Not just group health policy, ACKO offers comprehensive benefits for employees: Janani Viswanathan | Interview

ACKO Insurance today said it has recorded over Rs 100 crores in premium for its Employee Group Health Insurance in FY21. Within one year of launch, ACKO has onboarded over 90 companies including Virtusa, Swiggy, Razorpay, CRED, Akzo Nobel, Xiaomi and Go-MMT and insured over 2.8 lakh people.

Acko said its new-age digital Group Medical Coverage (GMC) provides comprehensive health benefits that focus on primary care and wellness, besides hospitalisation insurance, all in one ACKO mobile App. Employees can avail of primary care services such as OPD, teleconsultations, pharmacy, lab tests, etc., for themselves and their family members and can access wellness programs such as fitness rewards and emotional assistance, etc.

ACKO Health has now outlined an aggressive growth strategy to double the premium to be received in FY22 and to onboard at least 200 people-first organisations. In an interaction with FE Online, Janani Viswanathan, Head of Health Insurance Business, ACKO Insurance, revealed more about the company’s future plan and how its policies are different from the competition. Excerpts

Amid the pandemic and lockdowns, how are you planning to take your healthcare experience to 3x more companies in FY22?

ACKO has digitized almost every aspect of our Group Health Policy. This has helped us to grow at a healthy rate despite pandemic and lockdowns. The fact that all the benefits of our plans can be accessed and utilized on the app, including claims, has been instrumental in driving our growth. In some ways, our product is built for the post COVID world.

As compared to other Group Health Insurance policies, what is different about Acko?

We don’t see ourselves as offering just a Group Health Insurance policy; we see ourselves as a comprehensive health benefits platform, and therein lies the difference. Traditional Group Health Insurance policies only offer hospitalization benefits. As a result, only 10% to 15% of the employees who seek hospitalization actually use it. The rest of the employees don’t get anything out of the insurance policy.

ACKO Health not only provides a comprehensive health insurance policy that every employee can customize as per their needs, but it also provides a host of preventive care and wellness benefits. Unlike traditional plans, ACKO Health has something for 100 per cent of the employees for any organization.

We also use our proprietary data and algorithms to nudge employees towards a healthier lifestyle so that they can avoid the need for hospitalization. It’s a winning proposition for everyone involved – employees, the employer and ACKO.

What are the benefits Acko’s group plan provides to employees?

ACKO Health has curated benefits to appeal to the diverse needs of employees. Employees can modify the plan features and coverage based on their needs, right from the app. This is over and above the benefits that the employer has chosen for them.

For example, there are unlimited free doctor consultations, OPD consultations, discounts on pharmacy, and prescribed lab tests for someone who needs preventive medical care. For fitness enthusiasts, there’s fitness tracking, fitness challenges and a rewards programme to motivate employees to cultivate healthy habits. Then there are essential benefits for the new normal we live in, like Mental Wellness coaching and Nutrition consulting.We are constantly expanding our benefits based on customer feedback and their evolving needs.

What it takes to onboard a company on a group health insurance plan?

We only need to verify a few details with the employer during onboarding, which can be done within a couple of hours. We have created a self-enrollment process for the employees right on the app, which the employees can use to modify their plan and start using the benefits. Our entire philosophy is to give more and more power to the employees regarding the benefits they want to use, with minimal effort from the employer. People-first companies are choosing ACKO because of this approach.