How can we prevent high healthcare costs and low insurance penetration from driving people into poverty?

Imagine facing a medical emergency without insurance and having to choose between your health and financial stability. This is the harsh reality for many Kenyans, with 38.6% living below the poverty line and catastrophic health expenses pushing millions further into poverty. The lack of affordable and accessible health insurance has created a vicious cycle, particularly for those in the informal sector, with less than 20% having health insurance coverage.

This vicious cycle has underscored the urgent need for more accessible health microinsurance solutions tailored to the low-income population’s unique needs, highlighting the importance of enhancing accessibility and providing value to curb the impoverishing effects of healthcare costs. This report summarises the key lessons and recommendations for the Kenyan HMI market, derived from the Britam and CarePay partnership. By utilizing M-TIBA wallets, which people already use for health savings, and developing the Bima ya Mwananchi (BYM) HMI product, this partnership aimed to bridge the insurance gap in Kenya by selling insurance through mobile channels. The BYM product leverages consumer insights to meet the specific needs of lower-income consumers, offering access to higher-quality healthcare facilities and enabling customers to save up for their premiums via their M-TIBA wallets.

This report provides key findings from the HMI scale-up journey followed by CarePay and Britam, funded by the Swiss Capacity Building Fund. It also includes key insights for the Kenyan market on how to continue scaling up HMI, such as:

• Leveraging customer data for better product design,
• Positioning private HMI options with compulsory national schemes like NHIF, and
• Adopting a hybrid model that combines digital and face-to-face interactions to build trust and improve customer experience.

Explore these insights and more in our comprehensive report, and learn how innovative health microinsurance solutions are transforming lives in Kenya.