Why a Belgian insurer studies the impact of air pollution on health

Mutualités Libres says improving air quality ensures sustainability of the social security systemWhy would a health insurance company study air pollution? Because, as Christian Horemans, an environment and health expert with the Belgian mutual insurer Mutualités Libres, explains: "It has an enormous impact on public health and an enormous cost for the Belgian compulsory health and disability insurance. We consider it our duty to analyse risks for the financial sustainability of health and disability insurance, part of social security."The insurer's recent study , carried out by a team that included Belgian and Dutch universities and research centres, compared health insurance claims from 1.2 million people in Belgium in 2019 with particle pollution in their neighbourhoods. The financial results were startling. Continue reading...