Perhaps it was the shock of getting my AARP membership offer inthe mail recently, but I've been thinking a lot about our agingpopulation. If you believe auto insurers will have it toughcovering elderly drivers with failing reflexes, vision and hearing,imagine what challenges await workers' compensation carriers as theBaby Boom generation goes bust!

The only consolation for underwriters might be that they are notalone. Unlike with coverage for individual drivers, insurers get toshare the responsibility for limiting the hazards facing ourexploding senior population with risk managers.

In the second part of his speech on "The Effect Of The AgingPopulation On The Property-Casualty Insurance Industry" during theNational Underwriter Company's recent P-C Executive Conference,Steven Weisbart, vice president and chief economist for theInsurance Information Institute, talked about the problems andopportunities workers' comp carriers and their commercialpolicyholders will face before too long in dealing with olderemployees.

"More people will be working longer than they have ever been,"he said. "Given the uncertainty of retirement income," with definedbenefit pension plans fading away, he added, "most people will haveto work longer," while improvements in health care mean most mightbe able and even eager to remain active, personally andprofessionally.

The problem, however, is that "seniors tend to take longer toreturn to work" after being injured on the job, he noted, meaninghigher indemnity and medical care costs for carriers. He alsomentioned that the workplace fatality rate for those over 65 istriple that for the 35-44 age group.

Don't expect to dump any costs on Medicare or Social Securitydisability, he warned, noting that if workers' comp is available,Medicare won't pay--and they'll go to court to keep from paying ifthey must.

Risk managers will be challenged, as well. "The workplace of thefuture will have to be redesigned to accommodate a surge in olderworkers," according to Mr. Weisbart. Brighter lighting, larger-typesigns and other changes to help seniors do their jobs better, whileassuring their safety, will have to be implemented.

Would more seniors consider telecommuting? That would beespecially helpful to keep those off the road whose senses ordriving skills are at all impaired.

The trends aren't all negative, Mr. Weisbart was quick to pointout. "Seniors could help relieve the coming labor shortage for manyindustries--including insurance--even if they only want to workpart time," he said, noting that elderly claim adjusters, customerservice representatives and even insurance agents or underwriterscould become the norm rather than the exception.

Instead of seeing this trend only as a threat to be managed,insurers and risk managers should therefore seize the opportunityto bolster their workforce with seniors, while improving losscontrol for everyone.

After all, if this country remains determined to keepimmigration to a minimum (legal or otherwise), and with such a lowdomestic birth rate, where else will we get the workers necessary(not just in numbers but in quality) to keep our economy going?(There is off-shoring, of course--shipping jobs to othercountries--but that's a whole other column.)

These days, you often hear about companies offering buyouts toentice workers to retire early. Before long, you might hear aboutfirms paying lucrative incentives to convince experienced workersto stick around.

As I am about to turn 50 next year, I don't mind the sound ofthat at all!