Alexander Forbes launches health cover for retirees

Financial service group Alexander Forbes has launched a new medical scheme targeting retirees. Titled Ngao Milele Plan, the product will provide year-on-year cover through two insurers that have accepted to act as underwriters for the elderly.

Beneficiaries will also have the option of a drawdown if they do not want to buy the cover.

Alexander Forbes chief executive Sundeep Raichura said retirees who need medical cover the most usually have less options and have their earnings down by almost 70 per cent.

“Sixty per cent of healthcare costs happen in retirement and that is when medical cover from employment fall off ,so when the elderly need the cover most, they do not have it,” Mr Raichura said in Nairobi on Tuesday.

CHOOSE A PACKAGE

Only a handful of employees offer post-retirement medical cover, and 56 per cent of the elderly rely on relatives and well-wishers for their health needs, he added.

Alexander Forbes wants staff aged between 18 and 60 to sign up and contribute to a kitty that will be available upon retirement. Contributions will be determined by the time left in employment.

Depending on the size of one’s savings, one will be able to choose a package on what level of inpatient-outpatient cover they would want. Alexander Forbes, which manages over 260 schemes, said it used its buying power to negotiate with the two underwriters for favourable packages.

Mr Raichura said retirees will get minimal exclusion, adding that restrictive conditions used to keep them out of insurance options will be removed.