[Women's Health, The New Battleground for Insurance]②Beyond Coverage to Health Management: Insurers Target the Female Life Cycle

Expanding Customer Touchpoints Beyond Insurance Sales, Toward Health Management

Focusing on Health Risks Across Women's Life Stages

For Sustainable Growth...Addressing Data Privacy and Profitability Challenges

Editor's NoteThe insurance industry's attention is turning toward the female life cycle. Whereas women's insurance products in the past focused primarily on female-specific conditions, they have now expanded to cover areas such as pregnancy and childbirth, driven by changes in regulations. They are also extending their scope to everyday health management, including menstrual health, menopause, and mental wellness. As the average age at childbirth rises and the femtech industry grows, the competition to address the evolving needs of women throughout various life stages is intensifying. Against this backdrop, we examine how the role of women's insurance is expanding, the nature of these changes, and the challenges that lie ahead.

Competition among insurance companies to attract female clients is spreading beyond simply offering insurance products. While coverage was historically centered on female-specific diseases, we now see a trend of expanding into business areas that encompass health management across the entire life cycle. Insurers are seeking to build more daily touchpoints with their female clients and to support disease prevention, while also identifying new insurance needs. However, they must also address challenges such as building trust in the handling of sensitive personal data, differentiating their services, and verifying profitability.

Insurance Companies Expanding Touchpoints Across Women's Life Stages…From 'Coverage' to 'Management'

According to the insurance industry on September 26, Hanwha General Insurance plans to introduce a "Pregnancy·Childbirth Health Management and Wellness Lifestyle Information Service" next month. The service will offer information on fetal development tailored to each stage of pregnancy, guidance on health checkups, recommendations for diet and weight management, and personalized wellness programs. Hanwha General Insurance explained, "We consider this closely related to the insurance business, as it enables us to better understand female clients' needs at each life stage and to lay the foundation for developing women-focused products, thereby strengthening our core business."

Previously, Hanwha General Insurance also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association to promote the femtech (female technology) industry. Their plan includes nurturing promising femtech companies, supporting their entry into global markets, developing insurance products tailored to female customers, and expanding wellness businesses.

From the insurer's perspective, the importance of health management services stems from the limitations of the traditional insurance business model. Typically, after an insurance contract is signed, there are very few opportunities for the company to interact with the client unless a claim is filed or terms are changed, even if the coverage lasts for decades.

If insurance companies can offer health management services that cater to women's life stages—such as exercise, diet, and mental health management—they can increase the frequency of interactions with their customers in their daily lives. An industry expert with years of experience in insurance sales noted, "Even customers who initially signed up for fetal insurance may continue to engage with healthcare services after childbirth, allowing for natural and ongoing contact points. It can also help maintain long-term relationships by consulting clients on the coverage they need as their circumstances change."

Moreover, by assisting clients with health checkups and lifestyle management, insurers can potentially reduce the overall risk of illness, thereby lowering their burden of insurance payouts. The needs observed through these services can also be utilized to design new insurance coverage or products.

Female-Specific Illnesses Are Only a Part…Broader Health Risks Exist

Perspectives that limit women's health to pregnancy, childbirth, or female-specific conditions are also changing. Recent studies have found that the majority of the health burden experienced by women is not due to female-exclusive diseases but rather conditions that affect both men and women, although these tend to be more prevalent or severe among women.

According to a report published in July by the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI), women in the UK spent approximately 24% more time in poor health compared to men. During this period, gynecological diseases, maternal health, menopause, and other female-specific conditions accounted for only 7% of women's total disease burden.

By contrast, conditions such as migraines, depression, arthritis, and hypertensive diseases—which affect both sexes but have a disproportionate impact on women—accounted for 60% of the overall health burden among women. Here, "health burden" refers to the number of healthy life years lost due to disease, disability, or premature death.

These findings suggest that insurance companies need to broaden their approach to women's health, moving beyond female-specific conditions to account for risks that occur throughout all life stages. In younger age groups, the focus may be on menstruation or gynecological conditions, but as women age, the risks associated with cardiovascular diseases or musculoskeletal disorders become more important. Mental health issues, meanwhile, can arise across a broad age range and are not limited to any one life stage. As a result, health management services for female clients are likely to evolve to reflect these age-specific risks.

Women's Health as a New Business: Profitability and Differentiation Put to the Test

There are still significant challenges to be addressed as women's health becomes a new business area for insurance companies. In particular, factors such as menstrual cycles, pregnancy records, and mental health are extremely sensitive personal data. If customers perceive that the information provided to insurance companies could be used against them during policy evaluation or premium setting, they may be reluctant to use health management services. Hyewon Byun, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Insurance Research Institute, noted, "Consumer trust in insurers' data collection practices can influence not only the usage of these services but also the overall credibility of the insurance industry."

Verification of business viability is also essential. Even if insurance providers offer health management services, if customers do not use them consistently, it will be difficult for insurers to realize meaningful business outcomes. It is crucial to monitor whether increased service usage translates into actual results, such as improved policy retention or lower payout rates.

As some insurers are expanding their connection points with the femtech industry, leveraging external expertise to fill capability gaps will also become increasingly important. The global consultancy Deloitte noted in its report "The Future of Insurance 2035" that "as industry boundaries increasingly blur, it will be difficult for insurers to compete alone in every area," adding, "To stay competitive, insurers need to develop internal capabilities while collaborating with external partners to expand into new ecosystems."

Insurance companies are also under competitive pressure because the health management market already includes various players such as big tech and digital health companies. If insurers merely provide basic health information, it will be difficult to distinguish themselves from existing service providers. Kyunghee Baek, professor at Inha University Law School, commented, "With digitalization accelerating, unless insurers can offer more innovative services, it will be hard to attract customers. Revitalizing insurance health management businesses could not only generate profit but also serve a beneficial role in supporting the finances of the National Health Insurance system."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.