Closing the gap: reinsurance's role in promoting gender equity in healthcare

PwC Switzerland’s Juliane Welz on the role reinsurers can play in addressing the gender gap.

Let’s get to the heart of the matter. Do you know that women are seven times more likely than men to have a heart condition misdiagnosed or be discharged during a heart attack?

A recent PwC survey of Swiss nationals shed light on a surprising lack of awareness among the general population regarding gender differences in medicine and healthcare. For example, more than half of those surveyed were unaware that women and men display different symptoms when suffering a heart attack.

Women have always faced unique health challenges, from barriers to accessing care to higher susceptibility to disorders such as osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases. Longstanding cultural and social factors exacerbate these disparities. The consequence is that women generally spend more years in poor health compared to men, impacting their socio-economic status and overall wellbeing. It also damages the health and productivity of the global population and workforce; the World Economic Forum (WEF) published a study estimating that if gender health disparities were to be addressed, the global economy would receive a boost of $1 trillion annually by 2040.

If that isn’t enough to get your attention, we should remember that women’s purchasing influence shapes the broader healthcare landscape as, according to the WEF, they are responsible for 80% of health-related purchase decisions, including insurance.

Insurers and reinsurers have a crucial role to play in contributing to closing this gender gap and this role should be seen as both an opportunity and a responsibility.

The industry has the power and expertise to influence healthcare systems by designing and offering products tailored to women’s health, and by raising awareness in R&D of the need for gender-based personas. It can facilitate access to essential services such as maternal care, reproductive health or coverage for certain conditions. Offering attractive and comprehensive insurance products for women can enhance customer retention and attract new policyholders, thereby boosting revenues. Furthermore, by investing in effective preventive measures insurers would also reduce long-term claims costs.

Reinsurers also have their part to play. Despite recent fluctuations in health reinsurance premiums and profitability levels, global reinsurers continue to view the health sector as an important part of ESG and wider sustainability initiatives. Reinsurers’ analytics capabilities and risk assessment expertise, combined with the vast amounts of data at their fingertips, position them well to identify patterns and risk factors unique to women and to support primary insurers in developing products and services to address the gaps. By allowing the primary market to offer comprehensive policies without the fear of incurring unsustainable losses, reinsurers can play a crucial role in making essential healthcare services and cover accessible, affordable and sustainable.

While some steps have been taken in the right direction, we face challenges around a lack of data, financial constraints and cultural biases. To turn these challenges into opportunities we must prioritise the collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data. The huge investment being made across the industry in advanced analytics and solutions could be game changing in prevention, for example.

Perhaps the most stubborn and longstanding challenge we face is cultural bias. None of the above will happen if we don’t have conversations with our colleagues, peers and clients. When you understand the problem, it is hard not to feel strongly about being part of the solution, either because of the benefits to 50 percent of the population or because of the huge opportunity it presents for us as a sector – ideally both.

Insurers and reinsurers can leverage their influence and collaborate with policymakers, governmental bodies, NGOs and healthcare providers. The products and services which we have the skills to create will in turn require standards, regulations and support – in short, a systemic issue calls for a systemic response.

Closing the gender health gap aligns financial interests with social responsibility. Insurers will benefit from improved risk assessment, reduced costs, and an expanded market, all while contributing to overall health equity. Empowering women as decision-makers is essential – and a smart business decision.

Juliane Welz is director, insurance transformation, PwC Switzerland.