Weight Loss Treatments and Underwriting: What You Need to Know
Obesity is a serious health concern that increases the risk of numerous health problems, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and mental health problems. People living with obesity can find it challenging to lose weight, as it’s influenced by biological, environmental, cultural, and socio-economic factors.
Weight loss treatment has been one of the hottest topics in the industry in the last year as an ever-growing number of people are turning to such treatments for a variety of reasons, whether that be to lose weight, reduce the risk of developing a health issue, or even for cosmetic reasons. On the Protection Platform, we’ve seen 540 applicants disclose taking treatment to lose weight in the last 12 months and this number continues to grow at an ever-increasing rate.
For advisers, this trend raises important questions: Is my client comfortable discussing a topic that may be deemed sensitive? What information do I need to ascertain to disclose it accurately? How will disclosing this impact my client and their protection needs?
For insurers, it also raises important underwriting questions: How should we treat such disclosures? What information do we need to gather to help us make informed and accurate decisions? Are we able to offer applicants a “Buy Now” decision? As more data becomes available, how will this evolve?
This article explores a market view, key underwriting considerations, and practical guidance for capturing and assessing weight loss treatment disclosures in protection underwriting.
Market Perspective: Why insurers are cautious
1. The origins of treatment matter
It’s estimated that 1.5 million people in the UK are already taking weight loss treatment yet 9 in 10 of those are believed to pay privately (BBC). That means only a small fraction are sourcing their treatment from a GP.
Insurers are naturally going to be cautious when weight loss treatment is obtained from sources outside the conventional medical system (e.g. GP, pharmacy or other healthcare specialist). Treatments obtained from alternative sources such as aesthetic clinics, social media recommendations, and unregulated online pharmacies carry greater uncertainty in quality, monitoring, complications or side-effects, and medical oversight.
It's important that insurers capture where the treatment was acquired from:
A registered GP or other medical professional
Through a pharmacy under prescription
Through an online healthcare provider
Through a cosmetic or beauty clinic
Purchased via social media or direct-to-consumer channels?
The information on the origin of the treatment helps assess the risk, credibility and probability of complications or side-effects, whilst making sure the client’s weight loss is properly managed in a safe way.
2. Important Underwriting Factors
Key considerations for insurers when assessing those on weight loss treatment to obtain accurate disclosures, include:
The amount of weight lost
Time period over which the weight loss occurred
Any history of weight loss surgery
Has any weight loss been maintained and remained stable?
Any complications due to the weight loss treatment, e.g. pancreatitis, gallbladder or kidney problems
If treatment is on-going or has now stopped
These factors help stratify the risk between routine, well-managed cases and high-risk or unstable ones and help determine the underwriting decision.
Conclusion
Disclosures of weight loss treatment are becoming more prevalent and more of a consideration for those in the insurance industry. The development of such treatments is an exciting one that could significantly reduce weight related mortality in the UK. Advisers and insurers will need to adapt to the evolving landscape by capturing richer disclosure details, distinguishing between low and high-risk scenarios, and designing online underwriting rules that balance speed and correct decision outcomes in line with their underwriting philosophy and appropriate risk appetite.
Sources
BBC - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cre5xp83394o