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Category:
Insurance
News /
Life
Insurance /
AllLife / November 2008
Groundbreaking Life Cover For Diabetics
Being diagnosed with diabetes is a life changing event, with radical
changes required in diet, exercise regime, and potentially the use
of prescribed drugs and/or insulin.
As
a diabetic, accessing life insurance – which is often a prerequisite
for home or business loans, or just to provide peace of mind with
regards to the financial security of one’s family – may also become
exceptionally difficult, not to mention unaffordable.
The
life policies available to diabetics also often exclude
diabetes-related health conditions, or have rapidly escalating
premiums which soon render these policies unaffordable.
The
reason that available diabetic insurance products are costly and
often include complex exclusions is to accommodate the risk of
uncontrolled diabetes: this is the risk that the life insured fails
to follow recommended medical treatment, and may develop
diabetic-related health conditions as a result.
An
innovative local life insurance provider is now, however, taking a
radically different approach.
Using a unique health monitoring system initially developed to
provide life cover to individuals living with HIV, AllLife has
recently announced the release of a life insurance product for
diabetics who can demonstrate diabetic control.
“Our ability to monitor the health of the people we insure and to
make them aware of potential health problems as they arise, means we
can reward our policy holders for good health management, and
provide cheaper and more straightforward insurance products” says
Ross Beerman, managing director of AllLife.
AllLife launched its range of continuously underwritten life
insurance products for people living with HIV in 2005 – a world
first for the life insurance industry.
The
products reward clients for their ongoing health management, rather
than penalising them for their past medical history.
“We
have achieved quite remarkable results with our HIV positive
clients”, says Dr Avron Urison, medical director at AllLife, “and
based on this success we are now very excited to be able to offer a
similar set of products to people living with diabetes.”
“Our clients’ commitment to ongoing health monitoring really makes a
big difference in simplifying the process of providing cover,” says
Beerman, “Our diabetic clients can obtain a quote on life cover over
the phone without needing to provide medical test results up front."
"We
help them stay healthy through ongoing health monitoring, and they
don’t have to worry about what health conditions aren’t covered
under our policies.”
AllLife’s products are designed to accommodate the financial
circumstances and needs of each individual.
The
monthly premium is based on whether the life insured is diagnosed
with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, years elapsed since diagnosis,
whether the life insured is a smoker, as well as a commitment to
follow the diabetic control monitoring programme. There is no
waiting period and up to R5 million of cover is available.
AllLife monitors diabetic control by checking the long-term average
blood sugar level using a test known as HbA1C.
This test shows to what extent diabetics have kept their blood sugar
levels under control over a three to six month period.
An
HbA1C of 6.0% or lower is regarded as showing excellent control, and
the affected individual is less likely to experience complications.
In
terms of AllLife’s protocols, if the HbA1c level is at 8.5% or
lower, the disease is considered to be under control.
Dr
Urison says: “Diabetes is a potentially life-threatening disease
and, if left untreated or incorrectly managed, the high levels of
blood sugar can cause major damage resulting in heart attacks,
kidney failure, amputations or even death."
"That is why AllLife’s insurance product range centres on a
commitment to adhere to our diabetic control policy. We monitor our
policyholders’ condition and remind them to go for their routine
blood tests."
"We
work together with our policyholders to educate them and to ensure
that they remain healthy.”
AllLife provides cover for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics. Type 1
Diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults under 30,
and occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin.
Type 2 Diabetes is usually diagnosed later in life and occurs when
the insulin produced by the pancreas does not work properly or is
insufficient.
Although not usually life threatening on its own, Type 2 Diabetes
can cause serious health complications if untreated.
According to Diabetes SA, there are approximately 3.8 million
diabetics in South Africa, of which 85 to 90% are Type 2 diabetics.1
“We
have had an exceptional impact on the health of our current clients
with adherence rates in excess of 98% 2. After taking
out a policy, our HIV+ clients, on average, become 15% healthier
3 after only six months."
"It
appears that just by caring and reminding them that they have a
chronic manageable disease and informing them of what they should be
doing to manage their health can have a real impact on their quality
of life."
"We
hope we can have this kind of an impact on the life and health of
diabetics,” says Dr Urison.
The
following products are offered to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics:
Whole
life insurance: Life cover is offered with no term limit, and may be provided with
either level or escalating premiums / cover depending on the chosen
product option.
Loan
protection insurance: This product provides the most affordable cover for loan
finance and is designed to match the outstanding balance on an
amortising loan.
Reinsurance will be provided by Gen Re, one of the world’s largest
reinsurers and a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Group, owned by
Warren Buffett.
1.
Statistics by Diabetes SA
2. Managed health care companies generally target an adherence rate
of 70%
3. As measured by CD4+ count
Diabetes Facts:
14 November 2008
is World Diabetes Day.
Diabetes is a medical condition in which the mechanism that delivers
glucose to the body’s cells ceases to work.
Between 6% and 10% of South Africans are living with diabetes, of
those affected by diabetes only 17% fall within the private health
care sector
There are two predominant kinds of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes, usually diagnosed in children and young adults
under 30, occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin.
Type 2 diabetes, usually diagnosed later in life, occurs when the
insulin produced by the pancreas no longer works properly, or is
insufficient.
Managing diabetes properly can dramatically change health and life
expectancies: recent medical studies demonstrate that appropriate
management of health factors may reduce the risk of diabetic
complications (and potential mortality) by up to 50% over 10 years –
left unchecked, however, diabetes may lead to blindness, kidney
failure, heart attacks or amputations.
Diabetics looking for life insurance have historically experienced
drawn-out application processes and policy conditions designed to
exclude diabetes-related health conditions as life insurers tried to
navigate the risks of potentially uncontrolled diabetes.
Source: ITInews – Insurance
Times and Investments Online
www.itinews.co.za
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