Gradient AI Signs Up Western Skies

May 9, 2023

Gradient AI, a one of the fastest growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) insurtechs in the industry, today 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.

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.