The insurance provider Sun Life is making a special effort to streamline the process of applying for insurance and will eliminate a number of the medical tests that were previously a requirement for applicants.
Easy and Fair Access
In an effort to cut costs and improve the obtainability of their insurance policies, the company will no longer utilise the same levels of medical testing. Formerly, for life insurance or critical illness insurance policies, it was necessary for applicants to undergo a wide range of medical testing. These could include and were not limited to fluid samples, urine tests, ECGs and HIV screening. With the overhaul in place, it is expected that the vast majority of applicants will only need to submit a simple application without submitting to extensive testing. It is hoped that this will enable clients seeking insurance to obtain coverage more quickly and easily than ever before.
Pioneering Practices
Global news outlet CNN recently reported that Canadian insurance firm Manulife was to offer life insurance coverage to HIV-positive clients for the first time. The company became the first insurance provider in the nation to do so and commented that the change was due to new research made available to them. The new research and latest figures illuminated aspects of HIV-positive living such as mortality rates and long-term survival rates. As a result, the company felt better equipped to offer appropriate coverage after assessing the risk profiles for each individual applicant. Manulife’s CEO, Marianne Harrison, commented that the company had previously been the first to underwrite applicants with diabetes. She said that offering coverage to HIV-positive applicants was continuing their pioneering work and was a response to recent research.
Now companies like Sun Life are following suit and have commented that they wish to make the process of applying for insurance less time-consuming and intrusive, as well as more cost-effective.
An Evolving Industry
The fields of medicine and insurance are closely linked when it comes to understanding illness and providing appropriate coverage. Research is an essential aspect of both processes, and many companies rely on expert staff provided by a reputable contract research organization such as http://www.gandlscientific.com/contract-research-organization.
With continued interaction between the medical, pharmaceutical, and insurance industries, it is hoped by officials that a balance can be struck with fair, informed and appropriate coverage.