Technology transforming access to health insurance in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa’s level of health insurance coverage is low and is characterized by substantial income inequalities. Earlier this year, a report launched at the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) stated that around 615 million people (less than half of Africa’s citizens, 52 percent) in Africa have access to the healthcare they need from the current population of around 1.3 billion.
Every year, approximately 97 million Africans incur crippling health care costs pushing almost 15 million people into poverty as a result of these out-of-pocket health expenses. According to the World Bank, the share of out-of-pocket health payments as a portion of all health expenditures in sub-Saharan Africa rose from 40 percent in 2000 to over 60 percent in 2014.
A few African countries have implemented national medical insurance schemes, which serve only a minority of the population. Rwanda is a great example of providing universal health insurance to its citizens with a community-based national plan coverage called Mutuelles de santé (Mutual Health). The health insurance is financed by both the government and individual premiums, while donors fund about half of Rwanda’s health budget.
As the continent recovers from the impact of the COVID-19, one of the key aspects that we have learned from the pandemic is the importance of all people having access to adequate health services. Being part of the private sector, we should take the lead in offering affordable and convenient insurance coverage to low-income families. Health insurance coverage can increase access to care and protect households from the economic impacts of ill-health.
At Lami, we are opening doors for low-income African to access relevant and affordable insurance products through our technology platform and partnerships. How are we doing this? We partner with business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses to create a seamless way for them to launch responsive and affordable health care coverage for their customers. Our mission is to protect African citizens by offering innovative and alternative solutions for specific consumer segments expanding their options to access relevant and affordable insurance.
We partner with companies such as e-commerce, telecommunications, banks, Sacco’s, etc, and create products tailored to the needs of their consumers. We work on understanding the needs of the specific segments and offer the right insurance products to customers at the right time through the most appropriate channel and partner.
By leveraging our technology platform and working with multiple underwriters, we can create and launch tailored medical insurance for a specific consumer segment. Our flexible and modern API enables simple and efficient integration on an end-to-end digital insurance experience allowing consumers to curate products based on their individual needs and price.
We are continuously helping close the gaps between insured and uninsured people across Africa. If you would like to get more information visit www.lami.world or contact us at info@lami.world.
