Sánchez promises a legal reform to implement the right to be forgotten oncology in June

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced this Saturday that the Executive is going to promote a legal reform to guarantee the so-called right to be forgotten oncology. The objective is that the fact that a person has had cancer is not taken into account when hiring some services, such as insurance or mortgage loans.

Sánchez has made the announcement in Seville, where he has landed after his meeting with Joe Biden in the United States, and where his presence in the electoral campaign begins for the next 28-M. In Seville, before his PSOE rally, the president held a meeting with entities and associations linked to the fight against cancer and conveyed this commitment to them.

The meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Government Delegation, was also attended by the new Minister of Health, José Manuel Miñones.

[Sánchez accepts Biden's “resettlement plan” on migration but according to “the labor market”]

The legal reform will consist of the modification of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of November 16, which approves the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws, and of the Law on Insurance Contract, as they have advanced from Moncloa. The goal is for the legal reform to be completed by June.

With this announcement, Sánchez continues with the dynamic of making government promises in PSOE campaign events and making them, moreover, without the knowledge of his partners in the Executive, United We Can. It also delves into the strategy of the Socialists to promote measures for specific groups, as happened last week with young people.

This right to be forgotten about cancer will materialize by declaring null and void all the clauses, when contracting products or services, that are based on the cancer history and that exclude or discriminate against patients who have had some type of cancer.

For this, it will be prohibited to take into account the cancer history when contracting insurance, a practice that usually entails more burdensome conditions. The right not to declare that one has suffered from cancer will also be established when taking out insurance linked to a mortgage loan.

These new rights will benefit all people who have completed cancer treatment five years before the date of signing the contracts and without a subsequent relapse, reports from Moncloa.

Insurers' position

Sources from the insurance industry point out that “the sector is sensitive to the situation of people who have overcome cancer and need insurance to take out a mortgage or other loan”. For this reason, “for several months we have been analyzing how to meet their protection needs,” they indicate.

“We have established contact with the Administration and with cancer patient organizations to find collaboration frameworks that, following the principles of the insurance technique, benefit people who have overcome cancer,” these sources add.