Sanlam Kenya acting CEO George Kuria. photo | salaton njau Insurance firm Sanlam Kenya has partnered with online pharmacy Mydawa in a bid to reduce costs in its medical covers.
Sanlam says the move could lower prescription costs by up to 20 per cent as customers access relatively cheaper drugs from the online retailer.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm said the partnership will also help to curb fraud that is prevalent in the medical insurance business.
“Sanlam is excited to partner with Mydawa to reshape the Kenyan healthcare systems by delivering value to our customers through innovative solutions,” the insurer’s acting CEO George Kuria said in a statement. “By leveraging on the platform… we continue to deliver value to our customers by meeting their emerging needs in this era of the Internet of Things (IoT),” he said.
Fraudulent and inflated claims have for long been a major challenge for firms offering medical insurance which is ranked third in terms of loss ratios, according to statistics from Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI).
Insurers paid out Sh17.9 billion or 75 per cent of premiums collected in 2016, emerging third after motor private (76.5 per cent loss ratio) and aviation (209.2 per cent).
Sanlam is among the insurers that have suffered underwriting losses in their medical covers, forcing them to rely heavily on income from investments.
The company’s underwriting loss in the segment stood at Sh41.2 million, trailing the likes of Resolution (Sh387.7 million), Madison (Sh264 million) and First Assurance (Sh132.1 million).
Medical insurers as a whole posted an underwriting loss of Sh782 million in the period, according to the AKI statistics.