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)