One of the leading diversified health care benefits company from the United States Aetna International on Thursday entered India with Indian Health Organisation (IHO) and announced an investment of Rs100 crore to offer new health and wellness solutions.
“India is a key market in our future growth strategy. The country has tremendous scope for growth in the healthcare sector. Affordability and accessibility are key challenges and our products and services are designed to help with this. I am confident that with our efforts and investments, we will bring healthier days to millions of members,” said Aetna International President Richard di Benedetto while announcing the investment.
The company, which operates in the country through its fully owned subsidiary –Indian Health Organisation (IHO) on Thursday launched a ‘Classic Family Consultation’ membership offering facilities such as unlimited tele-consultation with doctors and ten free doctor consultation vouchers which can be utilised at top hospitals and clinics
The membership is priced at Rs5880 for one year for a family of four. Members will also benefit from Tax exemption under section 80D.
Talking in detail about the distribution of its health and wellness solutions and others, Indian Health Organisation Managing Director Manasije Mishra said: “We want people to get our product digitally and for that we have arranged services accordingly. Membership is available in 5 cities-- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad in the first phase and it will be extended to 25 more cities in the next phase in the coming two months.”
When askes about what is coming next he said: “We have innovative products in the pipeline and in time to come those would will be available to customers.”
The company has tied up with 151 major hospitals of the country across India --Apollo, Fortis and Max, to name a few wherein its services can be availed. The membership also includes expert guidance on wellness and attractive discounts between 10 – 50 per cent on medicines, diagnosis, further treatment and consultation.
“Around 66–76 per cent of the healthcare expenses of an Indian family are outpatient expenses related to consultation, medicines, diagnosis, preventive health check-ups and other minor treatments. We estimate that a family of 4-5 members in a metro city spends between Rs25,000 to Rs35,000 per year. Our Classic Family Consultation membership should help reduce this by up to 50 per cent,” he added.