Tencent's WeSure launches cancer drugs policy

WeSure Internet Insurance, an insurance agency platform affiliated to Internet giant Tencent, has unveiled a new policy for patients with cancer.

Aiming to relieve patients’ burden of affording expensive anticancer drugs, the plan has been launched by WeSure in conjunction with insurer Taikang Online and MediTrust Health, a subsidiary of Shanghai Pharmaceutical (Group) Co which offers medical payment services.

Policyholders can pay as low as 1 yuan (14 cents) a month to access up to 12 kinds of special anti-tumor drugs for two years after a diagnosis. Patients have to pay for such drugs as they are currently not included in the medicine catalogue outlined by China’s social security system.

In addition to the financial burden facing patients’ families, continuous medication is a challenge for cancer patients, as they often find it difficult to obtain drugs from hospital pharmacies.

Under the new plan, patients will be ensured a regular supply of drugs and treatment for more than 10 types of cancer with high incidences like lung and liver cancer, and the insurance policy will function as a complement to the basic social insurance cover, WeSure said.

Last year there were around 18 million new cancer cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths around the world, with nearly 3.8 million new cases and 2.3 million deaths in China, according to the World Health Organization.

The fate of cancer patients caught attention last year due to the movie “Dying to Survive,” which exposed the dilemma of a group of people who had to choose between high-priced imported anticancer drugs or buying cheaper smuggled generic drugs.