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By Kay Needle, Early Intervention & Rehabilitation Expert at Generali UK Employee Benefits
Cancer represents a huge burden on people, society, business and the economy.
Addressing this, from an employer perspective, involves considering your entire ecosystem of benefits, instead of the traditional route of looking at products in siloes. We need to get much better at investigating where there are opportunities to dovetail benefits, such as treatment via Private Medical Insurance (PMI), with rehabilitation and return to work support via Group Income Protection (GIP), also with cancer support services available as part of some Group Life Assurance propositions.
And the entire programme should include increased focus on cancer screening and prevention, says Professor Gordon Wishart, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Check4Cancer, speaking as a guest of our latest webinar.
He added that the role of benefits in supporting a workplace strategy should include starting to explore cancer risk assessment, screening and prevention, while encouraging exercise and healthy living. He also suggested that solutions should be for the whole workforce, noting that not all employees had PMI.
Cancer and Group Risk and Healthcare claims
It’s notable that cancer represents the main cause of claims across Group Life Assurance, Group Income Protection and Group Critical Illness, according to the latest available all-insurer data from industry body Group Risk Development (GRiD).
Furthermore, 82% of PMI providers report an increase in cancer treatment claims over the last five years for individuals under 50, reports Mercer Marsh Benefits Health Trends 2025. More on which later.
Clearly there’s a solid case here for integrated thinking. And increasing focus on prevention.
A ‘tsunami’ of cancers predicted; especially amongst working age people
Cancer Research UK has predicted that by the year 2040, there will be over 500,000 new cancer cases a year in the UK – up from 385,500 on average now.
In other words, our cancer services are under huge pressure right now, but they’re going to come under even more pressure in the not-too-distant future.
This increase is largely being seen in the working age population.
“What we’re most worried about right now is the faster increase in incidences of cancer in those under the age of 50,” comments Gordon.
“We’ve tended to think of cancer as a disease that affects the older age group, but we’re seeing a global rise in cancer in the under 50s; almost 80% globally over the last 30 years. It’s being seen most in countries that have recently Westernised; those that have taken on Western lifestyles and diet.
“The key message I want to get across though, is that around 4 in 10 cancers are preventable by changes in lifestyle and modification of other risk factors.”
The value of early cancer detection
Gordon explains that screening can identify pre-cancerous lesions which, if picked up and treated early, can actually prevent cancer.
He reports that cancer screening, as part of employee benefits programmes, is “increasing exponentially every year”, adding that “it’s really valued by employees”.
Consequently, it’s valuable to business too. “With cancer screening, you get a return on investment within around 5 years, as you’re picking up cancer that might only occur 2-5 years from now. We’ve developed an ROI calculator to help employers consider the impact of investment in screening,” says Gordon.
Check4Cancer is a pioneer of at-home screening tests for the six most common types of cancer in the UK – bowel, breast, cervical, lung, prostate and skin. Also, for developing MyCancerRisk, an online cancer risk assessment tool that identifies higher risk clients for funded screening, while providing awareness of signs, symptoms & risk factors for all those who complete the questionnaire. As part of Generali’s Wellbeing Investment Matching initiative, we will help clients fund Check4Cancer’s services, where a specific need is identified.
Gordon adds: “MyCancerRisk gets people to focus on prevention and early intervention. Crucially, if they have some risk factors, what can they do about it. It’s about preventing delays in diagnosis, because this has a big impact on treatment. And, right now in the UK public health system, we’re facing huge and ongoing delays; in effect, a rationing on our infrastructure.”
Disclaimer:
All information contained herein represents the views and opinions of the author as of the date of writing and is provided for general information only. Nothing herein constitutes or is intended to constitute financial or other form of advice and no individual should rely upon the information provided in making a specific investment decision without first seeking independent professional advice.
