Western Skies MGU Leverages Gradient AI to Grow its SMB Stop-Loss Insurance Market Share

Gradient AI, a one of the fastest growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) insurtechs  in the industry, announced that Western Skies, a managing general underwriter (MGU), is using Gradient AI’s SAIL solution to provide stop-loss insurance access to smaller, self-funded groups.

Western Skies is leveraging SAIL to tap into new markets and offer more affordable insurance plans to small and midsize businesses. The company chose Gradient AI’s SAIL solution for its advanced AI and analytics capabilities that leverage its rich industry data lake of medical, lab, and prescription data.

Small and midsize businesses have long desired more affordable, self-funded insurance plans. However, due to limited access to small business claims data that underwriters need to effectively assess group risk, stop-loss insurers have often declined to take on small business clients. This includes Western Skies, which traditionally partners with brokers, general agents, and third-party administrators (TPAs) that represent companies with 150+ employees. Yet, this excludes a the large majority of the market, as recent data from the NAICS Association reveals that over 89% of the more than 18 million businesses in the United States operate with fewer than 100 employees.

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With SAIL’s breadth and depth of data and predictive analytics, Western Skies can now extend its reach to the small business market of 25, 50, and 100 lives. This opens opportunities for Western Skies to exponentially grow its prospective customer pool as well as its partnership potential with brokers, agents, and TPAs that work with smaller organizations. SAIL’s analytics have also empowered Western Skies to move beyond traditional medical underwriting into the statistical probabilities behind financial underwriting, providing greater accuracy in assessing risk and pricing policies.

“Gradient AI’s technology is revolutionary and on the leading edge of the industry,” said Dave Kesler, vice president of underwriting for Western Skies. “It has enabled us to innovate and deliver new insurance solutions to the market. With Gradient AI, we can combine our strengths from our traditional business with SAIL’s predictive analytics to reach new markets that were previously unattainable. This has been a game changer for Western Skies.”

In addition to expanding its target market to large numbers of smaller employers, Western Skies is also expanding geographically. Having found most of its success in the Southeast, the company is now leveraging SAIL’s vast data sets and capabilities to expand west and northeast, reaching new regions with its services. Western Skies MGU, a division of ManhattanLife — a risk-bearing entity— can now accurately assess risk and compete against larger insurance providers as it taps into new markets.

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“We’re excited to partner with Western Skies, offering innovative new insurance opportunities to the small business market,” said Stan Smith, CEO and founder of Gradient AI. “With this stop-loss insurance partnership, everybody wins. Employers and employees can obtain insurance at more competitive rates, and Western Skies and their partnering brokers, agents, and TPAs can now serve a new market segment.”

As a full-service managing general underwriter specializing in employer funded medical stop-loss solutions, Western Skies enables producers to offer clients both traditional network options and cost-effective, Reference Based Pricing (RBP) reimbursement models. The company offers the value of a direct carrier with the underwriting expertise of an MGU. ManhattanLife is a group of five operating life and health insurance companies: Manhattan Life Insurance Company, ManhattanLife Insurance and Annuity Company, Western United Life Assurance Company, Family Life Insurance Company and Standard Life and Casualty Insurance Company. Since 1850, these companies have provided secure and innovative life and health insurance products and services throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

Gradient AI is a leading provider of proven artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the insurance industry. Its solutions improve loss ratios and profitability by predicting underwriting and claim risks with greater accuracy, as well as reducing quote turnaround times and claim expenses through intelligent automation. Unlike other solutions that use a limited claims and underwriting dataset, Gradient’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform leverages a vast dataset comprising tens of millions of policies and claims.  It also incorporates numerous other features including economic, health, geographic, and demographic information. Customers include some of the most recognized insurance carriers, MGAs, TPAs, risk pools, PEOs, and large self-insurers across all major lines of insurance. By using Gradient AI’s solutions, insurers of all types achieve a better return on risk.

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