Aella, a fin-tech start-up, has said it would provide quality health insurance coverage for over 500,000 Nigerians in 2020 by making available to them a 30-day N800,000 worth of healthcare cover whenever they signed up on its Aella app.
The company recently launched Aella Care, a health insurance scheme in partnership with Hygeia; a foremost Health Management Organisation (HMO) in Nigeria, to support the Federal Government of Nigeria’s drive in boosting the country’s insurance scheme.
It said the resolve to make it more attractive to get more people on board was arrived at when it saw the high number of those who signed up in its first pilot week.
It said paid customers and new users will have access to general consultation, pharmacy benefits, antenatal care/delivery services, accidents, and emergencies, dental care, surgeries, and more for free for 30 days.
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Akin Jones, said to get under the health insurance care, “interested persons must download the Aella App, click on the ‘Insure your Health’ tab, select a plan, look through your coverage and verify, upload a payment method (which can be canceled after the free trial is over) and access is open for one to enjoy the benefits.”
The app, he said, provides users with a super-fast medium to ensure their health, access loans, and pay bills.
“Its monthly subscription and credit payment model allows millions of underbanked users access services that have hitherto been inaccessible to them,” he said.
As of 2016, only three percent of healthcare expenditure in Nigeria was paid for using health insurance, and to bridge this gap, Aella is using a four-pronged approach which includes trust, access, pricing, and education.
Jones said: “We believe that the reason more Nigerians aren’t obtaining health insurance is due to these four factors; customers do not trust that there are no hidden obligations and that insurance policies would effectively cover all that they are promising; customers do not believe that the hospital networks reach remote areas easily accessible to them in times of need; customers believe that low-cost insurance schemes do not provide adequate coverage and customers are not well educated about the costs and benefits of insurance.”
He stressed that: “Aella’s mission, therefore, is to tackle these head-on by ensuring that customers are aware of all charges associated with their chosen insurance plan and the differences between plans.”
Its partnership with Hygeia will also allay the fears of many Nigerians regarding access and pricing, Jones added.
The company said it will also constantly engage the public on its support of the government’s declared goal of universal health coverage through the expansion of its health insurance and financial inclusion services.
As part of its commitment to the fight against COVID-19, it said it will be donating anti-microbial nano-coated copper masks to a randomly selected group of 2,000 users in partnership with Hygeia.
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