Insurer excludes high-cancer areas from coverage: insider  

国寿被曝癌症高发区禁售防癌险 禁售源于赔付率高

(ECNS) -- A secret list of areas barred from cancer insurance by a company was exposed online, as they are defined as having a high incidence of cancer, Beijing News reported.

China Life Insurance, a large state-owned financial and insurance company, launched the cancer insurance earlier this month. Anyone who is older than one month and younger than 60 can buy the insurance.

But a banned list of areas accessible only by staffers was exposed on Sina Weibo on May 17.

The ban names 18 cities or counties with a high incidence of cancer, including Dafeng city of Jiangsu province, Haining city of Zhejiang province, Xuchang city of Henan province and Changle city of Fujian province.

Among the three provinces in Northeast China, the cancer insurance is sold only in capital cities, namely Shenyang, Changchun and Harbin, as well as Dalian city.

A call to a customer service center in Zhuanghe city confirmed that the cancer insurance is not sold there.

The company made no comment about the ban. But an insider said it is a strategy aimed at avoiding losses by selling cancer insurance in areas with a high incidence of cancer.

However, the banned areas are not the same as those specified by the 2012 Chinese Cancer Registry Report. For example, Beijing and Shanghai, which are listed as having high cancer rates, are not on the list.

The insider explained that the company can make profits from wealthy metropolitan citizens.

People in the banned areas can make use of a loophole, he said, by buying the insurance in other places.