The Company for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya) has signed an agreement, which is the first of its kind in the Saudi insurance market with Vitality Group, the global leader in integrating wellness benefits with insurance products. Part of Discovery Group, Vitality operates its Shared-Value Insurance model in 19 countries. Through this agreement, Tawuniya will lead the way in the Middle East and North Africa by developing its first Shared-Value Insurance product. The agreement was signed during the Financial Sector Conference held in Riyadh. It will allow Tawuniya customers to enjoy the benefits and services of the Vitality health and wellness program and join millions of members worldwide. The signing ceremony of the agreement was attended by Tawuniya CEO Abdulaziz Hassan Al-Boug, Vitality Group International CEO Barry Swartzberg and Tawuniya Chairman Soliman S. Al-Humayyd. Al-Boug expressed his pleasure for signing this agreement, explaining that Tawuniya, as a leading insurance company and an expert in understanding the insurance market and customers' needs, realized early that the business model currently applied in the medical insurance operations needs to be developed to commensurate with the change in the demands of the whole society, coupled with technological development. Therefore, it has partnered with, Vitality Group, to develop and launch its health and wellness program in Saudi Arabia. Vitality enables health improvement for more than 10 million clients in different countries, through their engagement in the program and the additional rewards that encourage healthy behavior. These health improvements result in lower risks for illness and premature death among clients, a healthier society and long-term insurance savings for the insurer. The program based on behavioral science and sophisticated digital health technology is independently verified by leading academic institutions around the globe. Al-Boug pointed out that the shifting from the traditional concepts of health insurance to a shared-value insurance model with the Vitality Program aims at improving the behavior of individuals. This program provides a shared value between the customers and insurance companies, which improves the health level of the insured persons in general. This adds value to the community and thus contributes to reducing the cost of insurance for Tawuniya customers and enhances the control of the amounts of medical claims for the insurance sector. Al-Boug added that Vitality has great experience in implementing this program to millions of people around the world through smart incentives, rich data and behavioral economics, and has realized an obvious global success. This led Tawuniya to adopt this program to achieve a qualitative leap in health practices and to be in line with the new concepts of health insurance. Moreover, he pointed out that the program follows a golden rule achieved in the framework of three basic stages, i.e. adoption of the correct health behavior, improvement of life by adhering to the health patterns to be practiced in every activity and from anywhere and availing of the benefits and many advantages offered by Tawuniya. Swartzberg expressed his pleasure regarding the strategic partnership with the leading insurance company in the Kingdom. "Vitality's core purpose is to make people healthier and enhance and protect their lives. We welcome the opportunity to work with the leading insurer in Saudi Arabia, Tawuniya, to improve the health and wellness of their people. With millions of members worldwide, Vitality is committed to expanding its shared-value insurance model into new markets," said Swartzberg. Tawuniya will begin in the next stage to develop the suitable plans and programs that will be shared with their clients for health insurance and monitor their implementation at high accuracy and measure their performance indicators and reflection on the healthy life and its positive impact. — SG
