U.S. Life Insurance Companies Report Up to 300% Payout in 2021

According to a media report in June, Lincoln Financial Group, the fifth-biggest life insurance company in the U.S. reported a 163% increase in death benefits paid out under its group life insurance policies in 2021.

Previously in Dec 2021, another insurance company, OneAmerica in the U.S. has also reported a 40% increase in deaths among working-age people in the third quarter of 2021; during an online conference, OneAmerica’s CEO stressed that the increase in deaths represents a “huge numbers,” and that’s it’s not elderly people who are dying, but “primarily working-age people of 18 to 64 years old, who are the employees of companies that have group life insurance plans through One America; he also added that “a one-in-200-year catastrophe would be 10% increase over pre-pandemic, So 40% is just unheard of.”

The annual statements for Lincoln National Life Insurance Company show that the Group Death Benefits payout reached $1.45 Billion in 2021 which almost tripled the 500 million in 2019; in an annual report in May 2022, the company announced a $41 million loss in its Group Protection business. As reported, Lincoln National’s stock price has fallen 30% in June from about $70 a share on January 3 to $50.

The analysts reported that if the average annual salary of people covered by group life insurance policies in the United States is $70,000, this may represent 20,647 deaths of working adults, covered by just this one insurance company. This would represent at least 10,000 more deaths than in a normal year for just this one company.