'Max Bupa launches business operations in Eastern India'

Max Bupa launches business operations in Eastern India For immediate release

• Sets up a Branch Office in Kolkata to service customers in the region.
• Introduces its comprehensive customer centric product portfolio including flagship product Heartbeat Health Insurance.

Kolkata, October 17, 2011:Max Bupa, a specialist health insurance company, today strengthened its operations in the Eastern region, by setting up a dedicated branch office in Kolkata. The branch was inaugurated by Dr. Amit Mitra, Minister of Finance and Excise, West Bengal and Analjit Singh, Chairman, Max Bupa Health Insurance, in presence of company’s senior management. Showcasing its strong growth trajectory in the Indian health insurance market, the company also celebrated the milestone of having insured more than 100,000 lives since the launch of its business last year.

Elaborating on the company’s foray in the Eastern region, Dr. Damien Marmion, Chief Executive, Max Bupa Health Insurance, said, “With less than five per cent health insurance penetration in India, there is definitely a need to spread awareness about the importance of planning for one’s health. We aim to build awareness for the need of health insurance in the region and provide comprehensive health insurance products and services that will help our customers to care for their health proactively. With this move, we have introduced best in class customer service and expertise in health insurance that over 100,000 Max Bupa customers across the country enjoy.”

Max Bupa also introduced its product portfolio for individuals, families, small and medium business’ and corporate with products like Heartbeat Health Insurance and Employee First. Max Bupa already serves the rural and semi urban customers in West Bengal through its products Swasthya Pratham and Swasth Parivar.

The company will service customers directly, without third party involvement, through an in-house team and a 24/7 health line for easy and friendly access to health advice. Max Bupa has established direct working relationships with a strong network of over 60 top quality key hospitals and healthcare providers in the East region, including 40 leading hospitals in Kolkata. In addition it also has a network of over 200 hospitals to service its customers in the rural and semi urban customers.

At the launch, Dr. Marmion also spoke about the exponential growth that the company has been witnessing, since it began its business operations last year. He said, “The eighteen months of Max Bupa has been one of learning, development and growth; we are now poised to take our next step towards covering one million lives by 2015. Our personalized approach of providing access to quality health insurance products and services to our customers has enabled us to build a relationship with our customers. We will continue our endeavors towards raising the bar in health insurance in the country.

The company also aims at spreading awareness about importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and recently launched ‘Health Promise’ initiative which encourages people to make a health promise for their loved ones. Max Bupa has also established a platform www.yourhealthfirst.in, a health information website, which provides customers an interactive medium to share their health concerns along with actionable tips, expert advice and access to specialist health care services.

In addition to regular health insurance benefits such as in-patient treatment and hospital accommodation, medical expenses like doctor’s fees, diagnostics procedures, medicines and consumables, operation theatre charges among others, Max Bupa has introduced the following benefits for its customers:Directly service all customers without any third party involvement Cashless facility at over 900 quality hospitals across the country Assured renewability for life.

Maternity & Child care benefits:The Family Floater and Family First option provide maternity benefits for up to two deliveries. All new born babies (where maternity is covered) are automatically covered from birth until next renewal of the plan. First year vaccinations for all new borns are also covered No age restriction for enrollment from newborns to senior citizens. There is no minimum or maximum age for enrollment.
Pre- and post-hospitalization medical expenses: Medical expenses incurred due to illness up to 30 days immediately before and 60 days immediately after a customer’s admission to a hospital.
Comprehensive coverage ranging from Rs. 2 lacs to Rs. 50 lacs. All day care procedures covered.
Cover for the extended family including spouse, parents, children, in-laws and siblings (covers upto 13 relationships) under Heartbeat Family First Proactive health relationship and benefits like Health check-up on renewal (as per Heartbeat Plan chosen), 24/7 health line and Health relationship loyalty programme.
High quality service through: Relationship managers, 24x7 customer service helpline to provide a range of services including pre-authorization, plan and payment related queries and claims information.

Notes to Editors
About Max Bupa Health Insurance
Max Bupa Health Insurance is a 74:26 joint venture between Max India Limited, a Rs 7,891 crore multi-business corporate with expertise in life insurance and health care and Bupa, a leading international healthcare provider with 64 years of healthcare knowledge. Max Bupa brings together a combination of Bupa’s global health insurance expertise and customer service expertise with Max India’s understanding and experience of the Indian health and insurance sectors. Max Bupa offers quality health insurance services through a dedicated team of over 700 people and its network of offices across eleven cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi and Kolkata. Max Bupa offers individual and family oriented health insurance policies for Indians across all age groups. Through its philosophy of “Your Health First” Max Bupa’s mission is to help customer’s live healthier and more successful lives.

Strong Network of over 900 hospitals
Max Bupa Health Insurance has a direct working relationship with a network of 900 top quality hospitals and healthcare providers and at the same time the company plans to extend its network of hospitals to other parts of the country. Max Bupa at present services customers directly without third party involvement, through an in-house team of relationship managers and also has a 24/7 health line for easy and friendly access to health advice. For more details about the company and a list of all our network hospital please visit www.maxbupa.com.

About Max India: A reputation for excellence
The Max India Group brings expertise in Life Insurance and Healthcare with a strong presence in Life Insurance (Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited), Healthcare (Max Healthcare Institute Ltd.) and Clinical Research (Max Neeman Medical International Limited). A Rs 7,891 crore group, it has over 500 offices across India, about 57,000 people, all focused on delivering value to its 4.4 million customers.

About Bupa: 64 years of Health and Care
Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. Established in 1947, it has over 11.3 million customers in more than 190 countries. Employing over 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America. A leading international healthcare group, Bupa offers personal and company health insurance, runs care homes for older people and hospitals, and provides workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. With no shareholders, Bupa invests its profits to provide more and better healthcare and is committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing.