The number of old-age insurance products continues to increase —
Commercial health insurance pays attention to the "silver hair" market
Our reporter Yu Yong and Li Chenyang
The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Strengthening the Work on the Elderly in the New Era" issued a few days ago proposed that commercial insurance institutions are encouraged to develop health insurance products for the elderly under the premise of controllable risks and sustainable business.
The latest statistics from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission show that there are currently 107 million elderly people aged 60 and above in the country who hold commercial insurance policies, and the penetration rate of commercial insurance for the elderly is 41%.
The number of elderly insurance policies was 226 million, accounting for 11% of all insurance policies in the insurance industry.
During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, senior citizens’ insurance achieved a total of 1.4 trillion yuan in premium income. The number of insured persons and premium income have shown an upward trend year by year, and the enthusiasm for insurance has increased significantly.
The market looks forward to more new products
In the past 5 years, health insurance premiums have maintained a relatively high level of growth.
However, judging from the product terms, the insurance conditions of most health insurance are more friendly to young people; judging from the insurance data, people under the age of 40 are more motivated to buy insurance and contribute most of the premium income.
Elderly people over 60 are facing two major problems: insufficient product supply and high premiums.
In order to resolve this problem, the relevant person in charge of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stated that a rate adjustment mechanism will be introduced to avoid the risk of insurance product pricing caused by rising medical expenses, and institutionally solve the problem that it is difficult for the elderly and the sick to purchase commercial medical insurance. .
As of October this year, 25 long-term medical insurance products with adjustable rates for insured ages over 70 have been launched.
If short-term health insurance resolves the insured’s anxiety about medical expenses, then critical illness insurance focuses more on financial compensation after illness.
Compared with short-term health insurance, critical illness insurance has a longer payment period and tests the operating capabilities of insurance companies. Critical illness insurance suitable for the elderly requires the insurance industry to invest more in research and development and innovation.
In November last year, the Chinese Association of Actuaries released the 2020 Critical Illness Table, which was the first to compile a reference table for the incidence of severe Alzheimer’s disease and severe primary Parkinson’s disease under the 2020 version of the definition and specifications. The precedent for the study and analysis of the empirical incidence of severe illness.
It can be said that the launch of the new version of the Critical Illness Table provides a pricing basis for the development and innovation of insurance products for the elderly.
Not only that, according to the relevant person in charge of the Chinese Association of Actuaries, other critical illness experience rates have also been expanded in terms of age.
Among them, the age of the experience incidence rate table for multiple diseases has been extended to 105 years, and the age of the experience incidence rate table for severe acute myocardial infarction and the experience incidence rate table for severe stroke sequelae is also extended to 75 years old, which is developed for the development of exclusive critical illness products for the elderly. Provided strong support.
With the critical illness table as the basis for pricing, the launch of new products seems to be a matter of course.
In October, Kecheng Insurance Agency Co., Ltd. and Xintai Life Insurance jointly launched a critical illness insurance. This product is unique in the protection of the elderly: for example, if the insured does not have a serious illness before the age of 60, the 60-year-old ( Including) After hospitalization, you can get a certain amount of subsidies every day.
In addition, there are 15% to 50% additional benefits for certain diseases in addition to the basic insurance coverage.
Also in October, ZhongAn Insurance launched the “Brain Worry-Free Dementia Protection Insurance”, focusing on people with Alzheimer’s disease, integrating early screening and early intervention services through commercial insurance, and providing integrated “screening-intervention” -Insurance-Cure" health solutions in one, fill the market gap in this field.
Song Zhanjun, deputy secretary-general of the Insurance Research Center of Beijing Technology and Business University, said in an interview with a reporter from Economic Daily that the new version of critical illness insurance covers severe Alzheimer’s disease that the elderly may suffer, and increases the protection of severe cognitive impairment, while the old version of critical illness insurance It only includes the complete loss of the ability to live independently.
However, judging from the products already on the market, it has not really solved the problem that the elderly can be insured. The general underwriting age of the old critical illness insurance is up to 55 years old. At present, the underwriting age of new products on sale can be relaxed to 60 years old. .
"Insurance + Service" has made great achievements
There are 154 administrative villages in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, Qinghai Province, with a total population of 126,900.
Due to the high altitude and high-salt and high-fat diet, the local population has a high prevalence of hypertension, among which the prevalence of hypertension in people over 60 years old is close to 100%.
After learning of this situation, China Life Reinsurance Co., Ltd. and Beijing Fuwai Hospital and other professional institutions went to Xunhua County to carry out the construction of the "Three-highs Co-management Demonstration Zone" project.
China Re Life actively used its own technological advantages and proposed the "chronic disease management + insurance protection" solution. Physicians supervise and manage patients' blood pressure and medication conditions, and always pay attention to emergencies, which reduces the occurrence of myocardial infarction in patients with hypertension. And the probability of stroke, etc.
As of the end of September this year, the "three-high-level management" project has provided the first batch of 1500 patients with a one-year "chronic disease management + insurance protection" system solution for free, and the blood pressure measurement rate and control rate of patients have been significantly improved. Health conditions have improved.
Different from the refined services provided by domestic insurance companies, foreign insurance companies also frequently make efforts in health management.
In July of this year, AIA Life launched the "You Zizai" comprehensive elderly care solution.
Among them, for "sub-standard customers" who have a strong desire to plan for the elderly but suffer from chronic diseases such as "three highs, diabetes, thyroid disease, and breast disease", the "AIA Smart Choice Kanghui Chronic Disease Medical Insurance" was launched, including There are nearly 200 common chronic diseases including "hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, thyroid disease, and breast disease". Those who meet the conditions can be insured normally.
At the same time, in cooperation with the product, AIA also launched corresponding health management services, especially "special disease management", focusing on the chronic disease of thyroid nodules, providing patients with "enrollment management, daily consultation, questionnaire tracking, treatment and rehabilitation" Chronic disease management services including other services.
It is worth noting that in recent years, the "Human Insurance" products launched by various provinces have coincidentally chosen the "insurance + service" operating model.
Especially after the product iteration in 2021, the "Huiminbao" in most provinces has not only added practical services such as special medication, assistance in registration, and green channels for medical treatment, but also included proton-heavy ion therapy and mosaicism in some products. New medical technologies such as antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy are included in the scope of guarantee.
Song Zhanjun told reporters that, on the one hand, Huiminbao is a "low-frequency and high-loss" insurance product with a high deductible and extremely high reimbursement limit, which can help the elderly and other groups to reduce the burden of extremely heavy medical expenses; On the other hand, consumers must fully understand the characteristics of Huiminbao’s products. The high deductible of Huiminbao requires the insured patient’s personal burden. It is precisely because of this that “following insurance” may reduce the overall insured’s Premium burden.
Digital transformation is an important starting point
Insurance is an industry with operating risks. Compared with young people, the probability of settlement of claims after the elderly has taken out health insurance is indeed much higher.
How to achieve insurable risks is the focus and difficulty that the industry has been exploring.
With the continuous development of financial technology, insurance technology companies have been actively deploying.
"The online and intelligent development of insurance applications has rapidly improved the efficiency of insurance business and comprehensively improved insurance customer experience. For example, the intelligent search engine for insurance products that Lima Technology is developing recently can be based on the health and age of individual consumers. Information is comprehensively matched to the most suitable insurance product, which improves the efficiency and accuracy of insurance for elderly users from the insurance side, thereby enhancing the level of risk protection for the elderly. In the long run, data-driven business development can provide services that meet the diverse needs of users The insurance products suitable for the elderly.” said Li Chao, co-founder and CEO of Lima Technology.
In fact, in October this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Enriching the Supply of Life Insurance Products" and proposed to accelerate digital transformation and develop supporting life insurance products that adapt to various scenarios and comply with actuarial principles.
At the same time, it clearly supports the innovative development of various endowment insurance products, and explores the effective connection of long-term care responsibilities, risk protection responsibilities and pension receiving arrangements with services such as elderly care and elderly communities; based on long-term health protection, raise the level of critical illness insurance protection and support Integrated development of health insurance products and health management services.
It can be said that in recent years, the regulatory authorities have also strengthened top-level design, improved policy support, encouraged insurance institutions to develop various types of insurance products for the elderly, enriched the types of commercial insurance options available to the elderly, and gave full play to the important role of commercial insurance in the social security system. .
The reporter learned during the interview that many insurance companies have taken digital transformation as their starting point to improve business efficiency and assist in new product development through intelligent underwriting, precise risk control, and big data profiling.
Song Zhanjun said that the current commercial health insurance is not only gradually increasing the upper age limit for insurance, but also striving to increase the supply of health insurance products for specific chronic disease groups such as hypertension and diabetes.
In addition, in the aspects of anti-cancer insurance for the elderly, long-term care insurance, etc., insurance institutions are constantly improving product design, enriching health management services, better meeting market demand, and further promoting the realization of healthy aging in my country.
Many people in the industry said in an interview with a reporter from the Economic Daily that with the advent of an aging society, health insurance suitable for the elderly will receive more and more attention, and will even become a necessity for many people, plus policy benefits and market supply. Optimization, the elderly health insurance is expected to become a new growth point for the industry in the future.