MTN Nigeria has launched a a mobile based universal health insurance service Y’ello Health, that will offer insurance cover for subscribers of the largest mobile phone company in the country.
The insurance cover launched in partnership with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Salt & Einstein MTS, a mobile insurance services aggregator, is a micro-insurance service which the operator says will give Nigerians affordable health insurance cover on a pre-paid basis. Users will use their mobile phones to pay for and access preferred medical treatments.
According to MTN Nigeria, the scheme is aimed at mobile subscribers and is provided through health management organisations. Under the plan, MTN subscribers will be able to opt into the micro-healthcare insurance scheme through Health Management Organisations (HMOs).
The scheme will cover a range of predefined medical treatments for which affordable premium can also be remitted through the subscribers’ mobile phone.
Femi Thomas, the Executive Secretary and CEO of NHIS, said that, “MTN is a large player in the Nigerian economy, having a good number of registered Nigerians on its database which allows it reach out to Nigerians. We at NHIS have decided to partner with Salt & Einstein MTS and MTN on this new initiative to achieve “Universal Health Coverage” for Nigerians nationwide.”
Larry Annet, Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, added that, “the focus market for the Y’ello Health Cover are Nigerians who have no health insurance cover principally because they cannot afford the regular health insurance services in the market. These individuals like everyone else need medical care.”
According to him, “without access to insurance, they probably would be having occasional challenges paying for medical treatment, because such expenses would usually be without or at short notice. The service is to take away this burden of impromptu medical expenses that we are partnering to introduce this product.”
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