Co-operative Insurance Company (CIC) yesterday launched its medical insurance named CoopCare.
The product which is only applicable for the CIC group service members and their affiliates is set to cover the inpatient, outpatient, maternity, dental, optical and last cover expenses ranging from a minimum membership of ten principal members with ages ranging between 25 to 70 years.
Speaking at a hotel in Nairobi, the CIC Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Patrick Nyaga said that the product would help remove barriers to accessing quality and affordable 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 CIC CoopCare cover has been designed to reduce or eliminate member risk exposure through an affordable, accessible medical insurance product,” he said.
Nyaga celebrated his staff adding that the group will continue having engagements with other co-operatives to improve the workability of its staff and that already the group has had its members training in 19 counties across the country which has attracted over 2000 clients.
He added that the group has 25 branches in Kenya and other branches in Malawi, Uganda and South Sudan.
“I want to celebrate members and staff of CIC for working tirelessly in making this dream a reality, I appreciate the co-operative societies involved because they have played an important role in ensuring we make a step forward on this day,” stated Nyaga.
Fred Ruoro, the Managing Director for General Insurance said that the product launched was fairly simple and affordable from a cost perspective.
“Out of pocket health, 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 co-operative goals which includes enhancing members’ socioeconomic health,” said Ruoro.
He added that with CoopCare, the group hopes 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 present a financial burden. CoopCare has been built to ease this burden with the cover including benefits of up to Sh 300,000 for inpatient, Sh 50,000 for outpatient, Sh 25,000 for maternity Sh 7,500 for dental and optical and Sh 50,000 for last expense,” stated Ruoro.
He assured that the product has a carefully selected low-cost provider panel mainly encompassing mission hospitals and low-cost private ones, where members can take up the product as a family package allowing up to six dependants or as a member only.
Any family beyond the member and six dependants’ category, according to Ruoro, will attract a minimal additional premium to cover the extra dependants with rates ranging from Sh 2,500 to Sh 36,000 per year depending on the package.
