Google’s Verily launches insurance partnership with Swiss Re

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (Swiss Re CorSo), the commercial insurance arm of reinsurance giant Swiss Re, is backing a new Verily subsidiary focused on employer stop-loss called Coefficient Insurance Company.

Verily is the life sciences and healthcare subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent of Google. The firm’s new insurance subsidiary, Coefficient, has been launched to help employers realise improved value via its “precision risk” solution.

The new insurer will combine innovative health technology solutions with novel insurance and payment methods, leveraging Verily’s strengths integrating hardware, software and data science. Coefficient will also make use of Swiss Re CorSo’s risk knowledge, distribution capabilities and position in the employer stop-loss marketplace.

According to an announcement on the launch and backing, its precision risk solution enables self-funded employers to control cost volatility via a data-driven model that is unique in the traditional employer stop-loss market. The solution is designed to provide self-funded employers with a more predictable benefit plan, and uses an analytics-based underwriting engine to highlight areas of cost volatility, and cover those exposures with relevant policy provisions.

Coefficient also plans to integrate its parent’s suite of health devices and tech-driven interventions for workers and dependents into its solution to improve health outcomes and also to control cost.

It’s also been revealed that Swiss Re CorSo has agreed to make a minority investment in Coefficient, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, which includes regulatory approvals. As a result of this investment, Ivan Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of North America, Swiss Re CorSo, is expected to join the new insurer’s Board of Directors.

For Swiss Re, this partnership and investment places it at the centre of an initiative working with one of the biggest tech firms in the world to provide improved employers stop-loss coverage. Employer stop-loss insurance protects self-funded employers from unexpected and large employee health benefit claims by reimbursing employers for claims above a set limit.

Andy Conrad, CEO of Verily, said: “Employers have been facing rising and increasingly unpredictable healthcare costs for years. “Coefficient is aimed at reducing blind spots and providing greater cost control mechanisms for self-funded employers, and we expect that partnering with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions will help us to better develop and distribute our precision risk solution to the employer stop-loss market. Over time, we look forward to integrating Coefficient with Verily’s employer health solutions, including mobile health devices and innovative care management programs, in order to align payment models with better health outcomes.”

Andreas Berger, CEO, Swiss Re CorSo, added: “Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has long prided itself for being a knowledge-based and data- driven insurer. Today, we’re building on that strong foundation by partnering with Alphabet’s Verily to use advanced technology and data analytics to innovate risk management in the employer stop-loss space.

“We look forward to working with Coefficient in delivering on our mission to address industry inefficiencies, provide an outstanding customer experience and advance corporate insurance together.”

Source: Reinsurance News