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Soaring Healthcare Costs in the USA Is Greed Winning Over Welfare by EOS Intelligence
by EOS Intelligence EOS Intelligence No Comments

Soaring Healthcare Costs in the USA: Is Greed Winning Over Welfare?

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Americans have been struggling with access to affordable healthcare for years, with thousands of stories of an unexpected illness driving a patient to bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the USA spends much more than European nations on healthcare but covers the smallest percentage of the healthcare costs. Wasteful spending, excessive administrative costs, no limit to medicines prices, lack of a single unified interface system, and passive attitude by the government are all building blocks of a wall separating Americans from the quality and affordable healthcare system expected from any developed country.

According to a 2020 article published by Harvard, the annual cost of healthcare in the USA was around US$3.5 trillion, of which around 33% is believed to have been squandered. Simultaneously, healthcare costs are soaring, contributing significantly to several issues around the delivery and affordability of healthcare in the USA. The same Harvard article revealed that about 40-44% of Americans decided to omit or postpone medical treatment, tests, or care owing to their high costs. Although the USA has the highest national healthcare expenditure, the country registers one of the lowest life expectancies among the developed economies. Additionally, around 10% of the population does not have health insurance.

This problem is so deep-rooted and widespread that the issue of healthcare costs was referred to as the “tapeworm of American economic competitiveness” by investor Warren Buffet. Almost 67% of the US population wishes the federal government to regulate healthcare prices in the country. Yet, despite it being such a grave problem, the US government does not seem to be taking any (visibly) constructive measures to resolve it. While significant political aspects are certainly at play, a deep dive into the cost drivers of the US healthcare system might shed some light on the complexity of this issue.

Soaring Healthcare Costs in the USA - Is Greed Winning Over Welfare by EOS Intelligence

Soaring Healthcare Costs in the USA – Is Greed Winning Over Welfare by EOS Intelligence

Healthcare administrative costs hold the lion’s share of total healthcare expenditure

One of the major components of healthcare costs in the USA is the annual cost of healthcare administration at US$1,055 per capita, according to a 2021 estimation by the Peterson Foundation. The US spending on healthcare administrative purposes is by far the highest globally. Compared with Germany, the second-highest spender on healthcare administration at US$306 per capita, the stark difference of US$749 per capita speaks volumes about the current situation in the USA. The country also registers the world’s highest share of administrative costs in total healthcare costs, at around 15-30% annually. Wasteful administrative spending is estimated to contribute about half of that share (7.5% to 15% of the country’s total healthcare spending), translating to anywhere from US$285 billion to US$570 billion in 2019.

The USA spent around US$950 billion in 2019 on healthcare administration, which translates to 25% of the national healthcare expenditure (NHE) that year. A significant part of the excessive administrative expenditure is billing and insurance-related costs (BIR), including overhead costs for medical billing and services such as claim submission, claim reconciliation, and payment processing. Profits made by the insurance companies account for the highest share of BIR costs. Healthcare providers also get part of these administrative costs for note-taking and record-keeping during the medical billing process. According to an article published by Harvard in 2020, there are occupations in US healthcare that do not exist elsewhere, such as medical-record coding to claim-submission specialists. Further, the article claims that in other countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, where multiple payers and private providers exist, healthcare administration costs less than 50% of the USA equivalent.

As per 2019 McKinsey research, the USA could decrease healthcare administrative expenditure by 30% through automation and streamlining of the BIR processes. Claims processing software enables automation of BIR processes, however, only 15% of US hospitals employ such software, as per Definitive Healthcare tech data.

Healthcare services costs, including physicians’ salaries, empty patients’ pockets

A 2018 JAMA study revealed that physician salaries in the USA were higher than in other developed countries. A survey by Medscape in 2021 revealed that physicians earned the most in the USA compared to other developed countries. On average, the annual income of physicians in the USA was US$316,000, followed by Germany (US$183,000) and the UK (US$138,000).

As per 2019 Commonwealth Fund research, Americans are much less likely to consult a doctor in case of a health issue, at half the rate compared to other developed countries. This can be attributed to the fact that the cost of healthcare services is considerably higher in the USA vis-à-vis other developed nations. According to a 2017 report, the average cost of a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in the USA was US$78,100, whereas the same procedure cost only US$11,700 in the Netherlands. While the procedure cost is already far lower, in the Netherlands, patients will likely have the procedure cost fully covered by insurance without any co-payment. The USA also reported higher costs for outpatient procedures such as MRI scans and colonoscopies compared with other developed countries.

Skyrocketing prescription drug prices further inflate healthcare costs

As per OECD, in 2019, the average spending on prescription drugs by an American was about US$1,126 per capita, which was over double that in other developed nations. As per CMS, prescription drug spending in the USA by the federal government is expected to grow by 6.1% through 2027.

The growth in prescription drug spending could be attributed to increased focus on specialty pharmaceuticals and precision medicine. Specialty medicines are experimental therapies for treating cancers, autoimmune diseases, or chronic conditions. Some specialty medicines employ genetic data to provide highly targeted, personalized therapy. Owing to the complex nature of these drugs, they are generally expensive to develop and distribute.

For instance, a novel specialty drug called Hemgenix to treat hemophilia B is the most expensive drug ever approved by the FDA. The price of a single infusion of this gene therapy is around US$3.5 million. No healthcare providers have submitted a claim for Hemgenix so far in 2023.

Apart from specialty medicines, pricing strategies for drugs in general play a significant role in soaring healthcare costs in the USA. Drug producers set a list price based on their product’s estimated value, and the price list can be increased by the producers as they see fit. In the USA, there are few regulations to curb producers from increasing drug prices in this way.

Chronic diseases add fuel to the fire of escalating healthcare costs

As per the CDC, six out of ten adults in the USA have a chronic disease or condition. The most common chronic diseases or conditions in the USA include heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Furthermore, according to 2022 research published in the National Library of Medicine, of the population 50 years and older, the number with at least one chronic disease is estimated to increase by 99.5% from 71.522 million in 2020 to 142.66 million by 2050.

There is a robust correlation between the prevalence of chronic diseases and rising healthcare costs. As per a report from the American Action Forum, the USA spends about US$3.7 trillion annually for the treatment of chronic health diseases and the consequent loss of economic productivity. Routine office visits, prescriptions, outpatient treatments, or emergency care account for most of this healthcare spending in the USA.

Expanding geriatric population contributes to rising healthcare costs

According to the US Census Bureau, 21% of the US population is expected to be 65 years or older by 2030. The growing aging population is expected to drive healthcare costs in the USA in two ways: through Medicare enrollment growth and the increase in the prevalence of more complex and chronic conditions. Medicare had over 65 million beneficiaries as of March 2023, a number that is expected to increase by 2030 dramatically. This enrollment growth will impact NHE since Medicare is a publicly funded program. As per the CMS, in 2020, the USA spent US$900.8 billion on Medicare, and the CMS expects that Medicare spending will surge by 7.6% annually through 2028.

The elderly population is vulnerable to chronic conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, among others. According to the National Council on Aging, 80% of older Americans have a chronic condition, and 77% of older adults have two or more chronic conditions. These chronic conditions will require ongoing treatment or long-term care at a nursing home or assisted living facility. These outcomes will account for increasing healthcare costs and overall national healthcare expenditure in the USA.

Greed over welfare

Corporate avarice is another factor said to be responsible for the rising healthcare costs in the USA. Insulin list price in the USA is 10 times higher than that in Canada. Not only pharma companies but also renowned hospitals charge more for the same service compared with less renowned hospitals. This applies to various services, from complex surgeries to simple X-rays.

Price regulation is the only solution to this problem that could be implemented with enough political will. The US state of Maryland has introduced this regulation for hospital services, while most European countries have regulated the prices of pharmaceuticals. However, implementing price regulation would mean that the compensation of the top management executives or the CXOs would decline, or the budget for R&D would reduce. This causes much resistance among top management executives to arrive at a constructive decision of choosing between self or service. However, the fact that patients delay treatment because of rising prices speaks strongly in favor of introducing at least some level of price regulation.

EOS Perspective

Standardization is one of the key ways to decrease administrative costs. Just for comparison purposes, checking out of a grocery store is easy because all products possess bar codes, and all credit card machines are the same or uniform. Similarly, mobile banking and inter-banking are straightforward since the Federal Reserve has set standards for how banks should interface with each other.

However, the American healthcare system has been immune to such a standardization. Every health insurer needs a different bar-code-equivalent and payment-systems submission. In addition, it is tough to send electronic medical records (EMRs) from one hospital to another because there is no mandate by the federal government for them to be in compatible formats. Additionally, this lack of standardization benefits many healthcare providers, as they strive to avoid the interchange of EMRs to prevent patients from switching doctors.

Standardization is possible only when prominent stakeholders are involved in it, agree to it, and decide they need it. The largest stakeholder in the US healthcare system is the federal government. Buying capacity and administrative control to compel payers and providers to adopt billing and interface rules to standardize the process lies within the federal government’s responsibilities.

Similarly, a price cap regulation needs to be brought about in the pharmaceutical sector. Price regulation is the only way to lower the prices of prescription drugs. Apart from this, the federal government needs to implement price cap regulation in healthcare services such as X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, etc.

It is the government that should introduce regulations that put caps on drugs and services prices, at least in certain product and service groups. It is the government that should establish the infrastructure to materialize standardization and introduce a deadline by which all interactions must be standardized.

However, to date, the federal government only considers providing insurance – particularly Medicare and Medicaid – to people as its role rather than looking out for the entire healthcare system as a unit. This mentality needs to change if healthcare costs are to be brought down.

Bridging the Gap between MDx Testing and Point-of-care by EOS Intelligence
by EOS Intelligence EOS Intelligence No Comments

Bridging the Gap between MDx Testing and Point-of-care

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The COVID-19 pandemic brought innovation and investment to the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market, opening new pathways to simplify and expand testing. The previously complicated and time-consuming molecular testing gradually started moving towards rapid testing, changing how we manage healthcare. The growing popularity of rapid testing gave way to self-sampling and at-home sampling, which is set to bring molecular testing closer to patients. Another noticeable transformation the industry witnessed post-pandemic was the rise of molecular testing at point-of-care (POC), which is set to disrupt the way clinicians deliver accurate diagnoses in record time.

The latest generation of IVD devices is focused on providing quick diagnosis and being cost-effective. This has led to IVD companies focusing on developing simpler and less invasive sample collection methods, such as self-sampling tests.

IVD innovation is also transforming molecular testing to make healthcare more accessible. To a certain extent, dependence on laboratories is gradually decreasing with molecular testing available at POC. A key development in this area is the use of multiplex assay, which allows to test for multiple pathogens simultaneously, allowing for early diagnosis.

Molecular testing moving near-patient

After using antigen tests during COVID-19, demand for molecular testing for a variety of diseases at POC has risen drastically. In 2023, the industry faced an acute shortage of skilled laboratory staff, further increasing the need for molecular testing to move near-patient. This has resulted in physicians and patients preferring molecular tests at POC (MPOC). Some prominent industry players, such as Cepheid, Abbott, and BioFire, offer CLIA-waived PCR instruments and multiplex assay tests for the POC setting. A CLIA-waived certification allows tests to be performed at a doctor’s office by a non-technician instead of other more complex MDx tests requiring specialized technicians.

Moving these multiplex molecular tests near-patient is revamping the IVD landscape, positively impacting both the patients and payers. Early diagnosis with POC diagnostics empowers physicians with evidence-based decision-making at an early stage. Moreover, with multiplex assays increasingly being used for MPOC and delivering results within 10-25 minutes (in the case of respiratory assays), the wait time for patients to receive the correct diagnosis has reduced substantially. This results in clinicians being able to start with proper treatment on the patient’s first visit, thus reducing the total number of patient visits. Consequently, physicians are also able to accommodate a higher number of patients.

In fact, MPOC could become a critical element of the value-based care model in the USA. The value-based program incentivizes healthcare providers/physicians to provide quality healthcare. With MPOC offering quicker turnaround time and lower testing costs, physicians/payers will likely be better incentivized and motivated to deliver high-quality services.

Growing demand for self-sampling/at-home sampling

The pandemic raised public awareness regarding the use of self-sampling kits and increased demand for them. Further, the FDA granted Emergency Use Authorization to multiple assays during the pandemic to quickly onboard self-test kits and penetrate the US households with this novel testing method.

Driven by the convenience, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility offered by self-sampling kits, they are becoming increasingly popular, particularly amongst the aging population that needs tools and technologies to manage health at home. It is also proving to be a sustainable testing method, as it can be used for preventative screening as well as allows for discretion for patients who may not prefer to get tested in a laboratory or by a physician, particularly in case of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Additionally, unlike OTC tests, molecular diagnostic tests allow for better accuracy in results and are recognized by the FDA for clinical diagnosis use. This has given confidence to healthcare providers to advocate self-sampling, as they stand to benefit from bringing care to patients’ homes, eventually reducing healthcare expenses. In a value-based setting, at-home testing proves to particularly benefit physicians who are able to eliminate unnecessary patient visits.

For the prominent industry players, at-home testing represents a key opportunity area to grow in the niche direct-to-consumer testing segment. Companies are also using these tests as an opportunity to target the rural population who do not have easy access to laboratories. Besides infectious and respiratory diseases, companies are now trying to foray into other treatment areas, such as human papillomavirus (HPV). Self-sample collection for HPV has begun in Europe with BD’s Onclarity HPV assay.

EOS Perspective

Establishing a strong foothold in both self-sampling and MPOC segments is seen as a sizeable business opportunity for stakeholders of the IVD market. In the near term, it is likely for the IVD players to continue launching new assays and technologies to expand offerings.

For self-sampling, MDx players have been focusing on infectious diseases, and there still is a vast untapped market for self-sampling at home, specifically when testing for STIs. In November 2023, LetsGetChecked became the first company to secure FDA approval for chlamydia and gonorrhea at-home sample collection. This has opened doors for other players to enter this niche market, and they are likely to jump on the bandwagon by seeking FDA approvals for their STIs self-sampling kits. Major players, such as Hologic, are already gathering data to launch a self-collection device for STIs. Hologic’s Aptima Swab for STIs multi-testing is approved in the EU, and the company is now conducting trials to get approval in the USA.

In the near term, a noticeable trend in the MPOC segment is expected to be the focus of MDx players on developing multiplex assays that follow the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. There is a growing demand from physicians for multiplex assays that allow them to test for multiple viruses and deliver results in under four hours. Companies have already started to take matters into their own hands by focusing their R&D efforts on developing panels and preparing them for FDA approval and CLIA waiver. Becton Dickinson announced the launch of its first molecular diagnostics POC instrument, BD Elience, by 2025. The device is expected to allow panel testing for respiratory and sexually transmitted diseases.

Although the self-sampling and MPOC segments present many opportunities for the IVD stakeholders, some roadblocks may hinder their development and adoption. For instance, multiplex assay reimbursement schemes may hamper their widespread adoption in the POC setting. Per the latest guidelines, reimbursement schemes for multiplex assays are less favorable than those for singleplex assays. Furthermore, at present, there are no reimbursement schemes in place to reimburse for self-sampling at home, so patients are required to pay out-of-pocket.

Several players face a crucial challenge for at-home collection: proving to the FDA that the self-sample collected is not contaminated or poorly taken. FDA requirements for approval of these tests are very stringent and demand that companies prove the adequacy of the sample collected by patients to match that of laboratory collection.

Despite these challenges, self-sampling and MPOC present untapped opportunities for many IVD players seeking to expand their capabilities and offerings to position themselves better in the MDx market.

Genetic Testing Fraud – The Next Big Concern for the US Healthcare Industry by EOS Intelligence
by EOS Intelligence EOS Intelligence No Comments

Genetic Testing Fraud – The Next Big Concern for the US Healthcare?

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Over the past few years, lab fraud has become a concern in the USA with the increase in financial gains obtainable through fraudulent billing practices, unnecessary testing, bundling of expensive tests (such as tests for rare respiratory pathogens or genetic tests) with COVID-19 tests, and increase in the number of genetic testing labs. A recent update in the compliance and regulatory requirements and increased focus on analyzing fraud testing schemes are expected to help curb lab fraud in the country.

Genetic testing, due to its increased use in the healthcare industry, is a particularly lucrative fraud target. Despite the presence of various compliance programs and regulations, several laboratories, together with patient brokers, telemedicine companies, and call centers, commit fraud and defraud Medicare. This strains the healthcare system as it increases healthcare costs and influences the patients’ trust in testing, labs, and other stakeholders.

Clinical labs face less scrutiny than full-service health centers. Thus, they are more frequently involved in lab fraud activities. Some of the most commonly noticed lab fraud cases in the USA include kickback schemes, fraudulent billing, and unnecessary testing, among others. Labs team up with parties such as patient brokers to get patients, doctors to refer patients or prescribe unnecessary tests, telemedicine companies to order tests, and call centers to target Medicare beneficiaries and then defraud Medicare by submitting claims.

Lab fraud in genetic testing has emerged in the USA over the past few years due to sprouting genetic testing labs across the country and the increasing use of such tests in health practices to assist disease diagnosis and predict disease risk. Genetic testing enables healthcare providers to offer personalized medicine based on the individual’s genetic makeup and helps identify how the patient will respond to treatments. Genetic testing fraud, mainly targeting cancer screening, pharmacogenetics, and cardiovascular diseases, is on the rise.

One of many such fraud cases was noted in August 2023, when LabSolutions LLC, based in Georgia, USA, submitted over US$463 million worth of unnecessary genetic and other laboratory tests to Medicare, the national health insurance program, of which Medicare paid over US$187 million. These tests were obtained through kickbacks and bribes. The scale of similar fraud is evident from the fact that in July 2022, the Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 36 defendants in 13 federal districts for more than US$1.2 billion in fraudulent telemedicine, cardiovascular and genetic testing, and durable medical equipment purchases.

The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 further spiked fraud cases, as it gave an opportunity to bundle COVID-19 testing with other forms of expensive testing that patients did not need, including genetic testing for various diseases and tests for rare respiratory pathogens. Financial incentives offered by the federal government to encourage participation in COVID-19 control-related businesses also attracted fraudsters in the laboratory business. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services report, in May 2023, around 378 labs billed Medicare Part B for add-on COVID-19 tests at high volume and payment amounts. Of these, around 276 labs billed for more add-on tests, such as billing Medicaid for COVID-19 tests alongside respiratory pathogen panels (RPPs), individual respiratory tests (IRTs), allergy tests, and genetic testing. An additional 161 of these 378 labs also reported higher costs than usual for add-on testing.

Lab fraud behind money loss, erosion of trust, and increased insurance premiums

Lab fraud causes a significant adverse effect on the integrity and quality of the healthcare system as unnecessary testing and fraudulent billing practices increase healthcare costs, compromise the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic tests, and erode trust in healthcare providers, including doctors and hospitals, among others. Healthcare providers who unknowingly refer patients to fraudulent labs are also likely to face a reputation hit.

Above all, healthcare fraud can cause tens of billions of dollars in yearly losses. According to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, taxpayers are losing over US$100 billion annually to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, including billing for unapproved COVID-19 tests, genetic testing fraud, home healthcare billing, and fraud billing for medical equipment.

Companies manufacturing genetic testing kits may face reputational damage if their products are used in the genetic testing fraud scheme. This is expected to negatively impact their market presence as customers/patients will lose confidence and will likely move to reputed competitors. Also, healthcare providers may stop referring the company products to their patients.

Increasing fraud will likely drive the need for more stringent regulations for genetic companies manufacturing genetic testing kits (requiring compliance in conducting in-depth clinical studies, providing extensive data, maintaining necessary documentation, labeling and packaging requirements, etc.). This is expected to increase the operational costs for genetic testing companies and, thus, the price of genetic testing services. Ever-increasing genetic testing fraud is expected to potentially disrupt the market’s growth trajectory as patients become more cautious. Individuals are likely to receive tests that are not appropriate or required and may become skeptical about the necessity and accuracy of the test result.

Read our related Perspective:
Commentary: The Promise of Comprehensive Genomic Profiling in the USA

Lab fraud also increases insurance premiums as fraudulent activities increase the cost of claims, which in turn increases insurance companies’ expenses. The insurance companies are bound to raise premiums to cover additional costs. Additionally, individuals receiving genetic testing through fraud schemes will likely be denied future coverage. This is because many genetic tests for inherited diseases are offered as a one-time payment for a lifetime of coverage, and fraud schemes can compromise the individual’s access to this benefit.

Regulatory updates and strategies aimed at combating lab fraud

Preventing lab fraud is crucial to maintaining the integrity of scientific research and the functioning of healthcare systems. Lab fraud can be prevented, or at least significantly diminished, by establishing comprehensive compliance programs, stringent licensing and certification requirements for labs and healthcare providers, encouraging employees and stakeholders in labs and healthcare organizations to report any suspected fraud incidences, education, secured data handling, continuous monitoring, improved medical billing processes, and enforcing penalties and legal consequences.

In January 2023, the US government updated compliance and regulatory requirements for laboratories to prevent lab fraud. As per the updates, the laboratories must submit a medical necessity document supporting the ordered test, progress note, and the treating doctor’s signature to support a claim.

Also, providing incentives to physicians to encourage them to refer patients for lab services will be considered a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, and both laboratory and healthcare professionals will face legal consequences.

Laboratories that fail to adhere to lab billing guidelines published through National Coverage Determinations (NCDs) or Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) will face civil liability and triple damages under the False Claims Act.

The government also continued its scrutiny of medically unnecessary genetic testing schemes, audited genetic labs, and tried to recoup funds where the medical necessity requirement was unmet. Also, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a fraud alert warning the public about the proliferation of COVID-19 testing and genetic testing scams.

Moreover, in June 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took a crucial measure to regulate an extensive array of laboratory tests, including prenatal genetic screenings, to ensure test result accuracy and prevent unreliable outcomes. The US FDA ensures that the lab test delivers results as claimed by the lab test developer by analyzing the device’s accuracy, specificity, clinical characteristics, and analytical sensitivity. Regulating these laboratory tests will likely reduce the chances of fraud, as laboratories will not be allowed to run specific tests if they are not cleared or approved by the FDA.

EOS Perspective

Increased awareness about genetic testing and its easy accessibility have made it more vulnerable to lab fraud in the country. Genetic testing scams are evolving significantly wherein the scammers (a lab owner or a genetic testing company’s representative) are offering free screening, cheek swabs, or testing kits for genetic testing to get the individual’s Medicare information and submit claims. An increase in the number of genetic testing companies manufacturing direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits is expected to further contribute to genetic testing fraud as it will become easier for lab owners to get access to genetic testing kits and scam Medicare beneficiaries.

Also, the introduction of new tests creates potential opportunities for lab fraud as the lack of proper oversight and safeguards makes it easier for lab fraudsters to exploit gaps while appropriate regulatory norms for those tests are being developed. Thus, there is an increased need to set the regulatory norms for any new tests being developed before they are put to use.

While various compliance and regulatory measures are in place to prevent lab fraud, ethical practices, education, and training for lab employees will likely play a significant role in preventing lab fraud in the country. Many healthcare professionals are often involved between doctors prescribing the test and the persons administering the test. Thus, it becomes challenging to determine whether the referrals are conducted efficiently.

In addition, strong collaboration among healthcare insurers, healthcare providers, and the government can also help prevent this kind of fraud. The government plays a vital role here, as it has the tools to lay more emphasis on continuous monitoring and auditing of genetic testing labs to keep track of lab activities and prevent fraud cases.

The Promise of Comprehensive Genomic Profiling in the USA by EOS Intelligence
by EOS Intelligence EOS Intelligence No Comments

The Promise of Comprehensive Genomic Profiling in the USA

Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP) is a diagnostic tool that sequences a patient’s tumor DNA to identify genetic mutations that drive cancer growth. Insurance coverage for CGP varies widely depending on the type of cancer, the patient’s stage of disease, and the specific test being used.  Despite CGP’s tremendous potential to transform cancer care and diagnosis, its implementation is hindered by inconsistent insurance coverage policies.

Comprehensive genomic profiling is a cutting-edge technology that is revolutionizing cancer diagnosis and treatment. Unlike standard gene testing, which looks at a small number of genes, CGP analyzes thousands of genes across the entire genome. This provides a much more comprehensive picture of genetic mutations that may be driving a patient’s cancer, thereby leading to more personalized and effective treatment options. Despite the benefits of CGP, access to this technology remains limited due to a variety of factors, which include high costs, limited insurance coverage, and regulatory hurdles.

One of the biggest challenges for CGP has been payer acceptability. Payers tend to be cautious about covering CGP because it is a relatively new technology, and there is still some debate about its clinical value and cost-effectiveness.

Private payers in the USA are more likely to cover CGP for patients with rare or complex cancers or for patients who have failed standard therapies, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

In contrast, public payers, such as Medicare, may have more restrictive criteria for coverage and only cover CGP for certain types of cancer or for patients who meet specific clinical criteria. These criteria could include a requirement that CGP tests be performed in Medicare-accredited labs. Other major public payers in the USA, such as Medicaid and Veterans Affairs (VA) health plans, also cover CGP, but each payer has different criteria for coverage. Generally, they require that the test is ordered by a physician and is deemed medically necessary for the patient’s treatment plan.

The lack of coverage makes it financially inaccessible for many patients, which limits the ability of healthcare providers to consistently offer CGP testing. This presents a significant obstacle to the widespread adoption of this promising diagnostic tool. Some payers are hesitant to reimburse CGP due to concerns about the cost-effectiveness of the test and the lack of long-term data on clinical outcomes. However, major public and private payers such as Medicare, UnitedHealth (UHC), Aetna, and Cigna, among others, have included CGP tests in their health policies in recent years, nonetheless, the coverage remains uneven.

Cost and regulatory hurdles are stifling the growth of CGP

Payers have historically covered traditional testing, such as immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), and single gene tests, but have been hesitant to provide coverage for CGP. This is mainly because these tests have been around for longer than CGP, so payers are more familiar with them and are more comfortable covering them.

Another reason is that CGP is more expensive than traditional tests. While the exact cost varies depending on the specific test and lab performing it, the cost of CGP tests can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, while traditional tests are typically in the range of a few hundred dollars. This is due to the fact that CGP tests are more complex as they analyze a large number of genes, whereas traditional tests focus on analyzing one specific gene at a time, making them less expensive.

According to a study published in 2021 by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, CGP could improve overall survival by about 6% (0.06 years, a relatively small but meaningful amount of time for cancer patients and their families) for US$9,000 per patient, compared with traditional testing strategies. On the other hand, as per a 2022 article by the American Journal of Managed Care, although the cost of CGP tests is high, these tests can help identify the most effective treatment options for each patient, which can lead to better outcomes and fewer unnecessary treatments, which in turn can lower overall healthcare costs.

Read our related Perspective:
 Commentary: Genetic Testing Fraud – The Next Big Concern for the US Healthcare?

 

To further educate the industry about the benefits associated with CGP, Illumina, a California-based biotechnology company, established Access to Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (ACGP) in 2020, which is an alliance of seven members, including leading molecular diagnostics companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and laboratories. ACGP aims to educate about CGP for advanced cancer patients by engaging directly with the US payers.

Additionally, a few strategies are being adopted by the healthcare industry, such as bundling CGP tests with other diagnostic tests to reduce the overall cost per test. This way, instead of running a CGP test and a separate test for a specific genetic mutation, both tests could be combined into one-panel tests. This could reduce the overall cost per test by eliminating the need to run two separate tests, as well as reducing the need for multiple lab visits and samples. However, it’s important to note that the savings may vary depending on the specific tests and the laboratory.

The ambiguity surrounding reimbursement for CGP tests among the insurers also stems from the FDA’s ongoing debate over proper classification and regulatory framework for these tests. While the FDA recognizes the potential benefits of CGP, concerns linger about its quality, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. To address these concerns, the FDA has been working with stakeholders to establish reimbursement policies that make CGP tests accessible to patients. These stakeholders range from academic institutions (such as Mayo Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering) to health insurance companies (such as UnitedHealthcare and Aetna) to CGP test developers (such as Guardant Health and Foundation Medicine).

Payers’ coverage for CGP is expanding but is highly uneven

Payers, such as Aetna and Cigna, have included CGP tests in their health plans but do not cover all types of cancers. While an increasing number of payers is expanding coverage for CGP, there is a lot of variation in terms of what is covered and for which types or stages of cancer.

For instance, Aetna announced in 2020 that it would cover CGP testing for certain types of breast and colorectal cancer. However, the coverage for each type of cancer gene mutation is different.

While Aetna’s policies for CGP coverage are very nuanced, Cigna’s are complicated. Cigna‘s coverage varies depending on the type of CGP test being ordered, whether the test is considered medically necessary for the patient’s condition, and the patient’s location. Sometimes, the patient needs to meet certain criteria to be eligible for coverage (e.g., only the advanced stage of cancer is considered under coverage).

Similarly, UHC, one of the leading private health plan providers in the USA, also limited its CGP coverage to patients with advanced cancers, such as lung, breast, or colorectal cancer. However, in early 2023, UHC issued a new policy expanding coverage for CGP tests from Foundation Medicine and Guardant Health. The new policy covers CGP tests for a wider range of cancers, including early-stage cancers and other types of tumors. The goal of this policy change is to increase access to CGP testing and to help catch cancer earlier when it is more treatable.

Aetna and Cigna are not far behind in expanding their coverage for CGP tests. In 2023, both companies included additional benefits for members receiving CGP testing, such as on-site care in some facilities and counseling services.

There’s an increasing recognition that CGP can help identify patients who may benefit from targeted therapies. Overall, payers are becoming more open to covering CGP, but there is still variability in their policies and coverage levels.

EOS Perspective

The adoption of CGP is creating a ripple effect throughout the healthcare industry. Payers are increasingly recognizing the value of CGP tests and expanding their coverage. By providing broader coverage for CGP tests, payers can position themselves as offering more cutting-edge care options. This can give them a competitive edge over other insurers who may not provide coverage for these tests. In addition, by broadening the coverage of tests for early-stage cancer, payers can help to identify and treat cancers earlier, which can lead to better outcomes for patients and potentially lower costs in the long run.

Further, the growing adoption of CGP has an impact on healthcare industry stakeholders beyond payers. It is likely to fuel a shift towards precision medicine, where treatments are tailored to the individual patient based on genetic information.

Diagnostic companies are likely to invest in CGP technology to stay competitive and offer more comprehensive tests. For healthcare providers, offering CGP tests allows them to differentiate themselves, improve patient outcomes, and attract more patients. However, it can also add complexity to the treatment process and increase costs if not managed correctly (e.g., wrong interpretation of genetic information due to the large amount of data for individual patients).

For test kit producers and labs, CGP is creating new opportunities for growth and market share but also increased competition and pressure to lower costs and improve accuracy.

Overall, while still not fully embraced by the industry, CGP is shaking up the healthcare landscape, creating both great opportunities and new challenges for all stakeholders.

CVS Moves to Home-based Care with Acquisition of Signify Health by EOS Intelligence
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Commentary: CVS Moves to Home-based Care with Acquisition of Signify Health

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Retail health companies increasingly invest in primary care, particularly home-based care, with patients demanding low-cost and convenient care delivery. The recent acquisition of home healthcare company Signify Health by retail health giant CVS Health highlights the industry’s growing interest in home-based care.

There is an increased demand for at-home healthcare services and health assessments, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic changed customer preferences towards access to convenient at-home services.

At-home care can bring down expenses by reducing hospital visits and detecting health problems in advance. A study published by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in April 2021 indicated that at-home patient care could reduce hospital expenses by 32% and hospital readmission rate (within six months after discharge) by 52%. The study claimed that patients receiving at-home care were less exposed to other illnesses, and this kind of care provided consistent attention, which resulted in better management of chronic diseases and prevention of health problems, reducing hospital readmissions. Apart from lowering the overall cost of care, healthcare providers are also incentivized to lower readmission rates under Medicare incentive programs, and hence, many healthcare companies have realized the potential of investing in at-home services.

One example of this was CVS Health’s acquisition of home health company Signify Health, completed in March 2023, for a total value of US$8 billion. Signify’s network of 10,000 clinicians, nationwide healthcare providers, and proprietary analytics and technology platforms is expected to help CVS extend its at-home health business. Adding Signify’s capabilities, such as at-home healthcare services, health assessments, patient data analytics, Accountable Care Organization (ACO) management, and provider enablement solutions, is likely to strengthen CVS’s abilities to offer better accessibility to services, improved patient-provider connectivity, better coordination of services, and improved quality of services.

CVS increases focus on the Medicare population with at-home health offerings

Looking at the recent acquisitions in the healthcare industry, it can be seen that major players in the retail health space, such as CVS Health, Amazon, Walgreens, Walmart, Dollar General, and Best Buy, are acquiring companies to strengthen their capabilities in offering primary care. These retail health companies are trying to tap into the growing demand for consumer-centric care. In particular, there is an increased focus on senior citizens and patients with chronic diseases.

Almost 19% of the US population is covered under Medicare plans, making it one of the most lucrative segments. In 2022, McKinsey estimated that, by 2025, up to US$265 billion worth of healthcare services provided to traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries by traditional primary care facilities could potentially navigate to at-home healthcare providers offering at-home health services and virtual primary care services. Retail health companies view primary care services offered at home, traditionally dominated by independent clinics, as an opportunity to enter the healthcare delivery segment. CVS is also heading in the same direction.

CVS Health began expanding beyond its pharmacy services by acquiring health insurance company Aetna in 2018. Aetna is the fourth-largest Medicare Advantage plan, with 3.3 million enrollees in 2023.

In recent years, CVS Health has made significant efforts in building value-based care capabilities. Apart from acquiring Signify Health, which also includes Signify’s Caravan ACO business, the company acquired Medicare-focused primary care provider Oak Street Health in May 2023. These acquisitions indicate CVS’s increasing focus on enhancing healthcare services for the Medicare population.

Read our related Perspective:
Retail Health Clinics Eye a Larger Piece of the US Primary Care Market 

Signify’s acquisition brings CVS closer to its aim to become a full-service health provider

With the acquisition of Signify Health, CVS should be able to enter the at-home healthcare space in addition to its existing 9,900 retail drugstores and 1,100 MinuteClinics. CVS now has the capabilities to fulfill patient needs across the entire care spectrum, operating as a payer, a pharmacy benefit manager, an ACO manager, a chain of medical clinics, a network of primary care centers, and a home-based care provider, becoming a full-service healthcare provider.

This means CVS can make it simpler for patients and providers to navigate the complex healthcare system by centralizing services, as all these healthcare activities are performed under the same company. For instance, CVS can offer Medicare Advantage programs to patients, provide home visits, prescribe medicines, which can be delivered by CVS pharmacy, and track patients’ medication intake, which helps in making pharmacy reconciliations and offering follow-up care by primary care centers if needed. CVS can be able to access accurate and real-time data updates from all patient activities, which would improve care coordination and navigation of healthcare services for patients with real-time data sharing with providers.

CVS-Signify synergies can amplify companies’ growth and capabilities

CVS is enhancing digital capabilities to improve interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs) and enable remote patient monitoring. The company has already developed digital capabilities such as automated messaging on prescriptions, appointments, and vaccinations. CVS can integrate these digital capabilities into Signify’s systems to streamline communication between providers and patients.

CVS is expected to make use of Signify’s home care services to introduce at-home health assessments, which is a highly-demanded service by customers. Signify provided over 2.3 million unique at-home health assessments in 2022 and has witnessed a 16% year-on-year increase in the number of at-home assessments in Q2 2023. Using CVS’s nationwide primary care capabilities, Signify Health is likely to be able to expand its reach in the at-home health assessment space.

Signify’s technological capabilities are likely to strengthen CVS’s position in the market as customers appreciate increased convenience, such as remote patient monitoring, data-driven health predictions, and better navigation through the health systems. CVS can also benefit from Signify’s technological capabilities, such as provider enablement tools that would help manage population health, turnkey analytics, and practice improvement solutions to help providers transition to a value-based reimbursement model and improve the quality of care.

Furthermore, CVS also offers payer-agnostic solutions such as virtual primary care and pharmacy benefits management (CVS Caremark). CVS Caremark has the largest market share in the US pharmacy benefits manager market, with a 33% share in 2022. Signify’s client network of 50 health plan clients, including government, other payers, and private employers, can help CVS expand its payer-agnostic solutions to a diverse set of health plan and employer clients.

EOS Perspective

CVS outbid its rivals, such as Amazon, UnitedHealth Group, and Option Care Health to acquire Signify. Having acquired one of the most sought-after home healthcare companies, CVS has strengthened its position in terms of its expanded capabilities, such as primary care, home health, at-home health assessments, and provider enablement solutions. The company has the benefit of a large customer base, being the largest pharmacy chain in the US in 2022, which will help it expand its primary care and at-home services quickly. It will be interesting to see how CVS would be able to direct 8 million senior citizens who walk into CVS pharmacy stores annually to Oak Street clinics for a wellness visit or encourage them to schedule a home visit via Signify.

However, the competitors, especially the Medicare Advantage competitors, are not lagging behind. The largest Medicare Advantage Plan, UnitedHealth Group, boasting 8.9 million Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2023, announced the acquisition of two home health companies, LHC Group and Amedisys, this year. Humana, the second largest Medicare Advantage Plan with 5.5 million enrollees in 2023, acquired a stake in Kindred at Home in 2021.

Similar to CVS, UnitedHealth Group and Humana also own pharmacy and provider capabilities (including clinic-based, at-home, and telehealth). All three companies are on the task of deriving synergies among the different businesses they own with the aim to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall costs. To outperform the strong competition, the winning company needs to keep focusing on improving healthcare accessibility and patient experience, as well as catering to the evolving consumer needs.

Africa’s Fintech Market
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Africa’s Fintech Market Striding into New Product Segments

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Fintech is certainly not a new concept in the African region. More than that: Africa has been a global leader in mobile money transfer services for some time. The market continues to evolve and the regional fintech players are now moving beyond just basic payment services to offer extended services, such as credit scoring, agricultural finance, etc. With Africa being significantly unbanked and still lacking financial infrastructure, fintech industry is at a unique position to bridge the gap between consumer needs and available financial solutions.

The African subcontinent is much behind many economies when it comes to financial inclusion and banking infrastructure owing to low levels of investment, under-developed infrastructure, and low financial literacy ratio. As per World Bank estimates, only about 20% of the population in the sub-Saharan African region have a bank account as compared with 92% of the population in advanced economies and 38% in low-middle income economies.

Related reading: Fintech Paving the Way for Financial Inclusion in Indonesia

This gap in the formal banking footprint has been largely plugged by the fintech sector in Africa, especially with regards to mobile payments. While in the developed economies, the fintech sector focuses on disrupting the incumbent banking system by offering better services and lower costs, in Africa it has the advantage of building and developing financial infrastructure. This is clear in the uptake of mobile fintech by the African population, making Africa a global leader in mobile payments and money transfers.

While in the developed economies, the fintech sector focuses on disrupting the incumbent banking system by offering better services and lower costs, in Africa it has the advantage of building and developing financial infrastructure.

However, mobile payments have simply been the first phase in the development of digital finance in Africa. The penetration and mass acceptance of mobile wallets have opened doors for the next phase of digital financial services in Africa. These include lending and insurance, agricultural finance, and wealth management.

Moreover, owing to the success achieved by mobile wallets, global investors are keenly investing in fintech start-ups that are innovating in the sector. For instance, Venture capital firm, Village Capital, partnered with Paypal to set up a program named Fintech Africa 2018. The program aims to support start-ups across Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania, which provide financial services beyond mobile payments (especially in the field of insurtech, alternative credit scoring, and fintech solutions for agriculture, energy, education, and health).

Africa’s Fintech Market Striding into New Product Segments

Agricultural finance

Agriculture is the livelihood of more than half of Africa’s workforce, however, due to limited access to finance and technologies, most farmers operate much below their potential capabilities. Due to this, Africa homes about 60% of the world’s non-cultivated tillable land.

However, in recent years, several established fintech players as well as start-ups have built solutions to provide financial support to the region’s agricultural sector.

In late 2018, Africa’s leading mobile wallet company, Cellulant, launched Agrikore, a blockchain-based digital-payment, contracting, and marketplace system that connects small farmers with large commercial customers. The company started its operations from Nigeria and is expected to commence business in Kenya in the second half of 2019.

Under their business model, when a large commercial order is placed on the platform, it is automatically broken into smaller quantities and shared with farmers on the platform (based on their capacity and proximity). Once the farmer accepts the order for the set quantity offered to him, the platform connects the farmer with registered transporters, quality inspectors, etc., who all log their activities on the blockchain and are paid through Cellulant’s digital wallets. All this is done on a blockchain to ensure transparency.

Related reading: Connecting Africa – Global Tech Players Gaining a Foothold in the Market

Another Nigeria-based company, Farmcrowdy, has been revolutionizing financing in Nigeria’s local agriculture sector by connecting small-scale farmers with farm sponsors (from Nigeria as well as other regions), who invest in farm cycles. Farmers benefit by receiving advice and training on best agriculture practices in addition to the financial support. Sponsors and farmers receive a pre-set percentage of the profits on the harvest in that cycle. In December 2017, the company received US$1 million seed investment from a group of venture capitalists including Cox Enterprises, Techstars Ventures, Social Capital, Hallett Capital, and Right-Side Capital, as well as five angel investors.

In addition to these, there are several other players, such as Kenya-based Twiga Foods (that connects rural farmers to urban retailers in an informal market), Kenya-based Tulaa (that provides famers with access to inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, as well as to finance, and markets through an m-commerce marketplace), Kenya-based, FarmDrive (that helps small farmers access credit from local banks through the use of data analytics), etc.

While most ventures in this space are currently based in Nigeria and Kenya, the sector is expected to grow significantly in the near future and is likely to expand into other parts of Africa as well.

In terms of expected trends in services development, with growing number of solutions and in turn apps, it is likely that consumers will tilt towards all-inclusive offerings, i.e. apps that provide solutions across the entire agricultural value chain.

Alternative credit scoring and lending

Large number of Africans have limited access to finance and formal lending options. Since there is a limited number of bank accounts in use, most people do not have a formal credit history and the cost of credit risk assessment remains high. Due to this, large portion of the population resorts to peer-to-peer lending or loans from Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs), usually at rates higher than the market rate.

Fintech sector has been working towards reducing the cost of credit risk assessment through the use of big data and machine learning. It uses information about a person’s mobile phone usage, payment data, and several other such parameters, which are available in abundance, to calculate credit score for the individual.

Several companies, such as Branch International, have been following a similar model, wherein, through their app, they analyze the information on customer’s phone to assess their credit worthiness. On similar lines, Tala (which currently operates in Kenya), collates about 10,000 data points on a customer’s mobile phone to determine the user’s credit score.

Fintech sector has been working towards reducing the cost of credit risk assessment through the use of big data and machine learning. It uses information about a person’s mobile phone usage, payment data, and several other such parameters, which are available in abundance, to calculate credit score for the individual.

Other business models include a crowdfunding platform, on which individuals from across the world can offer small loans to local African entrepreneurs. Kiva, a global crowd lending platform, has been partnering with several companies across Africa over the past decade (such as Zoona for Zambia and Malawi in 2012) for providing financial support to entrepreneurs. Kiva vets the entrepreneurs eligible for the loan and the loan is repaid over a period of time. Post that lenders can either withdraw the amount or retain it with the company to support another entrepreneur.

Currently, about 20% of all fintech start-ups in Africa are focusing on lending solutions, with investors backing them with significant amount of funding. This is primarily due to a growing demand for financing in Africa. Moreover, limited barriers with regards to regulations for digital lending start-ups also make it easy for companies to enter this space and test the market before investing large sums of money or entering into a partnership with a bank.

This may change in the long run, however, with regulators increasingly monitoring this growing sector. For instance, in March 2018, the Kenyan government published a draft bill under which digital lenders will be licensed by a new Financial Markets Conduct Authority and lenders will be bound by interest rate caps that are set by the authority.

Insurance and wealth management

Apart from agriculture financing and credit scoring and lending, there are several digital start-ups in the space of insurance and wealth management. There are limited traditional solutions for insurance and wealth management in Africa, a fact that presents significant potential for growth in these categories.

South Africa’s Pineapple Insurance is a leading player in the insurtech space. The company operates as a decentralized peer-to-peer insurance company wherein members take a picture of the product they want to insure and the company uses artificial intelligence to calculate an appropriate premium. The premium is stored in the member’s Pineapple wallet and when a claim is paid out, a proportionate amount is withdrawn from the wallets of all the members in that category. Moreover, members can withdraw unused premium deposits at the end of every year making the process completely transparent.

In addition to Pineapple Insurance, there are several other companies that are making waves in the insurtech sector. These include, South-Africa based Naked Insurance (which uses artificial intelligence to offer low cost car insurance), Kenya-based GrassRoots Bim (which leverages mobile technology to develop insurance solutions for the mass market), and Tanzania-based Jamii Africa (which offers mobile micro-health insurance for the informal sector). Companies such as Piggybank.ng in Nigeria and Uplus in Rwanda, also provide digital solutions for savings and wealth management.

Apart from these fintech solutions, a lot of innovations are also taking place in the payments space. Several companies are working towards extending the reach of Africa’s mobile payment solutions. For example, a leading Kenyan mobile payment company, DPO Group, partnered with MasterCard to launch a virtual card that can be topped with mobile money by the end of 2019. The card has a 16-digit number, an expiry date, and a security code similar to a debit card, thereby facilitating transactions beyond Kenya, with rest of the word as well.

EOS Perspective

There is an immense opportunity in the fintech space in Africa at the moment. Most start-ups are currently operating in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, and are expected to move to other parts of the continent once they have achieved certain scalability and outside investment. Having said that, foreign investors are also keenly observing movement in this space and are on the lookout for fresh concepts that have the capability to build new offerings as well disrupt existing financial solutions.

At the same time, with the industry being relatively new, many of its aspects remain unknown, a fact that increases risk of investing in the sector. Currently, a lot of these solutions depend heavily on data (especially through mobile usage). However, there are increasing regulations regarding data privacy across the globe and over the course of time, this trend is also expected to reach Africa.

Moreover, direct regulations regarding the fintech sector may also impact the business of several new players. Currently the companies are evolving fast and the regulators are playing catch-up, however, once the industry becomes seasoned, clear regulations are expected to ensure safety of the money involved. Fintech companies are also vulnerable to risks arising from online fraud, hacking, data breaches, etc., and regulations are extremely important to keep these in check as well.

While the sector enjoys limited scrutiny at the moment, entry and operations may not be as simplistic in the long run as they seem now. Despite this, the sector is expected to prosper and witness further innovation that will drive it into new territories to satisfy the currently unmet financial needs of the African population.

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Slowly but Surely – Insurance Realizes AI’s Value

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Several sectors, such as banking, F&B, automotive, and healthcare have seen major transformations at the hands of artificial intelligence (AI) ‒ we discussed benefits of AI in fast food industry in our previous article – Artificial Intelligence Finds its Way into Your Favorite Fast Food Chain in November 2017. AI has become an integral part of a large number of industries, providing new solutions and facilitating greater back-end efficiency as well as customer engagement and management. Insurance sector, on the other hand, has been largely slow to react to this disruptive trend. In 2017, only about 1.3% of insurance companies invested in AI (as compared with 32% insurance companies that invested in software and information technologies). However, this is expected to change as insurance companies have begun to realize the untapped potential that AI unearths in all aspects of their business, i.e. policy pricing, customer purchase experience, application processing and underwriting, and claim settlement.

Insurance industry has been one of the sectors that have operated in their traditional form for several decades, without undergoing much of substantial transformation. This is also one of the reasons why the insurance sector has been relatively late in jumping on the AI bandwagon.

Artificial intelligence, which has significantly transformed the way several industries such as automotive, healthcare, and manufacturing operate, also presents a host of benefits to the insurance sector. Moreover, it is expected to drive savings not only for insurance companies but also brokers and policy holders.

Streamlining internal processes

AI has the ability to streamline several internal processes within insurance companies. There is a host of duplicating business operations in the insurance sector. Automation and digitization can result in about 40% cost cutting, and this can be achieved by automating about 30% of the operations.

This can be seen in the case of Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance. In 2017, this Tokyo-based insurance company replaced 34 employees with IBM’s Watson Explorer AI system that can calculate payouts to policyholders in faster and more precise manner. The company expects to boost productivity by 30% and is expected to save close to US$1.26 million (JPY 140 million) in the first year of operations. To put this in a perspective, the AI system cost the company, US$1.8 million (JPY 200 million), and its maintenance is expected to cost US$130,000 (JPY 15 million) per year. Therefore, Fukoku seems optimistic about achieving its return on investment within less than two years of installing the AI system.

In addition to providing automation of processes, AI can bring out disruptive transformation throughout the insurance value chain. Some of the most substantial benefits of using AI in the insurance sector are expected to be seen in policy pricing, offering of personalized insurance plans, as well as claim management.

Policy pricing

Traditionally, insurance companies used to price their policies by creating risk pools based on statistical sampling, thereby all insurance policies were based on proxy data.

AI is transforming this by moving policy pricing analysis from proxy data to real-time source data. Internet of Things (IoT) device sensors, such as telematics and wearable sensor data, enable insurance firms to price coverage based on real events and real-time data of the individuals that they are insuring.

An example of this is usage-based or pay-per-mile auto insurance, wherein a telematics sensor box (a black box for a car), is installed into a car to track information such as speed, driving distances, breaking habits, and other qualitative and quantitative driving data. Using this data, insurance companies can offer a customized policy to the car owner, charging lower premium from safe drivers or offering less-used cars the pay-per-mile option. It also helps insurance companies charge suitable premium from reckless drivers and long-distance drivers.

In February 2017, UK-based mobile network brand, O2, expanded into the auto insurance space with a telematics product called the O2 Drive. The device tracks different aspects of a user’s driving habits and offers discounts and personalized insurance policies based on it. The company is positioning its products to attract teen and young drivers as they are most likely to be open to sharing their driving data.

In addition to auto insurance, IoT devices such as wearable devices and smart home solutions also help in setting policy pricing in health and home insurance. US-based Beam Insurance Services uses a smart toothbrush to offer dental insurance. The company uses data accrued from the smart toothbrush, such as number of times a person brushes their teeth, duration of brushing, etc., to offer a personalized insurance policy. It claims to offer up to 25% lower rates in comparison with its competitors.

In another example, UK-based Neos Ventures offers IoT-powered home insurance based on a smart home monitoring and emergency assistance device. The device and its accompanying app helps users reduce instances of fire and water-based damages as well as break-ins and thefts. The premise of the company is that if they can successfully reduce the chances of any mishaps, they can offer cheaper premiums to the insured.

While IoT devices can greatly personalize insurance pricing, the largest caveat to the success of this pricing mechanism remains that customers must be willing to share their personal data with insurance providers to attain savings in the form of lower premium. As per Deloitte – EMEA Insurance Data Analytics Study 2017, about 40% of customers surveyed seemed open to track their behavior and share the data with insurers for more accurate premiums for health insurance, while 38% and 48% customers were open to tracking and sharing data in case of home and auto insurance, respectively.

Slowly but Surely – Insurance Realizes AI's Value

Customer purchase experience and underwriting of applications

The relationship between an insurance agent and the customer is an extremely important one for insurance companies. Many times the customer is dissatisfied with its interaction/experience with the insurance agent as they feel that the agent does not have their best interest at heart or the agent is not available for them as and when required.

This issue is effectively addressed with the use of AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants. Advanced chatbots use image recognition and social data to personalize sales conversations and provide a better customer experience. Thus, agents and insurance representatives are being replaced by chatbots, which deliver faster and more efficient customer experience.

ZhongAn, a China-based pure online insurance company uses chatbots for 97% of its customer queries without any human involvement. It also uses AI to offer innovative insurance products, such as cracked mobile screen insurance. It uses image recognition technology to detect whether the image shows the mobile screen is cracked or intact. It can also decipher if the picture has been photoshopped or altered to ensure the claim is genuine. Since its inception in 2013, the company has sold about 8 billion policies to 500 million customers (these include cracked mobile insurance as well as the company’s other popular products).

To blend the human experience with chatbots, companies have started branding their chatbots with human names. New York-based P2P insurance company, Lemonade, uses exclusively chatbots named Maya and Jim to interact with customers and create personalized insurance options in less than a minute within the Lemonade app. The chatbots Maya and Jim are alter-egos of the company’s real-life employees with the same names.

Similarly, in December 2016, ICICI Lombard General Insurance launched a chatbot called MyRA. Within six months of operations the virtual assistance platform sold 750 policies without any human intervention, while it was used by 60,000 consumers for queries.

In addition to elevating customer’s purchase experience, AI also helps in reducing insurance underwriting/processing time and ensuring higher quality. The underwriting process traditionally has a range of manual tasks that make the process slow and also prone to human errors. However, AI helps achieve quicker and more reliable data analysis. AI tools such as Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) help underwriters scan a customer’s social profile to gather important data, trends, and behavioral patterns that can result in more accurate assessment of the application.

New-York based Haven Life (a subsidiary of MassMutual), leverages AI technology to underwrite its life insurance policies. It requires its customers to submit a 30-question application (which is more conversational in nature as compared with the detailed traditional life insurance forms) and upload few documents such as medical records, motor vehicle driving records, etc. The AI technology analyzes the provided information along with historical life insurance data and asks additional questions if required. In several cases, it also offers coverage without the mandated medical test. Through AI, the company has reduced its underwriting time from the typical 1-2 weeks to as low as 20 minutes.

Claim management

AI can play a significant role in two of the most critical aspects of claim management, i.e. the time to settle a claim and fraud detection.

The time to settle a claim is one of the performance metrics that customers care most about. Using AI, companies can expedite the claim process. Chatbots are used to address the First Notice of Loss (FNOL), wherein customers submit their claims by sending pictures of the damaged goods along with answering few questions. The chatbot then processes the claim and assesses the extent of loss and its authenticity, to determine the correct amount for claim settlement.

Lemonade set a world record in December 2016 by settling a claim using its AI bot, Jim, in only three seconds. The AI bot reviewed the claim, cross-referenced it against the policy, ran several anti-fraud algorithms, approved the claim, sent wiring instructions to the bank, and informed the customer in the three-second window.

Another interesting area of application is in agriculture, where machine learning can also help quickly analyze claims (pertaining to loss spread over a wide area) using satellite imaging, which would otherwise take humans significantly greater time and costs to ascertain.

As mentioned earlier, AI can bring massive savings to insurance firms by reducing fraudulent claims. As per US-based Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF) estimates, insurance carriers lose about US$80 billion annually in fraudulent claims. AI technologies provide insurance firms with real-time data to identify duplicate and inflated claims as well as fake diagnoses.

In addition, many companies use AI to run algorithms on historical data to identify sequences and patterns of fraudulent claims to identify traits and trends that may be missed by the human eye during the initial stages of claim processing.

According to CAIF, in November 2016, about 75% of insurance firms used automated fraud detection systems to detect false claims. Paris-based Shift Technologies is one of the leading players in this domain, claiming to have a 250% better fraud identification rate as compared with the market average. The company had analyzed more than 100 million claims from its inception in 2013 up till October 2017.

EOS Perspective

There is no denying that AI has the capability to transform the insurance industry (as it has transformed many other industries). Although, initially slow at reacting to the AI trend, insurance companies have realized its potential.

As per an April 2017 Accenture survey, about 79% of the insurance executives believed that AI will revolutionize the way insurers gain information from and interact with their customers. This is also visible in the recent level of investments made in AI by the insurance sector. TCS’s Global Trend Study on AI 2017 stated that the insurance sector outspent all the other 12 sectors surveyed (including travel, consumer packaged goods, hospitality, media, etc.) by investing an average of US$124 million annually in AI systems. The cross industry average of the 13 sectors stood at US$70 million.

Thus, it is very important for insurance players to get on board the AI trend now. Since they are already late (in comparison to some other industries) in reacting to the trend, it is critical that they adapt to it to remain relevant and competitive.

However, the key barrier to AI implementation are the complex and outdated legacy systems that hold back innovation and digitization. The companies that do not manage to implement tech innovations in their legacy systems due to high cost might just be acting penny wise, pound foolish.

by EOS Intelligence EOS Intelligence No Comments

Commercial Drones Poised to Be the Next Disruptive Technology?

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While drones have been around for decades, the commercial use of this technology is a fairly new concept for various businesses. The rise of commercial drones in the recent years triggered high hopes for incorporating such technology in a range of sectors. However, a lot of preparatory work is required for the market to evolve and for the technology to be incorporated in businesses’ operations.

Initially reserved for military use, unmanned autonomous vehicles or drones are now being considered for the commercial marketplace. In recent years, commercial drones have witnessed significant product innovations and are now being utilized in various industries. Equipped with cameras, commercial drones are used for mapping, delivery, inspection, and surveillance. Valued at US$ 609 million in 2014, the market is forecasted to reach US$ 4.8 billion by 2020. These machines now have the potential to transform the traditional business models by including a range of opportunities across various industries including infrastructure, agriculture, insurance, security, etc.

Growth

Infrastructure

An increased usage of commercial drones has been witnessed in the infrastructure industry. Commercial drones are cheaper than manned aircraft and have the ability to gather data more precise and faster than human surveyors. This helps the construction workers to track the work progress with a higher degree of accuracy. Further, drone monitoring of construction sites enables workers to keep a check on material storage and handling, thereby preventing wastage of materials. While the use of commercial drones in the infrastructure industry will not have any effect on employment, it is likely to reduce overtime costs by keeping a track of the construction progress and eliminating rework or fixes.

Agriculture

In agriculture, farmers use commercial drones to reduce their dependence on extra resources required to produce crops. Drones have the ability to survey fields, spray pesticides, and also collect data required in reviewing crops, with data collection being their most promising utility. This saves farmer’s time and money required to evaluate acres of land manually and also helps in getting timely information about the status of their fields to improve crop health. Commercial drones, thus, help overcome a huge challenge in farming, i.e., limited efficiency in monitoring huge areas of land. The use of commercial drones in agriculture is likely to lead to farming becoming data-driven, leading to better productivity and yield.

Transport

Commercial drones are also increasingly used in the transport industry, particularly for the delivery of goods in the e-commerce sector. Retailers such as Amazon and Walmart have been focusing on setting up the infrastructure required for delivering products to customers. Drone delivery is now considered central to Amazon’s long term shipping plan, and is likely to modify the company’s cost structure. The introduction of Amazon Prime Air, Amazon’s drone delivery system, is likely to lower the cost of a same-day small package delivery to US$ 1. In addition, convenience store chain, 7 Eleven, and fast food chain, Domino’s Pizza, recently partnered with Flirtey, a drone delivery company, to initiate the delivery of food to customers. The companies believe that drone deliveries will help them cut down their delivery cost and save traffic time to offer efficient delivery services.

Insurance

The insurance sector is also an early adopter of the drone technology. Commercial drones are being used to record details about a location or building to gather useful information for risks assessment and claims processing. With the ability to view difficult angles, take high resolution photos and videos, and easy portability, commercial drones can enter places such as burned out homes or chemical spills more easily than insurance adjusters, thus, saving insurance adjusters from entering potentially dangerous areas. Drones can also speed up the surveying process and save costs by covering large areas of the property in a short span of time, thereby employing lower number of adjusters. In addition, drones are useful in monitoring areas prone to natural disasters, making it easier for national government working with insurance companies to prepare for catastrophe and prevent damage and casualties. For instance, in January 2016, Aviva PLC, an insurance company, deployed drones to survey flood damage in the UK. The drones were used to provide a macro view of the area and guide the company’s staff on the ground. While it is too early to say whether commercial drones will be able to replace insurance adjusters, they are already used to speed up the inspection process and offer more detailed property data.

Challenges

EOS Perspective

The drone technology has started to a find its home in the commercial sector. Various industries have initiated the adoption of drones with a view to increase efficiency, lower operational costs, speed up several links within the supply chain, and obtain valuable information. In the near future, the commercial drones industry is likely to gain more traction, particularly by large scale industries such as agriculture and infrastructure. This, coupled with the ongoing technological innovations such as better sensor technology, seamless software function, better integration, etc., is likely to boost the commercial demand for such machines.

Having said that, the industry will need to overcome certain regulatory challenges to go beyond the currently nascent stage of development. While on the one hand, the development of the regulatory framework has sparked hopes for industries willing to adopt the drone technology, on the other hand, the stringent rules regarding the usage of such technology are likely to cool down the industries’ enthusiasm to some extent. However, though the initial set of rules is restrictive in nature, it is believed, that the regulations might change once the industries exhibit drones operations in a safely manner. For instance, the rule regarding the weight limit might start accepting waivers in certain categories, thereby prompting the regulators to alter the ruling. While it is clear that in its stage of infancy, the commercial drones industry is expected to face regulatory uncertainty, in the long run, with a possible evolving regulatory regime, the business potential of the commercial drones could be game-changing.

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