Abstract:
The invention provides a method for providing insurance. A body material of an animal is deposited in a depository of such animal body material. An insurance policy is established stipulating that the depositor of the animal body material is indemnified for expenses incurred for a medical or cosmetic treatment of the animal requiring body material of the type deposited by the depositor. A periodic premium for the insurance is collected. The invention also provides a system for providing the insurance.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 11/340,862, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to methods and systems for providing insurance. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Bone marrow transplantation is used in the treatment of various disorders such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, blood disorders and metabolic disorders. These treatments take advantage of stem cells present in the bone marrow. However, a compatible bone marrow donor can only be found for 40-50% of all cases requiring bone marrow transplantation, and finding a suitable donor can take many weeks, and even months. Umbilical cord-blood also contains stem cells, and has been used as an alternative to bone marrow as a source of stem cells in the treatment of these disorders. 
         [0004]    Umbilical blood is newborn blood collected from the umbilical cord after severing of the cord from the newborn. Banks of umbilical cord-blood have been set up in several countries. An individual&#39;s cord-blood collected at birth is cryo-preserved for long term storage and deposited in a cord-blood depository or bank. The deposited cord-blood is used should the individual subsequently develop a condition that can be treated by implantation of stem cells derived from his cord-blood. A person whose cord-blood was deposited in a bank at birth can thus be assured of a compatible source of stem cells, and is not dependent upon finding a suitable donor. Furthermore, due to the immaturity of cord-blood derived stem cells, a perfect tissue-typing (HLA) is often not required, in which case cord-blood may be used to treat a sibling of the cord donor. It should also be noted that cord-blood stem cells may be cultured ex-vivo in order to increase the number of stem cells available to the recipient. 
         [0005]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/134,055 to Richard, having the publication number US 2003/0014285, discloses a business method in which an insurance company pays the costs of depositing cord-blood in a cord-blood bank for a policy holder of the insurance company. The insurance company may offer this benefit, for example, in order to attract new policy holders. The cost of the deposition may be recouped from the premium of the insurance policy. 
         [0006]    It is known to provide insurance to an owner of an animal, such as a domestic animal, a racing or work horse, a hunting dog or racing dog, etc. The insurance may be life insurance policy or a medical treatment policy in which the owner is indemnified for surgical treatment of the animal necessitated by an accident, injury or illness. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention provides a system and method for providing insurance to an individual who has deposited a body tissue or organ of an animal in a depository of such organs or tissues. Typically, although not necessarily, the depositor is the owner of the animal. However, the depositor may be a farm, or other enterprise having an interest in the animal. 
         [0008]    The animal may be any animal, such as a domestic animal, a farm animal, a racing or work horse, a hunting dog or racing dog, etc. The deposited body tissue or organ may be, for example, umbilical cord-blood or blood from another source, foreskin or other skin, lymph, fetal stem cells, adult stem cells, lymph or sperm. 
         [0009]    In accordance with the method of the invention, an insurance policy is established for an individual who deposited a body tissue or organ of an animal in the depository or for a beneficiary of the depositor. In accordance with the invention, as distinct from the prior art, the deposit of the tissue or organ for future use in a treatment of the animal, is a central component of the insurance policy. The insurance policy, in exchange for payment of a periodic premium, indemnifies the policy holder or his beneficiary for at least some of the expenses associated with a medical or cosmetic treatment of the animal that requires body material of the type previously deposited by the depositor in the depository. The medical or cosmetic treatment may either utilize some or all of the animal&#39;s tissue or organ that had previously been deposited in the depository, or, substitute body material of the type deposited by the depositor in the depository, in the case that the deposited body material is subsequently found to be not suitable for utilization in the medical or cosmetic treatment of the animal. This would be the case, for example, if the deposited body material had been damaged during storage and could not be used when the animal required it, or if a competent medical person concludes that the deposited material is not suitable for the treatment that the animal requires. The substitute body material may be obtained, for example, from a donor animal that may or may not be related to the animal, or may be a synthetic material that may be used in place of the deposited material. 
         [0010]    Expenses associated with the utilization of the deposited material include, for example, medical and laboratory expenses required for implanting at least a portion of the deposited material in the animal&#39;s body. 
         [0011]    Thus, in its first aspect, the invention provides a method for providing insurance comprising: 
         [0012]    obtaining from an animal a body material and depositing the body material in a depository of such body material; 
         [0013]    establishing an insurance policy stipulating that the depositor or a beneficiary of the depositor is indemnified for expenses incurred for a medical or cosmetic treatment of the animal requiring body material of the type deposited by the depositor, wherein the medical treatment utilizes either the deposited body material or substitute body material of the type deposited by the depositor; and 
         [0014]    collecting a periodic premium for the insurance. 
         [0015]    In its second aspect, the invention provides a system for providing insurance comprising a processor having a database of entries, the processor configured to input data indicative of an insurance policy provided by an insurance provider to a depositor of an animal&#39;s body material in a depository of body material, and to store the data in an entry of the database, the insurance policy stipulating that the depositor or a beneficiary of the depositor is indemnified for expenses incurred for a medical or cosmetic treatment of the animal utilizing the deposited body material or substitute body material of the type deposited by the depositor. 
         [0016]    The invention also provides a computer implemented method for calculating a premium of an insurance policy stipulating that the depositor or a beneficiary of the depositor is indemnified for expenses incurred for a medical or cosmetic treatment of an animal requiring body material of a type deposited by the depositor in a depository of such body material, wherein the medical treatment utilizes either the deposited body material or substitute body material of the type deposited by the depositor, the method comprising calculating a probability that the animal will require a medical or cosmetic treatment requiring body material of a type deposited by the depositor at any time when the policy is valid. 
         [0017]    The calculation of the probability may involve one or both of the age of the animal and the state of health of the animal. The calculation of the probability may be based upon other health, disability or life insurance components. The method may further comprise storing in a database data indicative of the insurance policy. The data may, for example, be indicative of an insurance policy provided to a depositor of an animal&#39;s body material in a depository of body material and may include the policy holder&#39;s name, an identifier of the animal, the date that the deposit was made, information relating to the deposited body material, a serial number or other identifier associated with the deposit, a location of the deposited body material in the depository, and the calculated premium. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]    In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  is a flow-chart for a method for providing insurance in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  shows a system for providing insurance in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    In the following description, the invention is described in relation to the provision of insurance to a depositor of an animal&#39;s umbilical cord-blood in a cord-blood depository. This is by way of example only, it being understood that the invention may be implemented for the provision of any body tissue or organ in a depository of such tissues or organs. 
         [0022]    As used herein, the term “depositor” refers to an individual who has deposited a body tissue or organ of an animal in a depository of such tissues or organs. The depositor may be, for example, the owner of the animal. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  shows a flow chart for carrying out one embodiment of the method of the invention. In step  2 , umbilical cord-blood of an animal is obtained and, in step  4 , the obtained cord-blood is deposited in an umbilical cord-blood depository. Details relating to the depositor, the animal and the stored blood are entered into a database. 
         [0024]    After the blood has been deposited, in step  6 , the depositor, is queried as to whether he wishes to acquire an insurance policy for the animal that indemnifies the depositor for expenses incurred in the case that the animal requires medical or cosmetic treatment that utilizes the deposited blood. In step  8  it is determined whether the depositor wishes to purchase the insurance. If no, the process terminates as step  10 . If yes, the process continues to step  12 , in which an insurance policy is established for the animal. The depositor is then instructed to pay a periodic premium for the insurance, and in step  16  it is determined whether the depositor has paid the premium. If no, the insurance is terminated (step  18 ) and the process ends at step  20 . If at step  16  it is determined that the depositor did pay the premium, the process proceeds to step  22  where it is determined whether the animal requires medical or cosmetic treatment utilizing the stored cord-blood. If no, it is determined in step  24  whether the policy has expired. If the policy has expired then the process terminates at step  27 . If the policy has not expired, it is determined in step  25  whether the next periodic premium is due. If the next periodic premium is due, the process returns to step  14 . If the next premium is not due, the process returns to step  22 . If at step  22  it is determined that the animal requires medical or cosmetic treatment utilizing the deposited cord-blood, then in step  23  it is determined whether the deposited cord-blood is suitable for the required treatment. If yes, then in step  26  the required medical or cosmetic treatment is provided using the deposited cord-blood. If no, then in step  29  the required medical or cosmetic treatment is provided using substitute cord-blood. After the medical treatment has been provided in either step  26  or step  29 , the depositor is indemnified for expenses relating to the provided treatment in accordance with the terms of the insurance policy (step  28 ), and the process terminates at step  30 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  shows a system  20  in accordance with one embodiment of this aspect of the invention. The system  20  includes a medical installation  22  where umbilical blood is collected, processed and stored. The medical installation may be a distributed installation, in which collection of the blood occurs at one location (e.g. a stable  24 ), processing the blood occurs at a second location (e.g. a laboratory  26 ), and storage of the blood is at a remotely located umbilical cord-blood depository  28 . The system  20  further includes a first processor  30  having a memory comprising a databank of entries  32 . Each entry  32  in the databank includes information relating to a deposit of cord-blood at the blood depository  28  when a cord-blood deposit is made at the cord-blood depository  28 . The information is input to the entry from a computer terminal (not shown in  FIG. 2 ) located at the cord-blood depository that communicates with the processor  30  over a communication line  33  that may be a wired or wireless communication line. Details relating to the deposit include, for example, the depositor&#39;s name, an identifier of the animal, the date that the deposit was made, the volume of the deposit, any information relating to the blood such as the results of any immunological tests that were performed on the blood. The stored information may also include a serial number or other identifier associated with the deposit, as well as the location of the deposited blood in the blood depository. 
         [0026]    The system  20  also includes a second processor  34 . The second processor  34  is maintained by an insurance provider and includes a memory comprising a first databank of entries  36  and a second databank of entries  38 . The first and second processors communicate with each other over a communication line  40 . When a new entry  32  is made in the databank of the first processor, the first processor is configured to communicate at least some of the data in the entry  32  to the second processor of the communication line  40 . The second processor is configured to input the data and to store the input data into a new entry in the first database of the second processor. The second processor is further configured to alert the insurance company when a new entry has been made in the first database of the second processor, indicative of a new deposit at the cord-blood depository. This may be done, for example, by the second processor automatically sending an electronic message to a predetermined address informing the recipient of the message of the new cord-blood deposit at the cord-blood depository  28 . The message prompts the insurance provider to query the depositor of the deposit as to whether the depositor wishes to acquire from the insurance company an insurance policy that indemnifies the depositor for at least some of the expenses incurred in a medical or cosmetic treatment of his animal utilizing the animal&#39;s umbilical cord-blood that was deposited by the depositor in the cord-blood depository. If the depositor elects to acquire an insurance policy from the insurance company, details relating to the acquired policy are stored in a new entry  38  in the second database of the second processor. Each entry of the second database of the second processor thus contains data relating to an insurance policy sold by the insurance company to a depositor of an animal&#39;s umbilical cord-blood at the cord-blood depository, where the insurance policy indemnifies the depositor for expenses incurred for a medical or cosmetic treatment of the animal utilizing the deposited umbilical cord-blood.