Social welfare schemes: travel with peace of mind

“We are managing brokers and not just intermediaries,” Charles Robinet-Duffo, Managing Director responsible for the Sales Division at GMC Services (Groupe Henner) begins by explaining. “As we are in constant contact with the client, we are sometimes confused with insurance companies. In reality, we advise, propose and set up individual insurance solutions for companies. We study all the issues involved beforehand, through in-depth discussions,” he continues. GMC Services has its own legal teams for actuarial and management questions, and can therefore design fully comprehensive contracts. GMC was created to deal with medical and surgical insurance cover (GMC stands for Garantie Médicale et Chirurgicale), but the group gradually widened the scope of its activities.

Originally specialised in medical expenses, it can now offer companies solutions concerning retirement plans, provident funds (death, incapacity, etc.) and risks (personal liability, damage to goods, etc.). It puts insurance companies in competition with one another once it has carried out the risk analysis. “The chosen insurance company covers the risk, but the service is provided by our teams. For example, if a major company is satisfied with the way we run the insurance scheme but wants to change the insurance company, it can do so: we organise a new call to tender with different insurance companies. This is why we call ourselves managing brokers,” explains Charles Robinet-Duffo. GMC Services is the French leader in this business activity. Its teams employ 730 people, most of whom are polyglot, who manage benefits for 940,000 people under group contracts.

Boom in the international department
In 1981, the Chairman and founder, Rémy Robinet-Duffo, launched GMC International to meet the needs of French expatriates throughout the world in terms of social benefits (healthcare, provident funds, retirement). This branch of activity was developed in three stages: “Our first business solely concerned French people living abroad. In the 1990s, we turned towards expatriate foreigners living abroad. We started with Asia, Switzerland and the Benelux countries, offering services to local companies. Finally, in the past ten years, GMC has acquired entirely foreign client groups, notably due to European enlargement,” explains the Managing Director in charge of the Sales Division. French companies, major international groups such as Nestlé, and major organisations such as the OECD, have chosen GMC’s services. And since 2000, Henner Sports, a specialised division of GMC Services, has managed the social welfare plan for the French Olympic delegation.

“We are specialists in individual risks, whether the people are in France or abroad, whether they are high level athletes or a member of a company’s staff,” summarises Mr Robinet-Duffo. GMC Services’ international business has doubled in the past two years, making a key contribution to growth in the company’s turnover (200 million euros). To date, 120,000 people in 180 countries are covered. The group’s main competitive advantage is the tailored services it offers major accounts who want contracts that are fully suited to their needs, sometimes on a case by case basis. In addition, small management teams based in France, Singapore and shortly in Brazil, follow up each client file with a close, local approach.

Borderless healthcare network
Like all the other healthcare players, GMC Services must adapt to the new measures designed to control expenditures (see our article on the private health insurance company MCD, page ???). This obligation of responsible management did not take the group by surprise, quite the contrary. "We have been developing an international healthcare network for several years now. A medical department, made up of general practitioners and specialists, advises patients on whether or not to accept treatment proposed by local doctors,” explains Jacques Ledys, Major Accounts Manager at GMC International. “Either before or after, we always obtain approvals for the medical advice provided to expatriates throughout the world. We also maintain an international medical network, in order to take advantage of tariffs and quality agreements with a large number of hospitals and private clinics and thus be able to direct the policyholders to the best providers. The international organisations that we work with are particularly demanding when it comes to controls on fraud or errors in medical treatments.” The medical network helps reassure clients and ensures that reimbursement schemes are adapted to the tariffs in force in the different countries.

“Today, companies are not only looking for good social welfare cover for their expatriate staff, but also for help in managing their insurance budgets for individual cover. The time is past when expatriate staff cost employees enormous amounts of money." And, contrary to generally accepted ideas, the number of expatriates is not falling. “There have been changes in the practices, but not in the figures. Companies have new ways of recruiting staff abroad, particularly in terms of choice of nationality and type of work contract,” explains Jacques Ledys. GMC deals with the social welfare of over 35,000 individual clients. Protection Santé Privilèges, a complementary health insurance scheme, enables clients to choose from a certain number of options to suit their needs and their budgets. The services offered to individuals also cover provident schemes, insurance and special risks.