How life & health insurers can improve health outcomes and close the protection gap 2023
The global health crisis has illuminated the significance of population access to healthcare and the need for individuals to take proactive measures to preserve their health and well-being.
Nonetheless, it has contributed to the widening of the protection gap, particularly for vulnerable groups, as a result of the exacerbated cost of living crisis, job losses, reduced incomes, and rising healthcare costs, notably in low- and middle-income countries.
As risk administrators, insurers, and investors, the insurance industry plays a crucial role in fostering economic, social, and environmental sustainability — or sustainable development — by facilitating a more accessible healthcare model.
In this spirit, the PSI Life & Health Working Group, comprised of ten leading insurers and reinsurers from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, developed this position paper to address the problem statement “What can insurers do to close the health insurance protection gap and help facilitate a preventative healthcare model globally?”
Through research and case studies, this paper provides an overview of how life and health insurers can address seven (7) priority ESG risks: health awareness and capabilities, lifestyle and behavior change, healthy ageing, access for at-risk groups, mental healthcare services, antimicrobial resistance, and healthy environment.
The paper presents a “Four-Point Plan for Life and Health Insurers” – a set of four strategies and fifteen underlying approaches, structured around key ESG themes and illustrated by case studies, that insurers can implement to close the protection gap and improve health outcomes.
