Spotlight Interview Series is where you can find success stories from companies that 3xP Global is proudly supporting. MPS – Mútua Portuguesa de Saúde has the spotlight, Welcome Nelson Rianço (NR), MPS CEO.
Mútua Portuguesa de Saúde is on a mission to make Social Health Insurance more accessible to everyone, initially targeting companies´ work force. The Social Health Insurance is a disruptive product, with potentially no age limits, no exclusion of pre-existing conditions and no waiting periods. But let us know them better through Nelson’s vision.
NR: Our proposal is based on an innovative health product, with conditions and covers that are unequalled in the market - different from the traditional insurance offerings. We believe that this proposal, combined with an equally disruptive financing model, allows us to make it truly accessible to the majority of employees in the Portuguese business fabric. Although this insurance is exclusively directed at companies, it guarantees employees continuity in protection when they transition to individual insurance - whether in the event of a job change, retirement or unemployment. In that transition, insured people maintain the same insurance coverages in working life, with the premium indexed to their final salary, guaranteeing the inclusive, sustainable and profoundly differentiating nature of our solution.
NR: The health insurance sector has remained relatively stagnant in recent years, with few real innovations. Discussions continue to focus on the same topics: annual price reviews, minor adjustments to covers, the introduction of marginal services such as telemedicine or the renegotiation of commissions. Given this scenario, we believe there is room - and a need - for a structurally different alternative.
MPS was born precisely from this vision: we don't see ourselves as direct competition, but as a real complement to the existing offer. Our product is unparalleled in the market - it is unique both in terms of coverage and operating model.
We have a team with vast experience in the insurance sector, especially in health, and it was based on this in-depth knowledge that we identified the opportunity to create the first Portuguese Health Insurance Mutual. A mutual model that recovers the solidary essence of insurance, but with a modern approach centred on the real necessities of companies and workers. As a mutual insurance company, we are the second registered company in Portugal, together with the Mútua dos Pescadores, which is over 80 years old.
Our insurance is based on a stable and transparent financing model: premiums defined as a percentage of the annual basic salary for employees, the same table of benefits for all insured members - employees and their families - and fixed commissions.This predictability is highly valued by companies, as it allows them to manage costs much more efficiently than with the traditional models.
NR: MPS assumes a clearly complementary role to that of the SNS and the traditional private sector. From the beginning, our position has been to actively contribute to the balance of the healthcare system in Portugal, creating a solution that responds to the needs of companies and their employees, but at the same time relieves pressure on the SNS.
We believe that the SNS, the private sector and the social sector are interdependent and complementary pillars. When one of them becomes more efficient, all the others benefit. The SNS needs the contribution of the private and social sectors to guarantee access and sustainability, and the inverse is also true - we all need a strong, stable and well-managed SNS. MPS is apart of this logic of collaboration and balance. Our mutual model, focused on funding stability and inclusion, offers a concrete response to the growing pressure on public health services, promoting a more sustainable distribution of resources.
NR: The main priority for MPS is to make its innovative and unique product known to the Portuguese business community. We want to build a solid client portfolio that allows us to effectively mutualise risk, ensuring the sustainability of the model and access to quality healthcare for a growing number of employees. Our focus on company employees is strategic. We know from various studies that health insurance is now one of the benefits most valued by employees when it comes to choosing - and staying with - a company. Including robust health insurance in the benefits policy not only promotes well-being and reduces absenteeism but also plays a direct role in retaining and attracting talent.
Furthermore, according to a 2022 study by Nova SBE, only around 40% of all Portuguese are covered by a health subsystem - public, private or insured. However, at MPS we often say: “it's very different to have insurance and to be insured.”
This is precisely why we designed an inclusive and solid product: no waiting periods, no exclusions for pre-existing conditions and no capital limit on the main coverages, such as hospitalization and outpatient care. Our commitment is to ensure that those who choose MPS are truly safe - and not just covered by a contract.
NR: We are developing some health insurance add-ons that make our offer even more complete and closer to the real needs of our beneficiaries. We want each person to feel that the MPS insurance is not just a product, but something they are part of - insurance built with and for its beneficiaries.
Our mutual model is, by definition, an ecosystem of belonging, where each insured person is not just a user, but also an active member of the association that represents them. This sense of community is one of the greatest assets of MPS. Simultaneously, we are investing in technological solutions that enable individualised monitoring of each insured person's health - from prevention and well-being to diagnosis and treatment. The aim is to guarantee a constant presence at everystage of life, promoting what the WHO defines as health: ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease.’
This is the future we are building - truly human, innovative and transformative insurance.
Thank you, Nelson, for sharing your path and strategic approach with us. We look forward to witnessing your continued success.
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