Marius Barnard

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Marius Barnard is a South African cardiac surgeon and inventor of critical illness insurance.[1]

Barnard was a member of the team, headed by his brother Christiaan Barnard, that performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant.[2] Barnard was motivated by the financial hardship he saw his patients suffer after he had treated their critical illnesses to convince the South African insurance companies to introduce a new type of insurance to cover critical illnesses. Barnard argued that, as a medical doctor, he can repair a man physically, but only insurers can repair a patient's finances.[3] On 6 October 1983 the first critical illness insurance policy was launched.[4]

Marius Barnard was a member of the South African parliament between 1980 and 1989, in the party that opposed apartheid. He is currently semi-retired, acting as a technical consultant for Scottish Widows.[5] Barnard has received many awards for his contributions to medicine and humanity, and was voted in the top 25 most influential people in the field of health insurance and protection.[6]

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  1. ^ “Heart to Heart”, CoverTen (Incisive Financial Publishing): 11-12, 29, 10 October 2007, <http://db.riskwaters.com/data/cover/pdf/cover_supp_1007.pdf> 
  2. ^ “Heart to Heart”, CoverTen (Incisive Financial Publishing): 29, 10 October 2007, <http://db.riskwaters.com/data/cover/pdf/cover_supp_1007.pdf> 
  3. ^ HEALTH INSURANCE, 1996, p. 78, <http://oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/financial_products/oft168.pdf> 
  4. ^ Critical Illness Insurance: Past, present and future, April 2004, <http://www.actuaries.org.uk/files/pdf/proceedings/health2004/Barnard.pdf> 
  5. ^ “Heart to Heart”, CoverTen (Incisive Financial Publishing): 29, 10 October 2007, <http://db.riskwaters.com/data/cover/pdf/cover_supp_1007.pdf> 
  6. ^ “Heart to Heart”, CoverTen (Incisive Financial Publishing): 27, 29, 10 October 2007, <http://db.riskwaters.com/data/cover/pdf/cover_supp_1007.pdf>