Digital insurance boomed post-COVID – Rupert Hoogewerf

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Rupert Hoogewerf

Digital insurance has become one of the post-corona winners in China, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chief researcher of the Hurun China Rich List as his firm published the first list of top-10 digital insurers, according to Asia One.  Health insurance was one of the key winners, he says.

Asia One:

The post-pandemic era has seen health becoming one of the hottest topics and diversified insurance products, said Rupert Hoogewerf, the chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report. Quoting statistics from Insurance Association of China, Hoogewerf said Chinese insurers’ premium income increased by 6.5 percent year on year to 2.7 trillion yuan in the first half of the year.

Insurance agencies have played a crucial part in insurance purchases, whose premium income has accounted for over 80% of the total premium income for the past consecutive years, Hoogewerf noted, adding that the practice of independent service providing and marketing has shaped the insurance sector, and, at present, near 70% of China’s 700 national insurance agencies are eligible to market online.

Digital insurance in China has enjoyed leap-forward development in the past years, Hoogewerf said. He further explained that, besides internet giants Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com, Ctrip, Didi, Meituan and other platforms have rolled out insurance services. Relying on massive active users and taking advantages of big data and cloud computing technologies, those companies have designed insurance products in accordance with the consumption scenarios of their original platforms, including entertainment, shopping, travelling and mutual health aid, to meet the insurance needs of different customer groups, said Hoogewerf. For instance, Hoogewerf added, Ant Insurance provides shipping insurance for online shopping and Ctrip offers insurance for flight accidents and delay.

In digital insurance business, there are other companies that worth gaining people’s attention, such as scenario-based health insurance marketing agencies represented by Qingsong Health Group’s insurance platform, and China’s earliest online platforms that obtained online insurance brokerage licenses represented by Huize Insurance, said Hoogewerf.

As insurtech embraces a new development era in both China and the global market, multiple business players have been competing for the position of industry leaders, Hoogewerf noted. He said the prospects of Chinese digital insurance agencies are promising, given the trend of independent service providing and marketing in insurance industry as well as the rapid development of internet technology.

More (including the top-10) at Asia One.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more experts on the corona virus crisis at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Private health insurance: lacking impact - Jeffrey Towson

Jeffrey Towson

While health care insurance has been high on China´s political agenda, the impact of private insurance is still very limited, writes Peking University professor Jeffrey Towson in the Asia Nikkei. Before turning to possible solution, he paints the grim picture.

Jeffrey Towson:  

Local and foreign insurers are lined up to fill this gap but the opportunity remains tantalizingly out of reach. Efforts in private health insurance have been stymied by regulatory constraints; by too few real private secondary care hospitals; by poor consumer awareness of health insurance; and by inaccessible, limited and non-standardized medical data for underwriting and pricing. 

Chinese consumers are becoming wealthier and more sophisticated in their expectations for healthcare. A survey last year by consultancy McKinsey & Co. of some 10,000 Chinese consumers found an increasing focus on eating healthier and safer food, practicing preventive medicine and playing sports. This growing focus on healthy living is great for healthcare and hospitals even if bad for KFC. 

Healthcare demand is also increasing as the population ages. Plus, as China develops, chronic diseases common to developed countries, such as diabetes and obesity, are becoming more common. Overall, the demand for healthcare keeps growing. 

Meanwhile, Chinese public hospitals remain overcrowded, have questionable financial incentives and are often criticized for poor service. While public insurance extends to 95% of the population, this coverage is actually very patchwork. Users are frequently required to pay 10%-35% of the cost of inpatient care. Coverage is limited with most private facilities and many treatments and medicines, especially for cancer, excluded. So despite "universal" social insurance, Chinese consumers still pay over 50% out of pocket for their care. 

There is a "significant increase in the awareness and demand for private medical treatments in China," said Neil Raymond, CEO of Pacific Prime, an insurance advisory company based in Hong Kong. "This means if you have the money, and more and more people do, then you will pay to go to good private facilities." 

This growing gap between supply and demand can be seen in the long lines outside of top Chinese hospitals virtually every day. It can be seen in the numbers traveling to Hong Kong, Singapore and California for care. It can be seen in families' continued hoarding of cash for medical emergencies. It can also be seen in the record number of attacks on hospital workers every year in China.

Possible scenario´s in the Asia Nikkei.

Jeffrey Towson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you looking for more strategy experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.