The head of OneAmerica insurance said the death rate is up a stunning 40% from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people.
“We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business – not just at OneAmerica,” the company’s CEO Scott Davison said during an online news conference this week. “The data is consistent across every player in that business.”
OneAmerica is a $100 billion insurance company that has had its headquarters in Indianapolis since 1877. The company has approximately 2,400 employees and sells life insurance, including group life insurance to employers in the state.
Davison said the increase in deaths represents “huge, huge numbers,” and that’s it’s not elderly people who are dying, but “primarily working-age people 18 to 64” who are the employees of companies that have group life insurance plans through OneAmerica.
“And what we saw just in third quarter, we’re seeing it continue into fourth quarter, is that death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic,” he said.
“Just to give you an idea of how bad that is, a three-sigma or a one-in-200-year catastrophe would be 10% increase over pre-pandemic,” he said. “So 40% is just unheard of.”
The full story, stemming from a conference held in Indiana, can be found here.
The cascade effects of this thing, including the policies pushed during it, are going to be with us for years. And the idea of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for governmental actions during the pandemic grows more sensible by the hour.
I'm not sure what's up with "governmental actions," unless we're mostly talking inaction. We live in a culture driven by money and by the expression of personal freedom, even when either lacks social responsibility.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I'd like to blame 45 for 100k's dead, the truth is that he just stoked something simmering very near the surface. The US has lurched into an era of bad feeling, wacko conspiracy theories, and banana republic corruption. If the 2016 election had turned differently, the Post would be calling for HRC's head on a platter for 3,000 pandemic deaths.
People are getting bored. US Americans lack the will to sacrifice for the common good. It disappeared in the 80s and isn't likely to surface anytime soon. Who cares about mask timing? We didn't have them. People would've resisted wearing them. They complained about "lockdowns," when they were always quite free to get out of the house and take a walk somewhere. Or jump in the car and roll down the windows when driving. Last time I looked, there was plenty of open park land in lots of places.
American governmental funding of gain-of-function experiments at Wuhan;
DeleteDeliberate failure to replenish the pandemic PPE stockpile after H1N1 in contravention of federal law;
Shoving infected patients into nursing homes, with body counts in the thousands;
Bald-faced lies about use of masks and herd immunity;
The destruction caused by dubious mandates (casinos greenlighted when exercise facilities are not);
The obvious harmful effects of virtual learning on children;
The CDC's manifold reactive missteps, including an inability to build a workable database...
I am less inclined to give Caesar a pass and spread the blame to all of us. It smacks too much of "everyone is to blame," which is very handy for those with blood on their hands.
Alas, some of these items are solidly in the realm of conspiracy theorists, and paired with a lot of wacko notions coming down in 2020. Sort of like the same sex thing: nature or nurture--could a real study ever gain cred across the board today? Probably not.
DeleteI think there's a distinction to be found between errors, even tragic and consequential ones, and intentional malice. You are an expert in law. What does your training and experience suggest?
Yes, kids. Well, if we were serious about harmful effect, we'd be looking at a much wider array of public policy on funding education. I think there's more harm to be found in disparate support, especially for people of color.
And lastly, no: not everyone is to blame. Some bear more: antivaxxers, bought politicians, conspiracy hounds. Some are heroes: nurses, researchers, people who masked and stayed distant. I think we all agree that if we're going to drop blame, we should be doing it at the top first. But that's not going to happen in our beloved oligarchy. Blame will net scapegoats. And they won't likely be rich.
Always handwaving and evasion with you.
DeleteI don't know why you would ask me to trust my experience and expertise when I'm so solidly ensnared in (unspecified) conspiracy theories and wacko notions.
Delete"You're thoroughly tied up in loony. Now think clearly" is a dialogue invitation I will politely decline.
So when does the investigation of the causes of this actuarial disaster begin? I have some suggestions.
ReplyDelete