French digital health insurer Alan SA is entering Canada in the new year, hoping its combination of insurance coverage and virtual health care will disrupt a market dominated by a few major incumbents.
Alan, founded in 2016, is what’s known in the industry as a “payvider,” which provides group benefits plans to employers and some health services to their employees. Alan’s services are available through an app that provides basic services, such as breathing exercises, and more advanced virtual care, such as allowing patients to chat with licensed health care providers, including doctors and therapists.
The company says it covers 675,000 employees across 29,000 employers in France, Spain and Belgium. It said it received a licence last week from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions to offer health insurance in Canada.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan holds a minority stake in Alan. Teachers led a Series E funding round in 2022. A Series F round announced last month valued the company at €4-billion (about $6-billion).
Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve, co-founder and chief executive officer of Alan, said his company is trying to address health care challenges such as limited access to family doctors that are as prevalent in Europe as they are in Canada.
He said the company identified Canada as a market ripe for new ideas, as it is dominated by a handful of incumbent insurers.
“Canada, as a country, felt like a place where there was a huge need for innovation and for more access to care,” Mr. Samuelian-Werve said.
Alan will begin offering group benefits to Canadian employers starting in January. Its other health care offerings will come online throughout 2025 and into 2026, as the company works through the regulatory hurdles required to provide virtual health services in various provinces.
Mark Goad, the company’s general manager in Canada, said the health care professionals available on the app will be based in Canada.
The market for virtual care grew quickly early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when doctors had to limit in-person appointments. It has attracted interest from major players that include Telus Health and Loblaw Cos. Ltd., which acquired a minority stake in the Maple platform in 2020.
One criticism of systems in which providers and insurers are either owned by the same company or have tight contractual relationships is that the systems can lead to patient steering, in which patients are restricted on which health care providers they can see. One form of that is a preferred provider network (PPN), in which a plan member will only be reimbursed for expenses incurred at certain providers. Ontario is currently considering new limits on the practice.
Mr. Samuelian-Werve said employees covered by Alan will not be restricted to the app’s services and can use any provider they choose. As well, they will not be charged co-pays for the app’s services.
He said the company can administer those services more cheaply by doing it in-house and not contracting out.
Mr. Samuelian-Werve also said that only Canadians who are part of an Alan group benefit plan will have access to the app, and it is not a stand-alone product.