MedLife sacrifices profit for market share

Mihail Marcu, the company’s President, said that some 50 percent of its clients have above average incomes. According to Marcu, MedLife has sold less than 2,000 insurance policies, but that this product will not work until the state guarantees veritable deductibility of private insurance.

“AsiLife launched two insurance products for legal entities in 2007: AsiLife Silver and AsiLife Gold. We concluded 859 health and 400 accident insurance policies. The AsiLife SanaCare insurance for individuals was launched this year, on January 15,” said Cristian Ciobanu, MedLife Manager, and its price starts at €20 a month.

Marcu added that the company has opted for a horizontal development strategy, saying that space has been exhausted in present clinics. “We already have 2,000 clients a day at the Grivitei clinic alone. We will open a new clinic at Unirii [Ed. n. Square] very soon, followed on 3 March by a clinic in Cluj, and on 18 March in Timisoara. In 2008 we will also open two further clinics in Bucharest, one in Drumul Taberei and one in Pantelimon-Iancului,” said Medlife’s President.

About one third of the company’s business comes from services for corporates, while the remainder is from retail, payment per service by individuals.

Last year, Medlife established Romania’s largest private 100-bed hospital, costing €10 million. It presently has 19 medical clinics, of which 16 in Bucharest. In 2006, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) acquired 20 percent of Medlife’s shares.

The private medical service market is estimated by Marcu to be worth €300 mln in 2007. Medlife’s main competitors are Medicover, Medsana, Sanador, and Unirea Medical Center (CMU)