CIC Group has today launched a medical product tailormade for cooperatives named CoopCare.
The cover will cater to cooperative members and their affiliates with a minimum membership of 10 principal members with the maximum joining age being 70 years. The product will cover inpatient, outpatient, maternity, dental, optical, and last expense for cooperative members within Kenya.
CIC Group Chief Executive Officer Mr. Patrick Nyaga said that in an ecosystem that is highly dependent on cooperatives, it is prudent to provide solutions that extend financial protection to members by reducing their exposure to risk in different facets, including healthcare.
“Cooperatives are a huge enabler of financial inclusion and hold over 14 million members. Used as a tool for savings and investments, cooperatives not only increase financial access, but also provide a platform for communal growth. The CoopCare cover has been designed to reduce or eliminate member risk exposure through an affordable, accessible medical insurance product.’’
Commenting during the launch, Fred Ruoro, Managing Director, General Insurance said, “Out of pocket health and last expense expenditure can place a huge financial burden on the patient as well as their family and friends. Sometimes this can erode prior savings and lead to accumulation of debt to pay medical bills. Having a medical cover therefore becomes an essential part of financial protection, which is also aligned to cooperative goals which includes enhancing members’ socioeconomic health. With CoopCare, we hope to see more cooperative members get access to quality healthcare services at low costs. While access to healthcare is a right, sometimes it can lead to high accumulated costs which presents a financial burden. CoopCare has been built to ease this burden.”
CoopCare will cover inpatient, outpatient, maternity, dental, optical and last expense benefits, with beneficiaries getting the option to purchase inpatient only or both inpatient and outpatient benefits. The cover includes benefits of up to KShs 300,000 in inpatient, KShs 50,000 in outpatient, KShs 25,000 in maternity KShs 7,500 for dental and optical and KShs 50,000 for last expense.
The product has been designed to be affordable and has a carefully selected low-cost provider panel mainly encompassing mission hospitals and low-cost private hospitals. Members can take up the product as a family package allowing up to six dependants (M+6) or as a Member only (M+0). Any family beyond the member and six dependants category will attract a minimal additional premium to cover the extra dependants. Premium rates range from KShs 2,500 to KShs 36,000 per year depending on the package.