Linda Jamii is a product that has the potential to alter the health insurance market in the country. The product does not conform to the traditional ethos held by many commercial health insurance plans available in the country. The departures from the mold can be hailed as a work of genius from Britam because they are groundbreaking. Analysts in the health insurance sector have a lot to say about Britam’s Linda Jamii, and they will agree that its genius lies in three key aspects.

Britam doesn’t directly state that Linda Jamii targets the uninsured masses, maybe as a way of tapping into part of the existing market where there was no low cost alternative to health insurance. However, anyone with a keen eye will see the similarity of Linda Jamii to Equity’s onslaught on the Banking sector in the early 2000s. The bank set its sights on the “unbanked” masses and in the process of serving this sector, it kicked off a banking revolution. Will Britam’s Linda Jamii be the game changer when it comes to health insurance?

Only 3% of Kenyans had access to medical insurance plans (commercial health insurance, NHIF, and company schemes combined). Looked at another way, the number of Kenyans who can afford to pay 1000 per month for health insurance are currently preferring to pay medical bills out of pocked because costs are just too high for them. In this case, the genius from Britam is in creating a product that is likely to appeal to a large part of the remaining 97% of the uninsured in Kenya.

Linda Jamii is Calculated to be Affordable

Linda Jamii’s affordability when compared to other products in the market cannot be questioned. The twelve thousand shilling annual premium breaks down to just thirty-four shillings per day. Almost anyone can afford this rate, even for casual laborers with incomes of about two hundred shillings per day. In addition to this, one premium provides a cover for the entire family. Once the breadwinner pays the annual premium, he/she does not have to do the same for each subsequent dependent, as is the case with other commercial medical insurance schemes. The family will now have an outpatient cover of Kshs 50,000, and an inpatient cover of Kshs 200,000. Compared to commercial medical insurance policies, Linda Jamii has a much lower limit. It is however still a very effective cover for the inevitable health emergencies that can cripple a family of humble means.

The number of benefits that Britam offers for their low premium is almost unbelievable. The cover features sounds a lot like many of the commercial covers that one would buy for up to ten times the cost of a Linda Jamii cover for an average sized family. The main difference is in the limits, understandably so because Britam asks for much lower premiums. When one considers the full range of benefits that Linda Jamii offers, it compares well with any of the commercial plans save for the limits. One long-term effect that we can expect is that after using Linda Jamii, many of its clients will graduate to higher value products as their incomes increase. When this happens, the medical insurance revolution will have kicked off in earnest.

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