Verily, Google’s health-focused sister company, is getting into insurance

Verily Life Sciences, the health care company owned by Alphabet, is getting into insurance, the company announced today. Verily is launching a new subsidiary for the effort called Coefficient Insurance Company, which will be backed by the commercial insurance unit of Swiss Re Group.

Verily, Google’s health-focused sister company, is getting into insurance

Coefficient plans to offer stop-loss insurance. The explanation for stop-loss is a little technical, but it boils down to this: Employers that pay for employee health claims out of pocket buy stop-loss insurance. Once they hit the predetermined point of money they pay for their employees’ health, the stop-loss insurance company pays the rest.

Insurance is something of a departure for Verily. A previous project from the company is Project Baseline, a massive medical study to better understand the human body. Project Baseline is also the banner Verily has used for its COVID-19 screening website, which President Donald Trump incorrectly said was backed by Google in March. Verily has also made a health-tracking smartwatch intended to be used for research studies.

But Verily CEO Andrew Conrad is reportedly divisive within the company and impulsive about what projects Verily takes on. And it’s been unclear how Verily would make money, despite its lofty goals. (Alphabet doesn’t typically break out Verily’s financials, but Alphabet’s Other Bets category, of which Verily is a part, had an operating loss of $1.1 billion last quarter.)