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Established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), World Diabetes Day is observed each year on 14 November.1 This global health-awareness initiative aims to prevent the onset of diabetes and to improve care for people living with the condition.
An estimated 589 million adults between the ages of 20 and 79 are living with diabetes. 43% of the adult living with diabetes (approximately 252 million people) are underdiagnosed.2
Diabetes is typically classified into three main types: type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes.
More than half of the world’s diabetic population lives in Asia4 and the numbers are still rising. Despite already bearing the largest share, Asia is projected to see significant growth5 in diabetes cases, with South Asia leading the surge. According to the World Economic Forum,6 rapid economic development and lifestyle shifts such as higher sugar consumption and increasingly sedentary habits are key contributor of this trend. In addition, diabetes usually occur along with other chronic conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, making health management more challenging.
Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of claims arising from critical illness conditions (excluding cancer) across markets where Gen Re has conducted its Critical Illness data insights study. We focus on these claims because diabetes is a key risk factor for conditions such as heart attack, stroke, other heart diseases, and chronic kidney failure. By examining these conditions, we find that effective diabetes management could potentially influence 28% to 45% of Critical Illness (CI) claims for males and 8% to 18% for females. This highlights a strong incentive for insurers to support their CI policyholders in preventing and managing diabetes effectively.
Maintaining an active lifestyle is one of the most effective ways to prevent diabetes. Interestingly, Gen Re’s CI study also reveals a strong correlation between cardiovascular incidence rates and Body Mass Index (BMI).7 This reinforces the importance of regular exercise not only to reduce the risk of diabetes but also to lower overall cardiovascular risk.
Diabetes is not just about blood sugar. It is a gateway to many serious conditions, and CI insurance has always covered some of these conditions.
Since the 1990s, CI insurance plans have covered conditions such as kidney failure, heart attacks, and strokes, each of which has diabetes as a risk factor. In the 2010s some insurers began adding diabetes-specific complications such as neuropathy, retinopathy, and diabetes-related amputations. From mid 2010s, the industry started experimenting with wellness programmes. These wellness programmes would typically encourage policyholders to exercise regularly and to maintain balanced nutrition and weight management protocols with various incentives, such as discount in insurance premiums, with the objective of preventing any complications resulting from becoming diabetics. Such programmes aim to shift the narrative of CI products from as a payor to as a carer, one that encourages preventing the onset of diseases by managing the common conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
More recently, insurers have also started to offer CI cover to prediabetics (a condition where one’s blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetes) and people living with diabetes. Unfortunately, access to appropriate insurance coverage remains limited as many diabetics are either denied coverage or face high premiums due to their pre-existing condition. This creates a protection gap that leaves individual vulnerable, not just financially but also in terms of long-term health outcomes.
On World Diabetes Day, we renew our focus on preventing diabetes and on the importance of effective chronic disease management. CI insurance is evolving to address both preventive approaches and conditions arising from diabetes-related complications. Insurability has broadened as well; people with well-managed diabetes can increasingly qualify for CI coverage.
At Gen Re, we support efforts to expand diabetes protection and invite insurers who wish to play an active role to contact their local Gen Re representative.
