As Nigeria battles the Covid19 pandemic, it continues to reveal the cracks in the Country’s healthcare sector. Nigeria faces several major challenges that delay its intended progress toward the attainment of Universal Healthcare Coverage. One such challenge is the lack of financial protection for the healthcare needs of a vast majority of the population through an effective social health insurance scheme. As the saying goes; government cannot do it alone. Fintech start-up, Aella has made significant strides in supporting this drive of the Federal Government through the launch of its own Health Insurance scheme in partnership with Hygeia; a foremost HMO in Nigeria.
CEO of the company, Akin Jones said “we have a responsibility to our customers, employees and communities to build businesses that have a positive impact on daily life. We originally launched Aella as a microlending app, but we soon realised that 25% of loans were being used to foot medical bills, second only to small business loans and other bill payments.” Aella set out to reverse this negative trend by entering into a partnership with Hygeia, one of the HMO’s with the widest reach in the country, with nearly 2000 clinics, pharmacies and hospitals in its network.
This formidable partnership aims to bring over 500,000 Nigerians under its Health Insurance coverage in the first year, protecting them from the rising costs of healthcare services in the Country. Diseases such as Cholera, Malaria and Typhoid are killing numerous Nigerians every day due to lack of access to prepaid healthcare and Aella wants to put a stop to it.
As of 2016, only 3% of Healthcare expenditure in Nigeria was paid for using Health Insurance. To bridge this gap, Aella is using a four-pronged approach, namely: Trust, Access, Pricing and Education. In a conversation with our correspondent, Jones explained, “We believe that the reason more Nigerians aren’t obtaining Health Insurance is due to these four factors. (i) Trust: Customers do not trust that there are no hidden obligations and that insurance policies would effectively cover all that they are promising. (ii) Access: Customers do not believe that the hospital networks reach remote areas easily accessible to them in times of need. (iii) Pricing: Customers believe that low-cost insurance schemes do not provide adequate coverage. (iv) Education: Customers are not well educated about the costs and benefits of insurance.” Aella’s mission therefore is to tackle these head-on by ensuring that Customers are aware of all charges associated with their chosen insurance plan and the differences between plans. Its partnership with Hygeia, Nigeria’s most trusted HMO will also allay the fears of many Nigerians regarding access and pricing. The company will also constantly engage the public on its support of the government’s declared goal of Universal Health Coverage through the expansion of its health insurance and financial inclusion services.
In its first week of launching, the Aella Health Insurance plans recorded a large number of sign-ups via its mobile app, which further confirmed its drive to insure half a million Nigerians before the end of the year. The app provides users with a super-fast medium to ensure your health, access loans and pay bills. Its monthly subscription and credit payment model allows millions of underbanked users access services that have hitherto been inaccessible to them. As a direct response to the ravaging Covid19 crisis, Aella has committed towards donating 2000 anti-microbial, Nano-coated copper masks and will also provide tele-medicine services to its users in partnership with Hygeia.
Technology continues to change the world as we know it, at an unprecedented pace, impact and reach. Today, at the push of a button, low-income individuals can be included with nominal costs. This creates the opportunity to connect millions of people to better healthcare. Aella aims to build mobile infrastructure that empowers individuals to access and pay for healthcare services that were previously out of reach.
