Conversion of mortality ratios to a numerical rating classification for life insurance underwriting-revisited

This is a commentary requested by the J Insur Med Editor to accompany a reprinting in this 2004 issue of my 1988 article on "Conversion of Mortality Ratios to a Numerical Rating Classification for Life Underwriting" (J Insur Med 1988;20:54-61). Topics discussed in this commentary include the distinction between short-term and long-term mortality follow-up in certain conditions, the format and the introductory text of the US Decennial Life Tables, the distinction between mortality rate and mortality probability, averaging mortality rates over a period of years, and the great value of the exemplary follow-up study used in the 1988 article.