Max Bupa redefines health insurance in India; introduces ‘AnyTimeHealth’ Machines to propel health insurance penetration

Max Bupa – one of India’s leading health insurance players – has announced the launch of Max Bupa AnyTimeHealth (ATH) machines, to propel health insurance penetration in the country.

• Fully automated system to allow non-invasive health assessment and health insurance policy issuance, all in under 180 seconds
• A step towards increasing health insurance penetration in India through simplification of the health insurance buying journey
• Intelligent machines that can dispense customized health insurance plans for individuals as per their health needs

New Delhi, November 13, 2017:Max Bupa – one of India’s leading health insurance players – has announced the launch of Max Bupa AnyTimeHealth (ATH) machines, to propel health insurance penetration in the country. The ATH is Max Bupa’s innovative new technology-based solution that will allow customers to run instant health assessment and buy health insurance cover – in just 180 seconds. Revolutionizing the way people buy health insurance in India by simplifying the insurance purchase journey, Max Bupa ATH machines will let customers initiate their health assessment, choose the rightHealth Insurance Plans for themselves and walk away with the policy document within three minutes.

Looking at the severe under-penetration of health insurance in India, the ATH machines have been designed for customers who find health insurance buying either too complicated, or do not find the time or motivation to insure something as important as their health. As per the Max Bupa Pulse survey conducted in early 2017, people are moving towards digital mediums and platforms for buying and renewing health insurance. While 47% of the respondents confirmed opting for online platforms for renewing health insurance, 13% said they would go to online platforms for purchasing health insurance.

How it Works Max Bupa’s AnyTimeHealth is a completely automated, technology-based model with a simple interface that offers a comprehensive awareness-to-purchase journey, overcoming the procrastination hurdle experienced by many Indians.

The 5 simple steps a first-time user needs to follow are as follows:

1. Registration using email ID and phone number
2. Non-intrusive health assessment
3. Automated health insurance policy recommendation based on details entered and test output
4. Instant payment
5. Instant policy issuance

Talking about Max Bupa’s latest innovation, Ashish Mehrotra, MD & CEO, Max Bupa said, “Health insurance has almost become a necessity in India with the growing incidence of lifestyle diseases but the overall penetration is still quite low with close to 80% of the Indian population still not covered under any form of health insurance. The Indian health insurance industry needed something disruptive to ensure health cover reaches every Indian. With the Max Bupa ATH machines we aim to democratize health by addressing the key issues and challenges faced by Indians on their buying journey. While we anticipate greater penetration for health insurance overall with the innovation, we also expect the Max Bupa ATH machines to increase our Bancassurance throughput by 2.5X and become an independent sales channel in the next 3- 5 years, comprising 15%-20% of our total digital sales.”

At this stage, customers will be able to perform non-intrusive health assessment covering Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, Body Type & Fat %, Muscle %, Bone Mass, Body Temperature, Hydration level and Blood Oxygen %; and buy a policy instantly. ATHs are built on a scalable technology platform, and the future versions of ATHs will be reimagined as end-to-end customer service systems based on Max Bupa’s product and servicing requirements. The upgraded versions of the ATHs will service retail customers 24x7 and will be online to offer more customized and personalized health insurance plans basis real-time health data captured. These machines may also offer Artificial Intelligence (AI) based interventions.

Max Bupa’s is a much needed technology application that simplifies health tracking and decision making for customers. It is a result of thorough analysis of the obstacles towards health insurance penetration in India and aim to address the challenges of awareness (of one’s health and the need for health insurance), accessibility (of a genuine advisor and policy issuer), and serviceability (end-to-end experience) among Indians through technology.

The ATH machines will be introduced in the market through the company’s Bancassurance partners – such as Bank of Baroda, the second largest public sector bank in India – giving Max Bupa access to potentially 20% of the banked Indians. In the first phase, 20 ATH machines will be installed at partner banks’ branches, across multiple cities. Through the next few months, Max Bupa will focus on gathering customer inputs, feedback and performance data to enhance services/ offerings through the systems. In the next 12-15 months, Max Bupa has plans to install multiple ATH machines across retail locations such as malls, societies/ RWAs, airport lounges, hotels etc.

Max Bupa expects its ATH machines to drive the next phase of growth for the health insurance industry. The ATH machines have been designed by Max Bupa, in partnership with Yolo Health – a Health Tech startup.’

Note to editors:
Max Bupa Health Insurance

Max Bupa is a 51:49, joint venture between Max India Limited, a multi-business corporate with expertise in life insurance and health care and Bupa, a leading global health and care company with over 70 years of healthcare knowledge. Max Bupa brings together a combination of Bupa’s health insurance and customer service expertise with Max India’s understanding and experience of the Indian health and insurance sectors. Max Bupa offers quality through a dedicated team of over 1900 people and its network of 29 offices across 19 cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Kolkata, Patna, Goa, Gurugram, Lucknow, Vadodara, Thane and Jodhpur. Max Bupa offers individual and family oriented health insurance policies for Indians across all age groups. Max Bupa has a direct working relationship with a network of over 4000 top quality hospitals and healthcare. Over the last seven years, Max Bupa has introduced many innovative offerings that cater to the evolving health needs of various customer segments. For more details about the company and a list of all our network hospitals please visit www.maxbupa.com.

About Max India Limited

Max India, the holding company of Max Bupa Health Insurance and Antara Senior Living and equal joint venture partner in Max Healthcare, is focused on health and allied businesses. Max Healthcare and Max Bupa Health Insurance are joint ventures with global leaders, Life Healthcare (South Africa) and Bupa Finance Plc. (UK), respectively. These businesses have well-entrenched positions in their respective categories, and are recognized for their outstanding service standards. The Company owns and actively manages a 49.70% per cent stake in Max Healthcare, a 51% stake in Max Bupa Health Insurance and a 100% stake in Antara Senior Living. Max India is listed on both the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange.

About Bupa

Bupa’s purpose is longer, healthier, happier lives. As a leading global health and care company, we offer health insurance, medical subscription and other health and care funding products; we run care homes, retirement and care villages, primary care, diagnostic and wellness centres, hospitals and dental clinics. We also provide workplace health services, home healthcare, health assessments and long-term condition management services. We have 29m customers in 190 countries. With no shareholders, we reinvest our profits to provide more and better healthcare and fulfil our purpose. We employ almost 80,000 people, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, Poland, New Zealand and Chile, as well as Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the USA.