HR Magazine recently had the opportunity to sit down with Brock Judiesch, Sales Director in Hong Kong for CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits to gain greater understanding of the Hong Kong and Asia Pacific Health Insurance Market from the provider perspective.
How long has CIGNA been operating in the Asia Pacific Region?
CIGNA has a long history in Asia dating back to the 1930’s. CIGNA first began operating in Shanghai and Hong Kong under the name Ina Corporation. CIGNA is actually an amalgamation of the Insurance Company of North America (INA) Corporation and Connecticut General which joined in 1982 to form CIGNA Corporation.
Can you tell us about your own background and how you came to work for CIGNA?
I grew up in Vancouver, Canada where there is a big Asian population so I got interested in Asian Culture at an early age. I’ve worked in various Asian countries over the past 10 years. I’ve been in the Hong Kong Medical Insurance Industry since 2003 and I’ve been in my current position with CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits since 2008.
How has CIGNA’s strategy changed in the Hong Kong Market?
On the domestic side, CIGNA has been quite successful for many years, but what’s new is that last year we began selling our International Expatriate Benefit plans here which offer more comprehensive coverage in terms of benefits and geography than our domestic plans. It is important to note though, although sales in Hong Kong are relatively new for CIGNA International, servicing our members here is not because we already had tens of thousands of members across Asia with a good portion of those right here in HK.
What are some of the factors attributed to CIGNA’s recent focus on Asia and success here?
CIGNA International first expanded into Europe, then the Middle East and now finally Asia. As in the other markets, we saw an underserved niche here—the very high-end of the medical insurance market—where the coverage is very generous and the exclusions are few. And as Asia continues to grow that niche becomes more and more attractive. The uncertainty regarding future changes to the medical insurance industry in the US is another reason to look abroad.
What are the biggest challenges for Group Health Insurance Providers that operate in the Asia Pacific Market?
It is a crowded market, so you need to find your niche and formulate your strategy carefully. Also finding the right staff—people who will emulate the best of your brand, takes a lot of effort.
Last year quite a few expatriates left Hong Kong, has this posed a challenge to your growth strategy?
Thankfully no. We take a long term view and recognise that any drop in the expatriate population in Asia is a short term blip. That said, what has surprised us is that although we did see some of our clients, particularly in the financial service sector shed staff, many of these people who were let go decided to remain in Hong Kong. They set up their own businesses and they remained loyal to CIGNA and took out new plans with us.
What are some of the recent trends which have been occurring with Group Health Insurance in the Hong Kong Market?
There is definitely a growing awareness among HR Directors of the importance of having a good Health Insurance Plan, one that can give themselves and their staff peace of mind and even make them an employer of choice. Medical Inflation is also a big and on-going concern. The expansion of ‘networks’ or ‘doctor panels’ will also continue.
What future trends do you see occurring?
As mentioned, the expansion and prevalence of the direct billing networks and partnerships between insurers and providers will definitely continue and I think this is in everybody’s best interest —the medical providers like it because it directs traffic to their facilities, the insurers like it because it allows us to negotiate fee discounts and also to get more easily and quickly involved in the managed care process, and from the member or group perspective they see the discounts reflected in their premiums, they benefit from our active involvement in their care and of course they get the convenience of cashless service.
Technology will continue to transform the industry. Gone are the days when a policyholder submitted their claim into what may have seemed like a black hole and they just kind of hoped that the reimbursement would come out the other side. Now the better insurers empower members to follow their claim process online.
What can HR directors do to work with the insurers to decrease the costs of their premiums?
This is always a challenge if the goal is also to keep benefits and service the same in a medical inflation environment. That said, things can be done including reducing or eliminating unused benefits and educating staff about the advantages of seeking treatment “in-network” as this can have a direct impact on a group’s premiums.
What other ways might HR directors work with insurers?
One way is to run information sessions where the benefits and procedures are explained not just once, but a couple times a year because getting people to understand the plan is important. Particularly, what is covered and what is not is of key concern to the employees and time should be spent on highlighting the issues that are really going to matter, for example, are pre-existing conditions covered, yes or no? If yes, what about a pre-existing illness that is also an excluded item? It is important for HR managers to understand and point out likely scenarios.
What are the major conditions that HR Managers should look at?
Really HR managers should be conversant with the entire policy or find a good broker who is! Other key items would include the exclusions of course, any geographical restrictions, penalties for not pre-authorising treatment etc.
What might HR managers do in the way of precautionary measures to keep staff healthy?
We offer wellness benefits and encourage clients to use these. For example, we cover children’s annual check-ups and immunisations and we also cover adult’s annual checkups such as mammograms, prostate cancer screenings etc. What we are looking to do going forward, and this is already being used in some of our other markets, is to offer interactive wellness programs. In this case we work with the company to bring a provider on site to do fitness assessments and health checks. Based on these assessments a treatment program or exercise program is devised and incentives are created, for example a gym membership cost may be borne by the company if an employee meets certain health goals.
What are some of the key factors HR managers should consider when choosing an insurance policy?
I think there are three components to medical insurance. These are service, benefits and premium. I think you can combine two of these, but it is pretty tough to get all three—I mean top benefits, top service, and low price. I think an HR manager has to be practical and recognise this, but what they have going for them is that it is a pretty transparent market with a lot of competition so if something looks too good to be true, it should raise a warning flag.
Currently what do you see as the main factor driving the types of policies your clients are choosing?
I think one important factor is the seniority of the staff. You may have relatively junior staff blindly accepting the policy chosen by the company, while in many cases the senior staff will actually drive the buying decision. And of course the HR Manager has to grapple with the age-old tug of war between benefits and cost.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
