Mark Lawler, Chair in Translational Cancer Genomics at Queen’s University Belfast, shared on LinkedIn:
“Well – we finally did it – the wait is over.
Thursday 15th October marked a major milestone for cancer survivors in Ireland. The new five-year Right to Be Forgotten law came into force. Thankfully, due to our evidence, Robert Troy agreed to a 5 year period after which cancer survivors can access mortgage protection without their previous diagnosis affecting the their premium, not the 7 or 10 years that had previously been mooted. And on the very first day that the law came into play, we’ve already seen cancer survivors taking the opportunity to avail of the new legislation.
Thanks to our great colleague and friend Tom Grant OneLife Insure who we’ve worked closely with on the #Right To Be Forgotten campaign, a new mortgage protection for a client who had been paying €451 per month because of a significant cancer-related loading has had her new premium reduced to €75 per month, a saving of €376 every month. Tom also arranged cover for another young couple where one client had non-Hodgkin lymphoma six years ago – if we hadn’t got the legislation through with a five year window, she would have had to wait for another year – needlessly. Her premium was reduced from ~€270 to €35 per month.
So for both cancer survivors, their premium has dropped by over 85%. and many more will follow. These are just two of many who will benefit from this new law. For people who have already been through cancer, this change means genuine financial relief and the opportunity to move forward without their past diagnosis continuing to follow them.
A huge amount of work went into getting us to this point. At times it was very challenging, like when what felt like the entire European housing and insurance industry seemed to be in the room at a meeting in Brussels, challenging the data I was presenting. But thankfully Data Trumped Opinion and the coalition of the willing that assembled around this inequality have been victorious Irish Cancer Society Françoise Meunier Catherine Ardagh TD Tom Grant Ciaran Briscoe Emma H. Miriam Staunton (Finlay) UNCAN and many others, leading to better lives for those living beyond cancer. But Cancer Knows No Borders – next up we bring the campaign to Westminster Cancer Focus Northern Ireland Join us in our crusade.”
You can also read: Cancer Survivorship, Holistic Healing and Patient Advocacy with Rohini Singh Sisodia
