The primary assumptions used in the premium deficiency tests include: Morbidity . Morbidity assumptions used in estimating future policy benefit reserves are based on estimates of expected incidences of disability among policyholders and the costs associated with these policyholders asserting claims under their contracts, and these estimates account for any expected future morbidity improvement. For long-term care exposures, estimating expected future costs includes assessments of incidence (probability of a claim), utilization (amount of available benefits expected to be incurred) and continuance (how long the claim will last). Prior to 2017, premium deficiency assumptions considered the risk of anti-selection by including issue age adjustments to morbidity based on an actuarial assumption that long-term care policies issued to younger individuals would exhibit lower expected incidences and claim costs than those issued to older policyholders. Recent claim experience and the development of reconstructed claim cost curves indicated issue age differences had minimal impact on claim cost projections, and, accordingly, beginning in 2017, issue age adjustments were eliminated in developing morbidity assumptions. Higher morbidity increases, while lower morbidity decreases, the present value of expected future benefit payments. Rate of Change in Morbidity . Our annual premium deficiency testing incorporates our best estimates of projected future changes in the morbidity rates reflected in our base claim cost curves. These estimates draw upon a number of inputs, some of which are subjective, and all of which are interpreted and applied in the exercise of professional actuarial judgment in the context of the characteristics specific to our portfolios. This exercise of judgment considers factors such as the work performed by internal and external independent actuarial experts engaged to advise us in our annual testing, the observed actual experience in our portfolios measured against our base projections, industry developments, and other trends, including advances in the state of medical care and health-care technology development. With respect to industry developments, we take into account that there are differences between and among industry peers in portfolio characteristics (such as demographic features of the insured populations), the aggregate effect of morbidity improvement or deterioration as applied to base claim cost projections, the extent to which such base cost projections reflect the most current experience, and the accepted diversity of practice in actuarial professional judgment. We assess the potential for any change in morbidity with reference to our existing base claim cost projections, reconstructed in 2017. Projected improvement or deterioration in morbidity can have a material impact on our future claim cost projections, both on a stand-alone basis and also by virtue of influencing other variables such as discount rate and premium rate increases. Mortality . Mortality assumptions used in estimating future policy benefit reserves are based on published mortality tables as adjusted for the results of our experience studies and estimates of expected future mortality improvement. For life insurance products, higher mortality increases the present value of expected future benefit payments, while for annuity and long-term care insurance contracts, higher mortality decreases the present value of expected future benefit payments. Discount rate . Interest rate assumptions used in estimating the present value of future policy benefit reserves are based on expected investment yields, net of related investment expenses and expected defaults. In estimating future investment yields, we consider the actual yields on our current investment securities held by our run-off insurance operations and the future rates at which we expect to reinvest any proceeds from investment security maturities, net of other operating cash flows, and the projected future capital contributions into our run-off insurance operations. Lower future investment yields result in a lower discount rate and a higher present value of future policy benefit reserves. Future long-term care premium rate increases . Long-term care insurance policies allow the issuing insurance entity to increase premiums, or alternatively allow the policyholder the option to decrease benefits, with approval by state regulators, should actual experience emerge worse than what was projected when such policies were initially underwritten. As a reinsurer, we rely upon the primary insurers that issued the underlying policies to file proposed premium rate increases on those policies with the relevant state insurance regulators. While we have no direct ability to seek or to institute such premium rate increases, we often collaborate with the primary insurers in accordance with reinsurance contractual terms to file proposed premium rate increases. The amount of times that rate increases have occurred varies by ceding company. We consider recent experience of rate increase filings made by our ceding companies along with state insurance regulatory processes and precedents in establishing our current expectations. Higher future premium rate increases lower the present value of future policy benefit reserves and lower future premium rate increases increase the present value of future policy benefit reserves. Terminations . Terminations refers to the rate at which the underlying policies are cancelled due to either mortality, lapse (non-payment of premiums by a policyholder), or, in the case of long-term care insurance, benefit exhaustion. Termination rate assumptions used in estimating the present value of future policy benefit reserves are based on the results of our experience studies and reflect actuarial judgment. Lower termination rates increase, while higher termination rates decrease, the present value of expected future benefit payments. In 2017, based on elevated claim experience for a portion of our long-term care insurance contracts, we initiated a comprehensive review of all premium deficiency testing assumptions across all insurance products, resulting in a reconstruction of our future claim cost projections for long-term care insurance products. While our long-term care insurance claim experience has shown some emerging modest favorable experience, it remains largely in-line with those reconstructed projections. However, the extent of actual experience since 2017 to date is limited in the context of a long-tailed, multi-decade portfolio. GE 2020 FORM 10-K  36