[Current status and the future of insurance medicine]

The key objective of insurance medicine is the scientific based assessment of long term prognosis of a single person with respect to mortality, morbidity and disability. This is always determined in comparison to the standard population or an ideal standardised population. The evaluation of morbidity, mortality and disability is always linked to certain insurance products such as life insurance, disability cover, health insurance or derivates of these products. Additionally, insurance medicine creates the claims evaluation guidelines which are in accordance with established classifications and guidelines of other medical associations. Due to different and various reasons, insurance medicine in Germany has shown substantial deficits in the past years and decades, mostly in the areas of methodology, scientific basis, guidelines and quality control. In order to meet future challenges specific to this industry such as demographic change, longevity and new insurance covers, the discipline of German insurance medicine requires some reorganisation.