Fabio Secci, General Manager, introduces CMCM, a complementary health mutual fund covering nearly half of Luxembourg’s population. Interview.

 

Could you describe CMCM in a few words?

 

Established in 1956 as a mutual benefit society, CMCM is now the biggest health mutual in Luxembourg, providing coverage for 270,000 individuals and employing 50 people. Annual subscriptions cover our members and their families’ health costs; membership does not require proof of medical records. We complement coverage provided by the Caisse National de Santé (CNS) and offer a diverse range of services. Our focus is on medical necessity rather than luxuries such as branded glasses or cosmetic surgery. A mutual benefit society is not considered to be an insurance company as it is not under any solvability obligation and is subject to different legislation. Furthermore, a mutual is a not-for-profit organisation and remains accountable to its members via a congress with delegate-system.

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“CMCM is the biggest health mutual benefit society in Luxembourg providing coverage for 270,000 individuals.”

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How do you adapt to your members’ needs?

 

We have recorded a positive balance sheet at the end of every year since 2011. We use the surplus money to develop new services for the coming years. We suggest new services or offer increased coverage of existing services to our members. For example, we’ve recently started to provide support for a new burnout-prevention programmcalled PROTEA. This initiative provides scientific testing to show whether an individual is entering a burnout phase. We contribute €2,000 out of the total cost of €7,000. Employers also tend to contribute and the individual pays for one third of the total cost. With PROTEA, a program developed and soustained by Zitha Gesondheetszentrum (Group HRS), the individual continues to work part-time and receives medical check-ups. This neutralises the stigma linked to burnout. As another example, while the CNS only reimburses very basic implants when it comes to dental care, our members can benefit from increased reimbursement and state-of-the-art implants.

 

What developments do you foresee in your sector and in Luxembourg over the next 5 years?

 

We would like to convince private commercial health insurers to leave the basic offering of additional health services to our mutual. We feel that they should focus on the high-end market instead. Private insurers have successfully positioned themselves to attract young members of society as they know that they are in good health and don’t represent high risks. We also focus on the younger generation: when they come to us after being covered on their parents’ contract, we offer coverage for two years with a single year subscription. If they are new to CMCM, they enjoy a 10% discount. Our offer of medical assistance for international travel and repatriation fees has proven to be very attractive. We have witnessed an increase in our membership with 1,700 new subscribers as of March this year, an impressive increase on our 2018 total of 4,600 new contracts. In the coming years, we hope to see the CNS providing mandatory coverage, CMCM taking care of the optional complementary mutual coverage and private insurance focusing a high-end service. We have developed a partnership with Baloise insurance to offer this.