Expanding Access to Cancer Insurance and Assistance Services in Central and Eastern Europe

With almost five million newly diagnosed cases and over two million deaths each year, cancer is the most significant cause of death and morbidity in Europe according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).¹

To address this healthcare challenge, we have worked with our primary insurance partners for many years to offer affordable cancer insurance for more than 500 000 policyholders and their families in over 15 Central and Eastern European countries. The insurance's defining feature is a modular design that allows insurers to adapt coverage to fit their customers' needs. Benefit options may include receiving a one-off payment upon diagnosis, or a package that covers the cost of relevant assistance services such as a second medical opinion, screening, supporting care, and/or medical treatments. We also work with a partner who can provide the insured person with virtual access to a panel of medical experts from world-leading medical centres. These experts can offer a comprehensive second medical opinion on the given diagnosis and suggest best treatment options.

According to the WHO, the number of deaths due to cancer in Central and Eastern Europe are higher than in Western and Northern Europe. Reasons include late diagnosis and suboptimal treatment, suggesting that detecting cancer at earlier stages in combination with high quality medical treatment increases survival rates.¹ As government-subsidised healthcare in Central and Eastern Europe often lacks the quality needed to treat serious illnesses, there is a high demand for supplementary insurance, which is being addressed by the product outlined above.

Our role in bringing the product to market involves managing the pricing, underwriting, monitoring and claims handling. Meanwhile, our partners handle marketing and sales with our support. In co-developing this tailored insurance, we aim to mitigate the challenges of accessing reliable medical information and lack of financial support if the insured person becomes a cancer patient.