each KPI, pilot-period data were compared to the previous fiscal year. RESULTS RBPP implementation resulted in a significant increase in accepted transfer volume to the neurosciences service-line (P = .02). Transfer declines due to capacity decreased significantly (P = .01). Unit utilization significantly improved across service-line units relative to theoretical optima (P < .03). Care regionalization was achieved through a significant reduction in “off-service” patient placement (P = .01). Negative externalities were minimized, with no significant negative impact in the operational KPIs of other evaluated service-lines (P = .11). CONCLUSION Capacity strain is a significant issue for hospital units. Reducing capacity strain can increase unit efficiency, improve resource utilization, and augment service-line throughput. RBPP implementation resulted in a significant improvement in service-line operations, regional access to care, and resource efficiency, with minimal externalities at the institutional level.

scholarly journals Autism Tsunami: the Impact of Rising Prevalence on the Societal Cost of Autism in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Blaxill ◽  
Toby Rogers ◽  
Cynthia Nevison
Keyword(s):  
Forecast Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Population Projections ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
Total Base ◽  
Cost Categories ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

AbstractThe cost of ASD in the U.S. is estimated using a forecast model that for the first time accounts for the true historical increase in ASD. Model inputs include ASD prevalence, census population projections, six cost categories, ten age brackets, inflation projections, and three future prevalence scenarios. Future ASD costs increase dramatically: total base-case costs of $223 (175–271) billion/year are estimated in 2020; $589 billion/year in 2030, $1.36 trillion/year in 2040, and $5.54 (4.29–6.78) trillion/year by 2060, with substantial potential savings through ASD prevention. Rising prevalence, the shift from child to adult-dominated costs, the transfer of costs from parents onto government, and the soaring total costs raise pressing policy questions and demand an urgent focus on prevention strategies.

scholarly journals 307 A systems approach to understanding biosecurity decision-making

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 43-43
Author(s):  
Scott C Merrill ◽  
Christopher Koliba ◽  
Gabriela Bucini ◽  
Eric Clark ◽  
Luke Trinity ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
African Swine Fever Virus ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Livestock Industry ◽  
Diarrhea Virus ◽  
Operational Level

Abstract Disease and its consequences result in social and economic impacts to the US animal livestock industry, ranging from losses in human capital to economic costs in excess of a billion dollars annually. Impacts would dramatically escalate if a devastating disease like Foot and Mouth Disease or African Swine Fever virus were to emerge in the United States. Investing in preventative biosecurity can reduce the likelihood of disease incursions and their negative impact on our livestock industry, yet uncertainty persists with regards to developing an effective biosecurity structure and culture. Here we show the implications of human behavior and decision making for biosecurity effectiveness, from the operational level to the owner/managerial level and finally to the systems level. For example, adjustments to risk messaging strategies could double worker compliance with biosecurity practices at the operational level. The improvement of our risk communication strategy may increase willingness to invest in biosecurity. Furthermore, the adaptation of policies could nudge behavior so that we observe a short disease outbreak followed by a quick eradication instead of a pandemic. Our research shows how the emergence of now-endemic diseases, such as Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, cannot be adequately modeled without the use of a human behavioral component. Focusing solely on any one sector or level of the livestock system is not sufficient to predict emergent disease patterns and their social and economic impact on livestock industries. These results provide insight toward developing more effective risk mitigation strategies and ways to nudge behavior toward more disease resilient systems.

scholarly journals Asymmetric dynamics between uncertainty and unemployment flows in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ahmed ◽  
Mark Granberg ◽  
Victor Troster ◽  
Gazi Salah Uddin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Large Uncertainty ◽  
Monthly Data ◽  
Uncertainty Measures ◽  
Linear And Nonlinear ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
The U.S

AbstractThis paper examines how different uncertainty measures affect the unemployment level, inflow, and outflow in the U.S. across all states of the business cycle. We employ linear and nonlinear causality-in-quantile tests to capture a complete picture of the effect of uncertainty on U.S. unemployment. To verify whether there are any common effects across different uncertainty measures, we use monthly data on four uncertainty measures and on U.S. unemployment from January 1997 to August 2018. Our results corroborate the general predictions from a search and matching framework of how uncertainty affects unemployment and its flows. Fluctuations in uncertainty generate increases (upper-quantile changes) in the unemployment level and in the inflow. Conversely, shocks to uncertainty have a negative impact on U.S. unemployment outflow. Therefore, the effect of uncertainty is asymmetric depending on the states (quantiles) of U.S. unemployment and on the adopted unemployment measure. Our findings suggest state-contingent policies to stabilize the unemployment level when large uncertainty shocks occur.

scholarly journals The effects of global changes upon regional ozone pollution in the United States

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1125-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Chen ◽  
J. Avise ◽  
B. Lamb ◽  
E. Salathé ◽  
C. Mass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Ozone Pollution ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Voc Emissions ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Case

Abstract. A comprehensive numerical modeling framework was developed to estimate the effects of collective global changes upon ozone pollution in the US in 2050. The framework consists of the global climate and chemistry models, PCM (Parallel Climate Model) and MOZART-2 (Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers v.2), coupled with regional meteorology and chemistry models, MM5 (Mesoscale Meteorological model) and CMAQ (Community Multi-scale Air Quality model). The modeling system was applied for two 10-year simulations: 1990–1999 as a present-day base case and 2045–2054 as a future case. For the current decade, the daily maximum 8-h moving average (DM8H) ozone mixing ratio distributions for spring, summer and fall showed good agreement with observations. The future case simulation followed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A2 scenario together with business-as-usual US emission projections and projected alterations in land use, land cover (LULC) due to urban expansion and changes in vegetation. For these projections, US anthropogenic NOx (NO+NO2) and VOC (volatile organic carbon) emissions increased by approximately 6% and 50%, respectively, while biogenic VOC emissions decreased, in spite of warmer temperatures, due to decreases in forested lands and expansion of croplands, grasslands and urban areas. A stochastic model for wildfire emissions was applied that projected 25% higher VOC emissions in the future. For the global and US emission projection used here, regional ozone pollution becomes worse in the 2045–2054 period for all months. Annually, the mean DM8H ozone was projected to increase by 9.6 ppbv (22%). The changes were higher in the spring and winter (25%) and smaller in the summer (17%). The area affected by elevated ozone within the US continent was projected to increase; areas with levels exceeding the 75 ppbv ozone standard at least once a year increased by 38%. In addition, the length of the ozone season was projected to increase with more pollution episodes in the spring and fall. For selected urban areas, the system projected a higher number of pollution events per year and these events had more consecutive days when DM8H ozone exceed 75 ppbv.

The Risk of Variable Annuity Guarantees and Life Insurer Capital

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Etti Baranoff ◽  
Thomas Sager ◽  
Bo Shi
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Life Insurers ◽  
Performance Guarantees ◽  
Market Risks ◽  
Paradoxical Result ◽  
Life Insurer ◽  
Financial Threat

AbstractRecently, concerns have been raised about the systemic financial threat potentially posed by life insurers. In part, these concerns have arisen because of life insurer involvement in the sales of variable annuity products with put-like performance guarantees. Guarantees expose life insurers to the market risks of mutual funds that are directed by their policyholders. In 2007, U.S. policyholders held about $500 billion in variable annuity accounts subject to guarantees issued by insurers. In this study we examine life insurer management of the risks of these guarantees, with emphasis on management of capital buffers. We introduce actuarial/regulatory and exposure-based proxies for these risks. Surprisingly, we find a robust and paradoxical result. In the years immediately prior to the Great 2008 Recession, the assumption of additional guarantee risk was associated with reductions in capital (contradicting the finite risk hypothesis),

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