Allianz takes sting out of medical costs

Allianz takes sting out of medical costs

Meeting the HealthCare needs of a workforce amid spiraling
costs can pose a crippling obligation for companies, particularly
during this economic crisis.

It can be a prescription for bankruptcy. They must keep their
employees healthy and productive while ensuring that their bottom
line is not run ragged in the process.

Allianz HealthCare, a division of German-based insurance group
Allianz, is solving the headache. Allianz HealthCare has launched
a range of health-insurance policies, including the unique
ManagedCare product. These aim at lifting the burden of managing
health-care services from firms but, at the same time,
guaranteeing quality health care for employees.

Allianz is one of the world's top insurer and asset management
groups. It has total assets of US$407 billion up to July 1999.
Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Allianz operates in 70
countries and employs about 106,000 people around the world.

Allianz recognizes the potential growth in the health market
in the Asia-Pacific region, including Indonesia, said Ian Moore,
Health Director of PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia.

"We know private health care is the way forward in the market
and are focusing our development in Indonesia on a range Health
and ManagedCare products."

With costs a major concern for most health-insurance
customers, Moore said ManagedCare policies in particular are able
to help control costs by managing the medical treatment as well
as the associated costs.

ManagedCare policies operate in conjunction with specific
health-care providers chosen by an employee. Allianz HealthCare
has a wide network of providers, including over 80 hospitals and
130 clinics, which ensure no prepayment by the employee for
treatment is required and high standards of medical care are
assured.

In contrast, indemnity health insurance policies require the
patient to pay for the treatment and then claim back the expense
from the insurer.

"Allianz ManagedCare offers far more than conventional health
insurance," said Moore. "It not only provides coverage for
employees when they fall ill, but also includes preventive care
such as family planning and immunization, and also maternity
costs.

"Allianz ManagedCare does not just stop there but also
provides professional medical guidance to employees on how to get
the most effective treatment."

Companies also can breathe easier, relieved of the mountain of
health-related paperwork but safe in the knowledge that their
employees are in good hands. Handing administration tasks to
Allianz HealthCare also puts to rest worries about insurance
fraud, a universal concern of insurers and employers alike.

"Employees benefit from ManagedCare because they gain control
of the cost of HealthCare while letting us take over the task of
administering the service for their employees," Moore said.

But the health of employees is not compromised, he added. They
build up a longtime relationship with a general practitioner, who
is better able to advise the patient, already having an
understanding of the families medical history.

"The clinic is the 'gatekeeper'. It offers referrals when a
particular condition needs further medical advice, and we do not
attempt to restrict access to specialists."

Allianz HealthCare Sales and Marketing Division Manager Ating
Ekaningtyas said the company carefully monitored the needs of its
market and 25,000 health-care plan members.

"If there are no Allianz network clinics in the areas near our
clients, we establish new clinic relationships," she said. "And
if employees are in an emergency situation far from their clinic,
then we provide an emergency reimbursement system where they can
seek medical treatment at the most convenient location."

Moore emphasized that Allianz HealthCare is thorough in
examining prospective clinics to determine that they measure up
to its high standards.

"All of the clinics and hospitals are checked to see they use
qualified doctors. We vet them for quality and to confirm that
they have a license to practice."

The designated clinics also benefit from the relationship, he
added.

"The clinics are happy to be doing business because they know
that they will be having a steady stream of patients coming
through their doors over a set period."

Allianz HealthCare also offers a 24-hour hot line.

"Our members can call round-the-clock and find out where there
is a clinic near them, or obtain advice on the best approach to
dealing with their situation," Ating said.

For employees and company administrations used to old but not
necessarily better ways of handling health care, the ManagedCare
system can take some getting used to.

"It is something of an education process," Ating acknowledged.
"We go out and speak to employees and the HR department, even
giving presentations to the union to explain to them what the
system does for them."

She said employees and management quickly understand and
appreciate ManagedCare's benefits.

"There is a time of adjustment of about a month, and then it
is smooth sailing when everybody realizes the convenience of the
system."

For more information about the program, please contact
2522001. (Bruce Emond)