Stamp collecting played a key role in the development of the first international private medical insurance (IPMI) policy, according to Per Bay Jørgensen, owner of Bay Consult International.
Jorgensen, seen as the father of IPMI, explained the birth of the product dates back to 1972 and his being asked to build a computer system for a domestic insurer.
“We made the computer system, but when we were making the computer system we found out there were a lot of people using the health insurance company without coverage because they were living abroad,“ he said.
“They were living outside Denmark. They were living in Spain. They were living in Southern France, in South Africa, in Mauritius.”
Jorgensen was faced with the challenge of what to do with all of these people.
“We sent out a letter and we asked them if you would like to join in and we would try and create a special insurance coverage for you when you are living outside Denmark,” he continued.
It was then that Jorgensen received a letter from a Danish sea pilot on the island of Mauritius.
“And it was a very beautiful letter, with a very beautiful Mauritius stamp and then it clicked to me, I had the idea if we were writing health insurance for Danes and Scandinavians living abroad, I would have a huge stamp collection and I had been a huge stamp collector since I was a kid,” he continued.
“And from there we created the offer called International Health Insurance Denmark and we tried to build it up brick by brick.”
Health & Protection will give a full write-up of the conversation with Per Bay Jorgensen and Lourdes Peters in our ongoing coverage of the Global Mobility & Health Summit.