Japan’s birthrate is declining, society is aging, and total population is declining. According to the Population Projections for Japan (2017) by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, the country’s population will drop below 90 million by 2060, with the elderly population rate – the percentage of the population aged 65 and older – exceeding 40%. The rising elderly population necessitates an environment in which the elderly can live with peace of mind. This living environment must give consideration to an urban structure that makes it easy to get about, supports access to information on health and preventive medical care, and is adapted to the decline of bodily functions that comes with age and nursing care. At the same time, urban structures need to facilitate the slowing of population decline by creating an environment in which pregnant women, children, and people with children can live safely and with confidence.
The MS&AD Insurance Group commits to promoting good health so that people can remain active throughout their lifespans, provides asset-building means to support a fulfilling “second life,” and helps to develop business activities that lay the foundations for a super-aging society and thereby promote “adaptation to a Society of Healthy Longevity.”

Promoting Good Health and Preventing Illness

We provide services that promote fitness so that people can enjoy long and active lives, and we collaborate with universities to carry out studies and research on promoting good health.

<Principal Approaches>

Instant self health-check snapshot

A Web-based service which will enable users to check their “health age” and “risks of hospitalization due to any of three major diseases” through taking a smartphone or tablet snapshot of their medical examination results. Using the OCR function to convert image data to text data, this service helps each user develop their health awareness and physical fitness without difficulty.

 

Launched health risk forecasting Web service “Instant self health-check snapshot”(in Japanese only)

Addressing social issues through early detection of dementia

With the aim of promoting early detection of dementia, we initiated an experiment of measuring cognitive function using a smartphone app which applies U.S. FDA medical device approval technology. This method enables users to self-check their cognitive function status using the scores converted by AI from measurements of visual tests and lifestyle factors such as sleep and amount of exercise.

 

Cognitive function measurement by AI, applying U.S. FDA medical device approval technology (in Japanese only)

Assisting in maintaining physical and mental well-being

We have created the Kokokara Diary, a smartphone app that supports physical and mental well-being. The app can be used by customers to manage their health by measuring stress levels, automatically calculating and displaying calories burned by measuring steps, recording meals, weight, and sleep time, and it can be used to check medical information. In October 2021, the new functions were added to analyze photographs of meals using AI and to display consumed calories. For corporations, we support corporate health management with a dedicated “administrator-only website” that provides access to employees’ life log data, a “corporate step count ranking function,” and a “health point management function”

 

Renewal of Kokokara Diary, a health management app for smartphones (in Japanese only)

Promoting good health in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s Center Of Innovation

In fiscal 2018, our Group commenced initiatives in collaboration with the University of Tokyo Center of Innovation (COI), a hub for self-managing a healthy society, to realize a “sustainable society of healthy longevity”. Since April 2021, MSI and ADI have been selling insurance products to support health and productivity management that combine consulting services with a health management app based on an AI-driven health risk forecasting model. In September 2019, we initiated joint research on developing services that provide dementia prevention measures and have already begun to detect signs of MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment, a precursor to dementia) by voice. We are aiming to implement the services by the end of fiscal 2022.

 

Initiatives to develop measures for detecting signs of and preventing dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by voice (in Japanese only)

Seminars to provide information on human life and medical care

To give customers a better understanding of the importance of health, medical care, and precaution, we have been holding a variety of seminars on such topics as cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and preventing dementia. We held seminars on strokes given by a specialist as part of the Cerebral Stroke Project, a joint business with the Japan Stroke Association.

Expanding Various Business Lines to Support a Super-Aging Society

We are contributing to the development of businesses that support super-aging societies by making available measures and support to address various issues related to nursing care and medical care. Furthermore, a super-aged society means we will have a continuously declining workforce. Recognizing the increasing importance of mechanisms to back up workers, we are actively supporting health and productivity management by companies in all sectors, together with realization of family/work balance.

<Principal Approaches to Resolving Risk Issues such as Medical and Nursing Care>

Supporting medical institutions

We contribute to the stable development of medical institutions by compensating for various risks associated with COVID-19 and online medical care.

 

Launched the Comprehensive Compensation Plan for Medical Institutions (in Japanese only)

Products for welfare and nursing care providers

We provide products that offer compensation for various risks related to welfare/nursing care providers (risk of compensation liability, information leakage risk, property damage risk, etc.), which also covers consulting costs for prevention of accident recurrence.
We also help nursing care providers establish the BCPs, which are obligatory for nursing facilities/offices.

 

Launched the Future Nursing Care Management Head Office as a support service for nursing care providers. (in Japanese only)

Reducing burdens on and turnover rate of caregivers utilizing AI and ICT

We have formed capital and business tie-ups with startup companies that develop CareTech (coined from Care (nursing care and welfare services) and Technology), aiming to innovate and solve issues in the field of nursing care.

 

Capital and business alliance with WELMO, which provides nursing care welfare platforms using AI and ICT (in Japanese only)

Medical Receivable Compensation insurance for members of the Japan Hospital Association

We have developed and provide medical receivable compensation insurance (plan for foreign patients only) for members of the Japan Hospital Association in preparation for the risk of unexpected large receivables arising from the recent increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan. This not only stabilizes hospital management but also reduces the burden of collecting receivable insurance payments.

 

Launched the Medical Receivable Compensation insurance (plan for foreign patients only) for members of the Japan Hospital Association (in Japanese only)

Promoting health and productivity management and offering consulting services

In order to promote health and productivity management, we hold seminars and offer a consultation service. We support further promotion and improve the quality of health and productivity management by helping companies apply to the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Programthe Certified Health and Productivity Management Organization Program established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and taking incentive measures linked to METIʼs recognition program.

 

Promoting health and productivity management (P.127) (METI) (in Japanese only)

Health support insurance consulting services (InterRisk) (in Japanese only)

Support services for work/family balance for companies

We provide support for human resources departments to help employees balance work and family (childcare, nursing care, treatment, etc.) and find the right work-life balance.

Supporting companies in promoting health with Health Management Support Insurance

An insurance package that includes health management support services, loss of income coverage for employees who are unable to work due to injuries and illnesses, and tools to visualize health risks for employees and help prevent disease with the health management app, My Body Forecast, developed with the University of Tokyo Center of Innovation. With employees using the app, managers can use the data for health management. Insurance premium discounts can be enjoys where initiatives are made to promote health with employees using the app. The app helps to improve employee health and prevent illness, and the insurance premiums paid by the company are discounted depending on how much the app is used.

 

Launch of Health Management Support Insurance (in Japanese only)

Mental Health Support Service for contact centers

A service for call centers, the turnover rates of which are said to be high due to an extreme level of work-related stress. This leads to rapid improvement of workplace conditions, etc. through facilitating timely identification of the occupational mental conditions of call center staff working for agents

 

Mental Health Support Service for contact centers (in Japanese only)

<Principal Approaches to Support for Making Proposals Based on Our Understanding of Customers>

Proposing Training Courses to Financial Institutions/Agents

Based on academic knowledge of financial gerontology, which studies how changes in bodily and cognitive functions due to aging affect economic and financial conduct, we developed a training course for imparting skills in dealing appropriately with elderly customers in an individual and tailored manner.

Developed Financial Gerontology Training (in Japanese only) 

 

We have developed and provide the My 100-Year Life Training which is designed to enhance the consulting skills of insurance agents in an age of super-longevity. The training curriculum helps insurance agents enhance their ability to offer proposals that meet a variety of insurance needs by giving the agents opportunities to experience a realistic sense of what it might be like to live to the age of 100.

Developed the My 100-Year Life Training (in Japanese only)

 

We provide training to financial institution agents to make foreign currency insurance sales more comprehensible for the client. The aim is to reduce the number of complaints related to foreign currency-denominated insurance products. We introduce specific examples and ways of communicating in an easy-to-understand manner using audio and video. By getting to know various complaints and gaining after-sales follow-up techniques etc., agents can give a customer-oriented service to clients in their industry.

Renewed Training to Prevent Complaints regarding Foreign Currency Insurance Sales with Communication in an Easy-to-understand Manner (MSI Primary Life) (in Japanese only)

Providing Products and Services to Support a Society of Healthy Longevity

We provide means for asset-building and products/services related to nursing and dementia, tailored to customers’ needs, aiming to help people live fulfilling second lives in safe societies with peace of mind.

<Principal Products/Services>

Self-help style asset building

We provide individual defined contribution (iDeCo) pension plans and products to support self-help style asset building in order to meet needs for asset building for retirement and long-term living benefits. We also provide a service that allows customers to easily estimate the pension they will receive, as support when considering life insurance coverage and period.

 

Partial change to the handling of premiums paid for the Fulfilling Tomorrow plan (in Japanese only)

Expanded scope and yen-denominated contracts for the Joy for Tomorrow 2 plan (in Japanese only)

Pension calculation with just a picture - the life insurance industry’s first public pension calculation tool using AI-OCR (in Japanese only)

Currency-selective Special Whole Life Insurance such as “Yasashisa, Tsunagu 2”

A whole life insurance policy that meets the needs of living gifts and inheritance for smooth asset succession to the next generation by having family members as recipients of survival benefits.

 

Cumulative number of policies for Currency-selective Special Whole Life Insurance such as “Yasashisa, Tsunagu 2” exceeding 200,000 (in Japanese only)

Preparing for cancer

We launched our Cancer Insurance, which can be easily taken out at any time via the machines in Seven-Eleven stores, and also formed a capital tie-up with HIROTSU BIO SCIENCE to help spread and raise awareness about cancer screening and the early detection of cancer.

 

New insurance proposal! Launched Cancer Insurance which can be taken out at any time at Seven-Eleven stores (in Japanese only)

Capital alliance between Mitsui Sumitomo Aioi Life Insurance and HIROTSU BIO SCIENCE (in Japanese only)

Providing coverage tailored to an aging society

We offer endorsements and services to address various new issues that are emerging in an aging society, including losses arising from solitary deaths of elderly residents in rental housing, liability for damages without property damage, which has been increasing in line with the growing number of dementia patients, such as damages due to inability to operate a train, search costs when elderly persons go missing, and sharing safety information with relatives, etc. to encourage preemptive measures such as evacuation before a disaster occurs.

Customer consultation service

We added two new consultation services (adult guardianship, and family trust) to our nursing care health desk, a product service, where counselors qualified in nursing, etc., answer questions and concerns over the phone regarding long-term care and dementia, launching the services in July 2021.