Mapfre will extend the age limit to access some health insurance from 65 to 75 years

Jose Manuel Inchausti, vice president of Mapfre and CEO of the insurer in the Iberia region, has advanced that the insurer will expand this year up to 75 years the age limit for accessing certain health insurance, which, as a general rule, currently has a threshold set at 65 years.

The also vice president of UNESPA, the insurance employer, which has participated this Thursday in the fourth day of II Symposium of the Health Observatory, organized by EL ESPAÑOL and Invertia, explained that health policies are going to change in the near future in the sense that they will be more focused on preventing disease and preserving quality of life, but “not in the sense of including pandemics.”

“Today health insurance is focused on taking care of you when you get sick and it is going to turn around to try not to get sick”Inchausti pointed out, who also stressed that the policies must take into account the growth of the longevity of the population. “We believe that we have to be in people’s lives before that happens. As we have a lot of data, we have a lot of focus on prevention and that the quality of life is maintained for as many years as possible,” he added.

Of course, what is very difficult to include will be coverage for health claims related to pandemics. “Pandemics cannot be included, there are technical reasons that explain it. In insurance we handle money that is not ours and with that money everyone contributes so that, when a few have problems, it is solved through the insurance companies. The system is not ready for when it affects us all [a la vez]”Inchausti explained.

That is why, “unfortunately” and “unless there is a public-private collaboration”, for the vice president of Mapfre it is very difficult to imagine that pandemics will end up being included in the coverage of policies.

Solidarity

However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, as Inchausti has pointed out, insurers have decided “to ignore the policies and apply solidarity.” “The role of insurers in the pandemic has been very positive. These events are unfortunately excluded from policies and we decided to take care of these claims“, he pointed out.

In fact, insurance companies endowed a fund with 30 million euros to help health workers and it was not only enough but also generated a surplus that today is being channeled to different institutions, such as Red Cross.

“As a sector on this occasion we have risen to the occasion”Inchausti pointed out, in whose opinion insurers have shown “flexibility” and have collaborated to “be part of the solution.”

Digitization

Last year, which was marked by Covid-19, Mapfre reached a milestone by marketing 400,000 policies online, a threshold that its competitors did not reach, according to Inchausti. For this year, the goal is higher, 450,000 policies.

The truth is that digitization is already a crucial element for all types of sectors and also for the insurer, which, as the Vice President of Mapfre has explained, advances every day in the development of new initiatives, such as telemedicine or telepharmacy.

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