At least two big American life insurers waive medical exams for some prospective customers partly because marketing data suggest that they have healthy lifestyles, says Tim Hill of Milliman, a consultancy that advises insurers on data-mining software systems.
A software picks up clues that are unavailable in medical records......some examples :
- Recklessness in one part of someone’s life is a pretty good signal of risk appetite in others, for example.
- A prospective policyholder with numerous speeding tickets is more likely than a safer driver to end up with a sports injury.
- The software also detects obscure correlations. People who frequent ATMs so they can make cash payments tend to live longer than those who prefer writing cheques or paying with credit cards, it turns out.
- People with long commutes tend to die younger.
Why this should be is not clear: some speculate that ATM users tend to be more spontaneous types, who like to have cash in their pocket and whose lifestyle may be more active; others hypothesise that sedentary commutes mean less time to do something healthy in the evening.
( from the Economist)
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