What is an underwriter?
An insurance underwriter is a professional responsible for evaluating the risk that an applicant presents and determining whether their insurance application should be approved.1
Before the Affordable Care Act reformed the individual insurance market, underwriting was used to determine applicants’ eligibility for individual health insurance in nearly every state. The underwriters would consider factors such as age, height/weight, medical history, and even the person’s profession, to determine whether they were an acceptable risk.2 But since 2014, individual health insurance has been guaranteed-issue as a result of the ACA, so underwriting is no longer used.
Some life/health insurance products are still underwritten, however, including most individual life insurance policies, health coverage that isn’t subject to the ACA (such as short-term health insurance), and Medigap plans in most states after a person’s initial enrollment window ends.
Footnotes
- ”Insurance Underwriters” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed Oct. 8, 2024 ⤶
- ”Pre-Existing Condition Prevalence for Individuals and Families” KFF.org. Oct. 4, 2019 ⤶
