The underserved in terms on insurance coverage is huge in this country, many Malaysians are limited to better healthcare due to lack of proper coverage. This has been the case due to high premium cost for a proper policy that an average man on the street will find a burden to subscribe to. Bringing coverage to the masses is the objective, how to go about this has been the mystery that was difficult to unlock, until now.
eWallets have been transforming the financial landscape unlike any other, the pandemic has accelerated society in adopting to a new method of trading without the use of paper money, we have gone dare we say…cashless! Now the technology providers are looking to expand their services to the insurance segment that needs a boost in adoption. Boost Axiata which is the country’s homegrown eWallet provider has introduced three new affordable micro-insurance/takaful plans called– MozzieProtect, FamilyProtect and Critical Illness Care – under its ‘Boost Protect’ suite.
With the addition Boost will now have a total of 13 coverage plans all underwritten by its investment partner, Great Eastern Life Assurance. Taking into current circumstances, the policies will also come with a value-added benefit, all three new plans includes a COVID-19 Vaccine Fund Assistance offering customers a RM200 daily hospital cash allowance for up to 7 days for hospitalisation due to adverse events following immunization (AEFI) within 14 days after receiving a COVID-19 Vaccine. The fund also offers a lump sum of RM10,000 if death is related to AEFI within 30 days from receiving a COVID-19 Vaccine or from date of hospital admission due to AEFI (whichever is later).
Increased participation on the service provided has been encouraging, Boost has seen more than 23 times increase in the uptake of its coverage plans. The top three most popular plans are BillProtect, GeneralProtect and ProtectActive. The micro insurance plans starts at just RM60 for a one-year coverage, giving RM500 for dengue fever hospitalisation and RM20,000 in the event of death from Zika or Dengue.
