Medigo, a health third party administrator and medical concierge company has launched Globalcover to employers in the UK. It covers cancer treatment, neurosurgery, heart surgery, and live-organ transplants at hospitals worldwide. It provides patients with access to the latest medical treatments that are not always available or accessible in their home country either in the public or private healthcare systems. Globalcare is not an insurance but a subscription service for the growing number of UK patients who self-pay for treatment.
The product was launched in Russia in 2018, underwritten by Sberbank Life Insurance. It was launched in the UK in 2019 with cover underwritten by AmTrust Europe. Price Forbes & Partners is the product distributor. Medigo GmbH is the introducer of clients suitable for the product to Price Forbes & Partners and is also the claims administrator. AmTrust Europe provides medical concierge and second medical opinion services. Medigo would like to launch the product in other EU countries.
Globalcover helps people confirm their diagnosis and access medical treatment available globally. It is for employers to offer to employees on a paid for or voluntary basis, not for individual purchase.
Features include:
- Treatment limit £1 million
- Multiple treatment options (US, Europe & Asia) in 35 countries
- No medical treatment in the UK
- Travel and accommodation costs (including a companion)
- Priority access to leading hospitals
- Treatment costs rather than lump sum
- Second medical opinion
- Medical concierge service
Globalcare is not an insurance but a subscription service for the growing number of UK patients who self-pay for treatment. The annual subscription offers a medical concierge service for all medical specialties as well as access to second medical opinions (two per year), both in the UK and abroad. This service provides personal support and logistics for medical treatment booking in 35 countries including the UK. A personal assistant helps patients choose a medical provider, compare treatment costs, book the medical treatment, arrange travel and accommodation, arrange any necessary medical record translation or interpretation, and offer aftercare support. This is for employers to offer as an employee benefit, but is not available as a voluntary benefit or individual purchase.
This is a very niche market and Medigo may have an uphill struggle to sell it, as UK employers have in the past shown reluctance to buy similar covers or services. It has some similarity to the approach taken by the startup Passport2Health which failed as a result of minimal take up by UK companies and their employees.
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