Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re has collaborated with India’s Max Bupa Health Insurance and GOQii to develop and integrate “holistic wellness offerings” that meet the changing health coverage demands of Max Bupa’s customers.
Indian health insurer Max Bupa, a joint venture between Max India Limited and Bupa Finance plc UK, announced the new three way partnership as it looks to meet the rapidly changing health needs of its clients.
The role of reinsurer Swiss Re is to provide technical assistance to the health insurer with the development of relevant solutions, and to help Max Bupa grow its expertise in order to develop adequate, effective, and comprehensive risk assessment models for the future.
Under the partnership GOQii, a fitness technology firm that provides an integrated wellness ecosystem in India, provides Max Bupa clients with access to its personalised wellness engine, which includes products such as health management and health coaching.
Discussing the new partnership Ashish Mehrotra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Max Bupa, said; “Over the last few years, we have seen a significant increase in uptake of health insurance among customers under the age of 35 years. This segment is very active digitally and is turning to technology to stay fit. It is predicted that by 2019, 2 out of 5 internet users will use a health app. Engagement with such tools could be as high as 50%. This gives us a huge opportunity to promote holistic wellness by leveraging personal healthcare devices that are capable of tracking and relaying medically useful information.
“Offering pre-emptive wellness solutions for maintaining their health is one effective way to engage with young customers and encourage them to buy health insurance. GOQii, with its rich expertise in the digital wellness space, provides an ideal platform that will help us penetrate deeper into this segment and serve the large uninsured population in the country.”
India’s insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), is working to promote greater health insurance penetration, underlined by the development of health insurance guidelines in the region.
Thanks to the new three way partnership, Max Bupa is now the first Indian health insurer to partner with a digital health and fitness brand in order to develop digitally driven, holistic wellness solutions for the company’s digitally-savvy clients.
Anika Agarwal, Senior Vice President and Head-Marketing, Digital and Direct Sales at Bupa Max, also commented on the new partnership; “Of the overall health insurance purchase, currently 14% customers are digitally influenced. However, by 2020, the same is expected to be upwards of 50%. Hence, engaging with the digitally savvy customer becomes imperative. Our partnership with GOQii is of great strategic value as digital and on-the-go fitness solutions with integrated apps will be the key driver in growth of health and wellness in coming years.
“We are sure our strategic tie up with GOQii and Swiss Re will enable us contextualize conversations with our existing customers on the web and also decipher their lifestyle and health habits to personalize our products and service offerings.”
