Despite the international health insurance sector being global, it’s a tight-knit community where relationships matter. Health Compass has a close working partnership with Allianz Care and we were delighted to speak to their Head of Retail, Jodi Thomas, about the work she is doing at Allianz, and the future of the IPMI market.
Jodi has overall responsibility for the individual and SME segments within Allianz Partners Health & Benefits and describes her company as the ‘The number one recognised insurance brand in the world.’
Such a strong brand positioning brings challenges for each unit within the company, including Allianz Care.
“Within the company there is a drive to be the best at what we do, to ensure we achieve growth, and meet our aspirations to be the number one global health insurer. That’s looking at the entire value chain, from proposition, to servicing, cost management, health & well-being, and digital services to support the customer experience,” said Jodi.
The health insurance sector has always seen strong dynamics between global IPMI, regional IPMI and local PMI plans, and Jodi has strong views about the positioning of each.
“I’d say there are distinct target markets each of these plans appeal to depending on the customers’ lifestyle and needs. Certainly, you see global IPMI more appealing to those who are globally mobile citizens and typically more affluent. However, regional plans are growing in popularity, particularly in the middle east and Asia where typically there is more intra-regional mobility rather than global mobility,” Jodi continued. “There is also an affordability factor at play as we see medical inflation higher generally than it has been, so a regional or global top-up plan will be appealing for those who have a local PMI plan but want more peace of mind when they are abroad for extended periods of time.”
Allianz has recently launched a very-much-changed version of its flagship policy, Care Plan for individuals & families and we asked Jodi about the key upgrades and what prompted the timing of this update.
“We undertook a strategic review in Q4 2024, looking at our full value chain and where there was room for improvement. We also examined our strengths and what we needed to maintain to drive sustainable growth,” Jodi explained. “One of the outcomes of this review was to revamp our products, particularly our flagship Care range.”
The product refresh meant that several key changes were implemented, including:
- All Care plans include medical repatriation and private room accommodation as standard benefits.
- Additional region of cover ‘Europe’
- Bariatric surgery embedded in Care Enhanced and Signature plans with a waiting period of 24 months.
- Routine maternity (in-patient and out-patient treatment) is embedded in the Care Enhanced and Signature plans, with a 12-month waiting period. Additionally, other benefits such as assisted fertility treatment and family support are available in our Care Enhanced and Signature out-patient plans.
- Cancer screening and health and wellbeing checks are included across all out-patient plans, empowering members with a thorough assessment for the early detection of illness or disease.
- Comprehensive and personalised out-patient benefits include the addition of hormone replacement therapy across all out-patient plan levels and sleep apnea treatment for the Enhanced and Signature out-patient plans.
- All new Care plans have optional dental plans corresponding to the level of the in-patient plan chosen.
Allianz has built a strong relationship with Health Compass over the past few years and we asked Jodi her view of the partnership.
“Allianz and Health Compass have a strong, long term, collaborative relationship,” she said. “I believe Health Compass offers an innovative position in the market with its objective scoring model of the IPMI landscape and their investment into AI to make it simple for the consumer. I personally value the entrepreneurial approach and thinking of Health Compass and look forward to the continued partnership.”
The Allianz partnership, with their strong product suite and progressive style, is certainly something we value here at Health Compass as something that can only enrich our platform for advisers and their customers.
We finished the interview by asking Jodi how she saw the IPMI market evolving over the next few years.
“It’s an interesting time in health insurance, where we are seeing greater levels of critical illness across the population and in younger people,” Jodi explained. “This combined with the increasing cost of care and advancements in medicine means that it’s important we have a strong affordability strategy in place to ensure we can continue to support our customers in their health journey.”