Maria Health-Philippines #1 online healthinsure marketplace

 Maria Health is the #1 online aggregator in the Philippines addressing simple affordable healthcare solutions for Filipinos.

 The Philippines remains severely under insured for healthcare leaving approximately 102 million Filipinos exposed to financial catastrophe/poor health outcomes in the event of health related emergencies. Complicated by poor access, healthcare infracstructure, crippling healthcare costs, access to quality and timely healthcare remains a distant dream.

 Working with a diverse range of institutions, addressing innovation not only in terms of the product itself, but also in terms of the overall approach to developing the company over the long term via innovative partnerships such as with MFI's and DFI's. With over 10,000 policies sold, 25,000 visitors/week to the website, partnering with the top HMOs and healthcare providers, we endeavour to positively impact the developing world, with a specific part of the vision directed at targeting the particularly vulnerable BOP population.Compounded globally it potentially impacts millions.

The Problem:

Approximately 102 million Filipinos (95% of the current total population of the Philippines) remain un/under insured for basic and effective healthcare coverage. As per the World Bank, the percentage of out of pocket expenses as compared to government funded healthcare is a staggering 53.94%. Apart from un affordability, they lack equitable access to both government provided (Philhealth) and private health insurance. Contributing factors that add to the problem stems from basic lack of information, geographic position of the country (made up of 7000 plus islands), lack of education, religious beliefs and poor infrastructure. With the per capita concentration of  more medical facilities and doctors in cities, only basic healthcare coverage is available and that too in most instances long distances away, complicated by lack of transportation and overwhelmed government medical facilities. Prohibitive costs associated with treatment lead to poor/untreated/unreported health outcomes and to financial exclusion and a debt burdened society.

Who benefits?

Everyone. Demographically we are working with children, women, men, senior citizens. Our focus is geared towards the “mass” market, socioeconomically classified in the Philippines as the CDE markets or the middle/BOP income groups (They make up 99% of the total population). We also cater to SME's, freelancers, blue collar workers, informal workers, Individuals and families. With technology and the internet there is a huge online marketplace seeking healthcare coverage in the Philippines. By partnering with IC regulated and reputed HMO's, Insurance and micro insurance providers, clinics, auxiliary health services (Dental, labs, ambulance, telemedicine, pharmacies), Maria Health is able to bridge the gap of supply/demand and offer the plans on a single platform. Through online and offline marketing, surveys, news letters, blogs and most importantly customer feedback and referrals we have been able to engage a reach of 20,000 new visitors/week and reduce transaction time by half. Based on the fundamentals of risk pooling, aggregator filters which compare plans based on selected criteria/search words and offers the best unbiased options available. Being able to purchase a complicated product such as health insurance online and making it available and understandable will ensure health protection for every Filipino.

What makes our Solution innovative yet impactful?

Maria Health is Philippines' first online aggregator that leverages on technology to bring simple, easy, unbiased access to affordable and equitable healthcare for every Filipino. Health insurance is complicated and the cost of acquisition is high for insurance companies as they use the traditional face to face agent customer model. The information asymmetry and adverse selection is mitigated by using the fundamental principles of risk pooling, providing a rich supply of healthcare provider partners and a wide variety of plans that cater to the "mass" segments of the population. Maria health's algorithms filter the most appropriate options based on key words/selection criteria/ search history and personal information entered. Customers can select multiple plans by adding to cart and completing payment through several options at check out. An end to end fulfilment with a few clicks.

How our solution is relevant-

With the current generation and key decision makers constantly on the go(Approximately 56% between the age of 15-55(Indexmundi)), our solution provides a wide variety of healthcare plans with real time comparisons, features, payment options and an instant e policy received upon confirmation of payments. Simple and hassle free. Maria Health can be accessed from any mobile/smart device/computer with an internet connection. Additionally we offer Maria Health exclusive products unavailable elsewhere including the providers websites. By providing an easy to use UX, customer chat/support and refunds/exchange conditions, we ensure that consumers get exactly what they are looking for, qualitatively and quantitatively.

With the continuous shift to urban migration, as the cities get more densely populated, the risk of further spread of non communicable diseases and an already over burdened public health care system is worsened. Maria Health provides a platform for access to affordable healthcare coverage supplementing existing public healthcare for everyone.

With the recent passing of the Universal Health care bill in the Philippines, our solution has been made even more relevant. These options can supplement the basic healthcare being offered by the Department of Health (DOH) as well as provide access to private and yet affordable healthcare. 

Our Solution not only reduces the burden on an already overwhelmed Public Health sector but provides access to timely intervention which will lead to healthier outcomes, financial inclusion and protection and an overall healthy, wealthy and happy nation.

"Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way"-Bob Iger. There has always been a supply of healthcare insurance and demand for coverage, however the traditional process and long turn around times have not been without its challenges. The emergence of the world wide web, internet and the millennial generation has proverbially been the "game changer". With the lack of options to access health coverage in the Philippines due to various macro and micro factors, Maria Health has leveraged on technology to create an aggregator that provides an online marketplace for access to health insurance options in the Philippines. Anyone with an internet connection and smart device/computer can browse, shop and compare and purchase health insurance cover end to end online within a few minutes. This not only speeds up transaction time and cost but simplifies the traditional process of accessing a complicated product. A customer can transact as per their convenience 24/7 from any part of the world for themselves or their loved ones for coverage in the Philippines. Leveraging technology further Maria Health utilises full API integration for real time data and information exchange between its own platform, the provider and consumer. Accepting digital signatures and releasing e policies(paperless which contribute to sustainability) and accepting various payment options, the solution allows easy access to affordable and equitable healthcare for all Filipinos with a few clicks.

Health Insurance is complicated and the traditional process of acquiring it both for the insurer and the insured requires a licensed agent to make several face to face meetings from each company and get the customer individual quotes. This process from knowing your customer to underwriting plans and bureaucratic inefficiencies makes the timelines weeks to months to close a policy, making it an unattractive proposition for both agent and the customer. The cost of acquisition is high from an insurance agents perspective and thus insurance companies prefer to offer their services to larger corporates, leaving individuals and SME's with unfavourable options and worst still with no coverage. At Maria Health, we leverage technology and have built an aggregator that can show multiple health plans from different insurance providers on a single website within a few minutes.The entire transaction from search and compare to payment and receipt of an e-policy can be completed quickly and easily with a few clicks. Our platform is accessible on any mobile/smart device/computer and only needs internet connection or data load.This technology allows us to turn a traditionally offline process to an online one from finding, comparing and applying/buying health insurance end to end.

Activities: 

Partnerships- Partner with HMOs, insurance, micro insurance, clinics, auxiliary health services for existing and Maria Health exclusive products. 

Technology- Set up and manage the aggregator platform, provide partner pages and real time shop and compare features, quotes and payment options. Real time API and continuous improvement on UX design.

Marketing- Manage social media, blogs, newsletters, strategic partnerships, rewards/redemptions, positioning of prepaid insurance options.

Sales and customer support-Sales to SMEs, individuals, families (comprehensive plans), bulk order sales, corporate sales, client servicing.

Opex and Regulatory-Day to day running of the business, revenue reporting, data analytics, regulatory functions.

Output:

A user friendly aggregator platform to shop and compare in real time the best available health insurance options (prepaid and comprehensive plans). Access to coverage with a few clicks with plans suited for everyone with an end to end service delivery from choosing the plan to receiving the e-policy/hard copy. 

Outcomes:

Short term-Increased awareness to Maria Health, number of online visitors to the site increasing per week. Customers testing the service and average cart size is 1-2 products.

Medium term- Increased awareness to the service, online policies to reach 1.5 M Filipinos. Fully API integrate with all partners to allow for a seamless customer journey. IC and broker license secured.

Long term- Expand to other countries in SEA, insuretech capabilities scaled to receive and collect payments online/e -Wallet. Acceptance of digital signatures which will move the entire process online. Provide equitable access to affordable healthcare coverage to everyone anytime/anywhere with a few clicks.

At present Maria Health is servicing 805,000 customers. (Philippines)

In one year we are looking to be servicing 1.5 M customers (Philippines)

By the 5th year we plan to exponentially grow and service customers beyond the Philippines (Asian Markets) and are projected to service 20 M customers.

Currently our main markets are the C and D markets. In the Philippines, markets are classified socioeconomically as ABCDE. The Family income and expenditure survey (FIES) offers insights on the distribution of these markets with AB markets making up 1% , CD-69% and E markets at 30% of the total population. The CD cohort of people make up the "masses" of the overall Filipino population who due to several micro and macro factors are prevented from getting equitable access to affordable healthcare options.

By partnering with development focussed organisations we are looking to engage reach to the E markets which are classified as the poorest segment essentially confirming that poverty in the Philippines remains prevalent and healthcare coverage a dream.

As urban migration continues to change the landscape of Philippine society, its negative impacts warrant serious consideration. It is estimated by 2030, about 8 of 10 Filipinos will be living in urbanisations. With urban congestion and poor living conditions, the case for access to health coverage is made further relevant.

With the above CDE markets we would be servicing 99% of the Philippine population and enabling access to affordable healthcare solutions thereby impacting more than a million lives in a few years.

Maria Health's goal in the next 12 to 24 months is to quickly become the trusted #1 brand for anyone who wants health insurance, starting with the Philippines. 

Over the last 3 years, we've built a service that works for 100,000 visitors/month and the resulting output is that there are over 10,000 individuals who are insured and keep growing.

Over the next year we are continuing to invest on nailing the process both on the customer experience, compliance and supplier front to ensure we are building a service that can scale to millions.

By year 5, Maria Health will have impacted/insured over +1M lives just in the Philippines alone. As a product/service we will quickly have evolved from an aggregator to functioning more like a digital broker and potentially an insurer with our own healthcare plans. 

Longer term, we would then like to scale up the business to replicate our business model moving into other developing nations in South East Asia and then globally in other under developed/developing markets.

Legal barriers:

Insurance is highly regulated by the Insurance Commission, a slow and bureaucratic organisation. Maria Health will need an aggregator license approved by the IC. To accept payments, issue receipts and underwrite plans, a broker license is required, these will need to be accomplished by next year to move forwards.

Financial barriers:

Being a start up with limited funding, reduction in cost of acquisition, opex and UXdesign. Limited budgets will slow our growth in the short term. In 5 years we should be profitable and sustainable to our business model and create awareness of accessibility to inexpensive basic health coverage.

Technical barriers:

While the internet has facilitated an online marketplace and created opportunities to connect products/services and making it cost and time effective, online shopping is more complicated than ever. Customers are now discerning and lots more information is available before the "moment of truth". Internet speed/connevtivity in the Philippines is not as fast as in developed countries. Finding and retaining tech talent is a challenge.

Cultural barriers:

As per Hofstede insights Filipinos and Asians culturally are a collectivistic society. Collective decisions impact their ability to be decisive without the input of various members and their experiences. Their low score on uncertainty avoidance makes them a more relaxed society where thought for the future does not rate high. Within the insurance industry this will result in lower conversions.

 As a result, being an aggregator, the tempo and pace of all our stakeholders, directly impacts our business model and in turn our bottom line.

The gap is not so much the unavailability of health services insomuch as accessibility in all forms.

Legal barriers: 

We will be working closely with the IC to create a playbook and get licensed to offer these options. 

Financial barriers: 

We have and will continue to raise funding (pre series A) from venture capitalists/institutional investors to scale our solution as well as continue to educate the target market that there is an affordable and accessible healthcare plan for everyone.

Technical barriers:

Establish ourselves as the #1 trusted brand which offers options for unbiased recommendations for healthcare options on our platform, seeking to provide the best and the right healthcare solution for our consumers. Continuing to hire and retain the best talent who are equally passionate about our impact initiative to make a difference to a million lives and more.

Cultural barriers:

Through our marketing initiatives, continue to educate the Filipinos on the benefits of healthcare cover as well as the importance of preventive care and financial literacy.

Maria Health will continue to address the foremost problems of "accessibility", by being an inclusive, easy to navigate platform with a range of products for different needs serving not just one segment of the population but more so the greater underserved.

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We are a lean and dynamic team of 22 full time  employees. Being a start up, while we have our pre determined roles and subject matter expertise, we also are flexible and agile to overlap in roles where we might be needed.

We are a diverse team, our CEO and founder is Chinese American and has worked with a few start ups in Silicon Valley before founding Maria Health, while our partnerships head has lived globally and spent 6+ years in the Philippines studying her Masters in Health as well as managing health benefits for a large corporate. Skilled as an excellent negotiator, we are able to partner with the best and provide competitive and exclusive plans for the growing online marketplace.

Our COO has start up experience in the Philippines as well as one failed venture. He brings tremendous learning on "what not to do".

Product development is headed by a young, dynamic individual who spent time working with health tech in mature markets before returning to the Philippines. Continuing to improve UX and design contributes to ease of access to healthcare.

Our marketing and sales teams are young, people driven and skilled at optimisation of social media and digital marketing.This translates to lower cost of customer acquisition. 

Coming from different backgrounds and expertise, but all bound by a connection to the Philippines, and grounded by a common goal. We are passionate about our advocacy and driven by the desire to bring equitable access to healthcare for all starting with the Philippines.Our current flat structure  makes us nimble enough to pivot if and when necessary. Primarily being a young team allows us the agility to ride with the pulse.

Maria Health has partnerships through :

1) Supply side:

The Big 5 insurance HMO providers in the Philippines, namely Maxicare, Philcare, Intellicare, Medicard and Asian Life. We work with the largest clinic chains and micro insurance providers as well as auxilliary healthcare providers(Telemed, Ambulances, Pharmacies etc)

2) Payment partners:

Banks, Dragon Pay, credit card/Debit card, PayMaya

3) Strategic partners:

Banks, Fintech partners, SME's.We are looking to ally with a diverse range of institutions, such as micro finance institutions that deal with the mass segments.These help us exponentially increase our access to a larger number of people and is a win win for both Maria Health and the MFI (currently pursuing a partnership with Card Inc. in the Philippines. We are also looking to partner with Development funding Institutions like the ADB that will provide strategic guidance, given their vast experience in addressing the needs of the BOP via insurance.

Maria Health operates as an online insurance aggregator starting with the Philippines. In 2018 we booked $ 860k in total contract value of policies through the Maria Health platform. Our business model is based on a transaction fee for every booking and on across all product lines it averages out to 12% of our total contract value of the policies sold.

Key partners:                                          

-Suppliers (HMO, Insurers, Clinics etc)

-Investors

-Insurance Commission

Other partners:

-Payment partners

-Specialised API's

-Marketing partners

Key activities:

-Partnerships

-Marketing and Sales

-Operations and Regulatory

-Product development

-Technology/software development

-Design

Key resources:

-Skilled staff

-Website design/architecture

-Venture capital

-Brand

-Network effects

Value proposition:

For Suppliers:

-Additional channel of distribution

-No additional web hosting cost/tech set up fees

-Ease of on boarding

-Access to online marketplace

For Customers:

-Shop and compare 

-Lower transaction cost

-Convenience

-Multiple options

-Customer support and feedback

Cost structure:

-Customer acquisition cost

-Technology development

-Legal costs

-Opex costs

Revenue :

-Total bookings FY 2018-Total gross sales 43.8 M PHP

Revenue model:

-Transaction fees/service fees-!2% of total contract value

Customer segments:

-Demographic

-Socio economic (B, C, D, E income groups)

-Micro geographic

-SMEs/IFG

Over the next two years, we have  clear pathway to building an EBIDTA positive type business but continuing to focus on the acquisition and conversion funnel. 

Historically since inception, we have grown at 4X and our pathway to financial stability is to continue to scale distribution and own the entire customer journey from bookings to payments. We are projecting +$12M in total gross sales by 2020 which translates into $1.3 M in transaction fees through the online marketplace.

To do this, we will continue to operate as an aggregator providing choice and unbiased options to our customers, and over the next 3-6 months, continue to move upstream to better control the customer journey from being able to underwrite and take payments in house and have a direct control of the unit economics of the business.

We have successfully raised capital from VCs and angel investors through a seed round and will continue to raise capital using a combination of the above as we scale up.

Maria Health would be connected to a global community of like minded entrepreneurs who are making an impact to the world. Sharing and learning from the challenges and obstacles and opportunities at hand and brainstorming creative ways to overcome them as we scale globally .

Receiving funding which will not only help us validate our vision and mission but also help us grow our brand to become the #1 trusted brand in the healthcare insurance aggregator space starting with the Philippines. 

With technology at the heart of our business, partnering with MIT Solve and getting access to other subject matter experts in insure tech will be a huge plus!

Healthcare and health insurance have consistently scored low on priority for developing nations. Solve will help us bring the much needed conversation of equitable access to affordable healthcare coverage for everyone in Asia and beyond to a larger global audience that make up this esteemed network as we scale to include the world's underserved.

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In particular we would like to partner with organisations that are focussed on the development world such as ADB, ,WHO, IFC and World Bank. These organisations would primarily help us through partnerships/grant funding/guidance, allowing us to invest in a model to reach the underserved societies and provide them access to options in micro insurance and basic health coverage at the least and achieve our advocacy of impacting a million lives and more. 

Our current solution is targeted at the "mass" population of the Philippines. This makes up approximately 69% of the total population, socioeconomically classified as the CD markets. Grant funding and partnerships with some of the above mentioned organisations will allow us access to accelerate our solution to the other 30% that make up the E socio economic market which is classified as the poorest segment(BOP).

Then having access to 99% of the total Filipino population, Maria Health would have succeeded in providing access and inclusion to basic health coverage to the poorest of the poor and underserved while impacting more than a million lives in the Philippines alone.

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We would ramp up our investment in community driven engagement through initiatives directed at bringing healthcare coverage to inaccessible communities and the BOP. Partnering with DFI's, NGO's, Co-Ops and micro insurance companies to build a sustainable and subsidised model that provides health plans and medicine/vitamins leveraging on economies of scale. Offering exclusive and specially curated plans by coinvesting with our  partners that cater to the most pressing needs of the masses such as pregnancy care, women’s health and senior citizen coverage to make them inclusive, affordable and relevant to the masses.

Further investing on technology to move the traditional process of acquiring insurance to a  seamless digital experience. This will directly improve the system efficiency and realize our vision to positively impact a million lives.

Funding our broker licence, which will allow a tighter control on the order fulfilment process, making the transaction faster and more convenient on the Maria Health platform. This would allow us to offer in house plans akin to a digital broker. 

Rapid urbanization resulting in city congestion, poor health outcomes and an over burdened government health system, will put pressure on private insurance to ensure healthy cities and a robust health infrastructure. Investing in prevention, wellness and education on insurance protection by engaging with the BOP community at a grassroots level through Maria Health hubs. Continuing to stay committed to our advocacy of providing equitable access to healthcare solutions to all Filipinos of which a large portion are at the BOP and remain most vulnerable.

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