Women's health insurance

For the vast majority of women, the core logic of configuring health insurance is never to give priority to products marked "women's only", but to first provide basic protection regardless of gender, and then add women-specific responsibilities as needed based on their physical condition, budget, and risk preferences. There is absolutely no need to pay unnecessary premiums for "exclusive" gimmicks.

I almost laughed out loud when I was sorting out old insurance policies for my sister last week. The Internet celebrity women’s critical illness insurance policy she bought in 2021 paid 6,200 a year for 20 years, and the basic critical illness insurance was only 200,000. Only specific diseases such as breast cancer and cervical cancer can pay an extra 20%, which means that if you really get breast cancer, you can get up to 240,000. But now to treat breast cancer in first-tier cities, light-targeting drugs cost hundreds of thousands a year. What is this money enough for? At that time, she was struck by the words "designed for women" on the promotional page, and she didn't even check whether the basic insurance amount was sufficient.

Don’t believe it, in the 2023 personal insurance claims report released by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, malignant tumors accounted for 76% of women’s critical illness claims. Among them, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer accounted for 62% of all women’s malignant tumor claims. It’s no wonder that businesses will focus on these points to make a fuss and launch women-only products.

This matter has actually been quarreling for a long time in our insurance industry. One group is actuaries and brokers who are more pragmatic. They have calculated that for most women-specific critical illness on the market, the premium is about 18% compared to ordinary critical illness with the same insured amount. If you pay this much extra every year For a few hundred dollars, if you directly add the insured amount for ordinary critical illness, it can be increased from 300,000 to 400,000. No matter what critical illness you get (even gender-neutral lupus erythematosus, severe rheumatoid, or even deep coma caused by an accident), you can get an extra 100,000, which is much more cost-effective.

But having said that, we can’t kill all women-only insurance with one stick. Another group of agents who focus on refined protection believes that many women now have special physical conditions, such as those with grade 3 breast nodules and HPV positive. Many ordinary critical illness insurance will directly exclude breast and cervical related liabilities. On the contrary, the underwriting of some women-specific products is more relaxed. As long as there is no malignant tendency in the review in the past six months, they can be covered by the standard body, which just fills the gap that ordinary products cannot cover. Last year, I had a 29-year-old primary school teacher client who was diagnosed with grade 3 breast nodules during a physical examination. She looked for seven or eight common critical illness plans that excluded breast cancer liability. Her mother had breast cancer, so she was particularly concerned about this coverage. Later, she chose a female-specific critical illness plan. Although it cost more than 500 yuan per year, the breast liability coverage was normal and there was an additional 50% breast cancer benefit, which was particularly suitable for her.

There are also young girls with a limited budget who have just worked for two or three years and have only two to three thousand yuan left each month. They can buy medical care worth one million. They cannot afford high insurance coverage for long-term serious illnesses. They spend one to two hundred to buy a one-year women's specific disease insurance to cover high-risk cervical cancer and breast cancer. If something goes wrong, they can get 100,000 or 200,000 yuan, which can cover them for a while. It is better than running naked. My best friend was found to be HPV16 positive a while ago. The one-million-dollar medical treatment she bought previously excluded cervix-related responsibilities because she had cervicitis before. She struggled for a long time and spent 128 to buy a one-year women's special insurance, which covers cervical cancer and high-grade precancerous lesions, and pays 150,000. In her words, "A cup of milk tea can buy you a solid foundation. If something happens, you can even use it to hire a nurse."

But there are a lot of pitfalls. I met a client a while ago who spent eight to nine thousand a year on three or four women-specific small-amount insurances. As a result, he didn’t buy the basic medical care worth millions. He spent more than twenty thousand in hospital for surgery for lumbar protrusion some time ago, and those exclusive insurances couldn’t cover even a dime. It was a waste of money.

To put it bluntly, insurance has always been something you buy on demand. Is there any standard answer that “women must buy it”? If you have a limited budget, it is better to have a million-dollar medical treatment + a critical illness insurance of more than RMB 300,000 + accident insurance first, which is more effective than any fancy exclusive liability insurance. If you have sufficient basic protection, and your body condition happens to have female-related problems that are not covered by ordinary products, or you just want to add more protection for the high incidence of gynecological cancer, it is perfectly fine to spend more money to buy peace of mind. Don’t be fooled by marketing accounts saying “women must provide themselves with protection” PUA is enough, the money is in your pocket, and the one that suits you is the best.