Cancer survivors’ Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) Implications for Life & Health insurers

Cancer survivors’ ‘Right to be Forgotten’ (RTBF) describes an umbrella term for regulations and self-regulatory practices that aim to ensure easier access to life insurance for cancer survivors by giving them the right to not disclose their cancer history after a specified remission period. The RTBF framework represents a deviation from evidence-based risk assessment and pricing. As such, the implications for insurers can be significant and require careful consideration.

• Cancer incidence is growing globally, as is the number of people with a history of cancer and the population of cancer survivors.
•  The Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) for cancer survivors allows individuals to not disclose their personal history of cancer to insurers or financial institutions under certain circumstances.
• The diversity of cancer types and stages, and the very long tail risk of some cancers, means there are inevitably some still high-risk survivors whose risk can no longer be reflected in an adjusted premium or conditions.
• As a result, RTBF moves insurance away from risk-based pricing for what remains a significant cause of claims, bringing real challenges to the insurance business model, and requires major cross functional expertise in its application.
• The exact nature of RTBF regulations across countries varies significantly, not only around how long a patient needs to be in remission to benefit from a RTBF, but also in many other areas including to which products, and in which circumstances, a RTBF is applied.
• The diverse product, pricing, distribution, medical and regulatory situation across markets means even similar legislation wordings can have a very different impact. Local analysis and impact assessments are therefore advisable.

Swiss Re has experienced teams of cross functional experts who can steer how to underwrite, price and design products to mitigate the risks this introduces, as well as provide the opportunity to ensure fairness and equity.