DISQUS

Jon Rowley · 1 year ago

A big unanswered question in Life Extension is reimbursement. It is unlikely that insurance companies will pay for such therapies, and they will thus be medicines for the rich. However, this is just a thought that I have been trying to get more data for, and would be interested in hearing ideas of others. Any thoughts?

Jared Wigmore · 1 year ago

Life extension treatments would likely be a mass market item (economies of scale). Also, it's possible that governments would subsidise them, because the result would be more healthy people, many of whom would not retire (meaning they would pay taxes and not require pensions). Also they would not need expensive elderly medical care (especially respite care). Although these factors would have the most effect in countries which have a primary public health care system.

MachineGhost · 1 year ago

It will depend on the marketing channel. Highly regulated therapies are likely to be available only to the rich because of the FDA. Insurance doesn't really cover non FDA-approved or off-label treatments, whether or not there is savings to the insurance company in the long run. The actuarians will need to get a clue, but they are an ultra conservative lot.

It is inevitable that FDA reform will occur because no one is going to sit by and allow life extension to be available only to the rich, plus the FDA itself has recently admitted it is incompetent and incapable of regulating anything in the post 1950's era anyway. Economics will see to it. It is as simple as that.

Tom · 1 year ago

Actually, I'd think that life insurance companies would pay for these therapies. Imagine the profits if they can extend the actuarial tables by a couple of decades and reduce the number of claims! Surely an extra 20 or 30 years of policy payments would offset the expense. There's an opportunity for the entrepreneurial insurer.

jstuart · 1 year ago

Until and unless life-extension treatment ( i.e. treatment for prevention of age-related degeneration) is determined to be cheaper than treating the deseases themselves, insurance companies will view the treatments as discretionary and not pay for them. The treatments are expensive, and with the advent of personalized, gene-specific treatments, costs will probably increase along with the potential benefits. For these reasons I am investigating the possibility of setting something up in Juarez Mex, right across the border from El Paso, where medical costs run about about 25% of US costs.

Kuba · 1 year ago

This is great news to hear - but it is not very well substansiated.

Show me the link to authritative and up to date sources.

Hans · 1 year ago

You might check out Longevinex's Website here, for one company that might be interesting if they go public. They are selling a trans-resveratrol supplement with a few add-ons and have an impressive salespitch. I would be game for this type of life-extension community, drop me a line.
You can also read my blog here.

Hans · 1 year ago

Sorry about the broken link. Here is Longevinex's web site.

http://www.longevinex.com/article.asp?story=Res...

Alexandra Carmichael · 1 year ago

Hi Melanie,
Thanks for mentioning CureTogether! We're excited about a longevity/life extension social network too and would be happy to share and contribute ideas. Lots of synergies to explore!
Alexandra
Co-Founder, CureTogether

overman · 1 year ago

Super task

QUANTUM CATHEDRAL