Redefining “Medical Stability”: Bringing Evidence-Based Risk Assessment to Insurance Underwriting

As an emergency room and family medicine physician with over 25 years of experience, I frequently need to complete insurance forms on behalf of my patients. A common issue health care providers face is interpreting the insurance industry definition of “medical stability”, where a recent minor medication adjustment in an otherwise medically stable patient, can lead to travel insurance coverage restriction or even denial, based on the industries’ definition of “stability”.

My interest in this is not just professional but also based on a family experience. Two years ago, my father, himself a retired physician, was denied travel insurance coverage 5 months after a successful pacemaker implementation procedure. He had no other heart issues and was otherwise completely medically stable. It turns out being over the age over 65 altered the insurance definition of “stability” from 3 months to 6 months, without any consideration of any other relevant medical data which would have lowered his risk despite his age.  While it is true that age is an important consideration, many other factors impact risk assessment.

By neglecting these other scientifically proven risk factors, elder applicants may be discriminated against and charged higher premiums, or flat out denied.  We believe this unfair and arbitrary approach may apply not only to travel insurance but also to other lines of insurance, for example Life insurance, Critical Illness and even Disability.

These facts and experiences led me to collaborate with Dr. Ian Paterson , an academic cardiologist and professor of medicine, to found MedtechInsurance and develop an evidence-based, technology-driven calculator of short-term risk following a medical event.

Furthermore, MedtechInsurance was conceived for the efficient flow of information between applicants, insurance companies, and treating physicians in a secure manner, protecting privacy. Today, we are one step closer to improving insurance underwriting practices.

For those interested to hear more about it, please visit www.medtech-insurance.com or drop us a note at info@medtech-insurance.com