Protecting Policy Holders’ Interests in Health Insurance

Asian Institute of International Financial Law
and
Centre for Medical Ethics and Law
The University of Hong Kong

Protecting Policy Holders’ Interests in Health Insurance

31 March 2022

Strengthening the Social Role of Insurance in Hong Kong
Mr Clement Cheung, CEO, Hong Kong Insurance Authority

Mr Cheung will talk about how the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA) has been doing to promote the social role of insurance to close protection gaps and lessen the burden of Hong Kong’s social welfare and public health systems. He will also shed light on the IA’s major initiatives to enhance financial inclusiveness through product innovation, promotion of protective insurance products by leveraging facilitative measures and Insurtech, and empowerment of policy holders through public education.

New (Cancer) Drugs – Roles and Responsibilities of a Health Insurer
Professor Anita Wagner, Harvard Medical School

With a focus on new cancer therapeutics, she will illustrate how US FDA regulatory changes over the past 30 years have led to challenges for payers in the US health system. She will suggest three areas of responsibility of payers: support of member and provider decision making, equitable stewardship of resources, and advocacy for better evidence.

Ethical Considerations in the Use of AI-based Tools to Advance Universal Health Coverage
Dr Andreas Reis, Co-Lead, Global Health Ethics, World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies achieving universal health coverage (UHC) as a strategic priority, with the goal of 1 billion more people benefitting from universal health coverage by 2023. Insurers (both non-profit and for-profit) have an important role in advancing UHC, which means that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. This presentation will first indicate what protecting policy holders’ interests means in relation to the ethical commitment of all WHO Member States on providing financial risk protection through health insurance. Based on key points from the WHO Guidance on Ethics and AI, the presentation will then highlight ethical considerations for health insurers in developing and/or deploying (AI-based) Insurtech, with focus on the need to properly inform policy-holders.

Enquiries: Flora Leung at fkleung@hku.hk