Morbidity

What Does Morbidity Mean?

Morbidity refers to the rate at which disease occurs within a group of people over a specific period of time.

Actuaries often use morbidity rates to determine the pricing of various insurance policies, such as life insurance, health insurance, and long-term care insurance.

Insuranceopedia Explains Morbidity

Many diseases can trigger an insurance payout. For example, an insurer may need to pay health insurance benefits to a policyholder who becomes ill and requires medical treatment, or a terminal illness might result in a death benefit payout. As a result, insurers use morbidity rates to assess the likelihood of claims and adjust their premiums to offset the associated insurance risk.

A morbidity table is one of the tools commonly used to calculate morbidity rates.