{"id":73343,"date":"2024-09-20T12:27:39","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T02:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=73343"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:28:11","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T02:28:11","slug":"zurich-launches-first-dedicated-womens-ip-health-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2024\/09\/20\/zurich-launches-first-dedicated-womens-ip-health-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"Zurich Launches First Dedicated Women\u2019s IP Health Benefit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Zurich has launched what it says is the first dedicated corporate income protection benefit designed specifically to cover female health conditions and events.<\/p>\n<p>The company says that as a first for Australia, this new benefit is an important step in the journey to improving support and recognition of women\u2019s health.<\/p>\n<p>The Women\u2019s Health Benefit forms part of Zurich\u2019s refreshed <a href=\"https:\/\/group.zurich.com.au\/cover.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Corporate Care Income Protection<\/a> product and is payable to women on behalf of their employer.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230;three-quarters of working females have suffered negative career impacts due to conditions such as menopause and endometriosis..<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The company says the benefit seeks to address the needs and experiences of Australian women and follows research that finds that three-quarters of working females have suffered negative career impacts due to conditions such as menopause and endometriosis.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_73344\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73344\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/files\/2024\/09\/darren-wickham-2022-481-e1726795848679.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-73344\" src=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/files\/2024\/09\/darren-wickham-2022-481-e1726795848679.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-73344\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Darren Wickham &#8230;it&#8217;s widely acknowledged that women\u2019s health conditions are under-researched and misunderstood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It notes the research, based on a survey of close to 800 women, sought to uncover experiences related to female health conditions, including menopause; pregnancy-related conditions such as Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG); early pregnancy loss or still birth; endometriosis; and menstrual disorders such as Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD).<\/p>\n<p>Zurich says for the approximately two-thirds of women experiencing these conditions, the research finds:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>80% had decreased productivity at work and\/or home<\/li>\n<li>60% required significant time off work to manage symptoms<\/li>\n<li>30% had incurred financial loss<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cIn addition, almost 70% of women reported not informing their employer of their health condition(s) due to concerns relating to discrimination or lack of support. Of those who did disclose their condition, one in three women indicated they had experienced discrimination or bias, particularly those working in healthcare, social welfare or education sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Darren Wickham<\/strong>, Head of Group Insurance at Zurich Australia &amp; New Zealand, says it&#8217;s widely acknowledged that women\u2019s health conditions are under-researched and misunderstood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis gap extends to many workplaces, where women experiencing these conditions are facing productivity and career impacts, and in some cases, discrimination and isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230;women experiencing these conditions also often do not meet the definition of total or partial \u2018disability\u2019 under traditional income protection products&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He adds that women experiencing these conditions \u201c\u2026also often do not meet the definition of total or partial \u2018disability\u2019 under traditional income protection products given the typically intermittent nature of these health events. This has created a significant protection gap for women in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wickham says that as \u201c\u2026a first for Australia, this new benefit is an important step in the journey to improving support and recognition of women\u2019s health and ensuring those experiencing these health issues receive the protection they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u2018Women\u2019s Health Benefit\u2019 forms part of Zurich\u2019s refreshed Corporate Care Income Protection product and is payable to women on behalf of their employer if they experience:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ectopic pregnancy<\/li>\n<li>HG<\/li>\n<li>Pre-term birth, still-birth or neonatal mortality<\/li>\n<li>Endometriosis<\/li>\n<li>PMDD<\/li>\n<li>Menopause<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Zurich told <em>Riskinfo<\/em> that an employer could elect to take out this option for the whole of the plan or for a specific category of employees within the plan. It is not available to members individually.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230;if the benefit is taken out by an employer, employees will receive cover under automatic acceptance if they are eligible&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The company says if the benefit is taken out by an employer, employees will receive cover under automatic acceptance if they are eligible.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether Zurich was considering opening this option to individual retail insurance product offerings, the company says at this time, it is focussing on launching the Women\u2019s Health Benefit for corporate income protection.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the benefit eligible women will also have access to free resources including educational content, masterclasses and digital health programs to support their return to health.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/group.zurich.com.au\/cover.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zurich has launched what it says is the first dedicated corporate income protection benefit designed specifically to cover female health conditions and events. The company says that as a first for Australia, this new benefit is an important step in the journey to improving support and recognition of women\u2019s health. The Women\u2019s Health Benefit forms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":73346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-73343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-company-news","8":"category-products"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}