Munich Re Agrees to Acquire Clareto
The deal could change how life insurers pull applicants' health records into underwriting systems.
Munich Re Life U.S. is hoping to overhual U.S. life insurers´ underwriting process.
The New York-based arm of Munich Re has agreed to acquire MedVirginia, which does business as Clareto.
Clareto has developed relationships and systems that help it put health records for hundreds of millions of patients on one easy-to-use system.
Munich Re says it plans to use Clareto technology to give life insurance underwriters quick, easy access to applicants’ health records, and to end the days of underwriters having to resort to weeks of postal mail exchanges, telephone calls and even facsimile machine transmissions simply to find out what’s up with applicants’ health.
MedVirginia, aka Clareto
Clareto is a Richmond, Virginia-based startup that can help life insurers get, and use, coverage applicants’ electronic health records.
The firm has relationships with about 25 health information exchange programs and EHR software vendors. In 2021, for example, Clareto said it had negotiated an electronic health record deal that would give it access to the EHR information for about 280 million U.S. patients.
The Clareto management team has raised about $6.1 million in funding for the business since 2017, according to SEC filings.
Dave Dorans, Clareto’s CEO, said in a comment, included in the deal announcement, that Munich Re and Clareto are a natural fit.
“As the availability of EHR data grows, we see a significant opportunity to combine Munich Re’s capital strength and risk expertise, and Clareto’s access to health data to provide the life insurance industry with a comprehensive all-in-one solution,” Dorans said.
The Future
Munich Re said it expects to see Dorans continue to run the Clareto business.
“There are no changes expected to Clareto’s operating model, personnel, service model or standards,” the reinsurer said.
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