Under the Work Injury Compensation Act, migrant workers are covered for work-related injuries or diseases. The mandatory medical insurance that employers are required to purchase for their migrant workers helps cover any hospital and surgical expenses incurred by migrant workers. However, migrant workers are uninsured against non-work related accidents resulting in death, or total and permanent disability as well as critical illnesses.
To kickstart the initiative and encourage employers to purchase this insurance for their migrant workers, LEAP201 and MWC have collectively raised $600,000. This money will be used to subsidise the insurance payment for the first 50,000 migrant workers for the first two years. With the subsidy, employers of migrant workers will only have to pay $3 per year (for the first two years) for each migrant worker insured.
Mr Michael Lien, Chairman of LEAP201, said, “Migrant workers have no affordable insurance coverage for critical illnesses such as cancer, and this poses a challenge to their social protection. Many a time, migrant workers who discover that they have late-stage cancer or other critical illnesses in Singapore are sent home. Not only are they no longer able to work, but they often have huge medical bills to foot and outstanding loans to pay their employment agents.”
Mr Lien added, “Through this new insurance scheme, we have shown that it is feasible to protect migrant workers against critical illnesses at a low cost of 75 cents a month. We hope that employers and dormitory operators will find value, step in and expand this scheme to eventually cover more migrant workers in Singapore. Migrant workers have become part of the engine of Singapore’s growth, and it is up to us to care for the very people who helped build our country in their time of need.”
Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Chairman of MWC said, “From MWC’s experience, unexpected heart attacks, cancer, stroke and diabetes are some of the leading causes of death among the migrant worker community in Singapore. As many of these migrant workers are the sole breadwinner of their families, C4M will provide insured migrant workers with a lump sum payout should they fall ill to these unexpected medical conditions. We would like to strongly urge our employers to consider tapping on this initiative to better protect their migrant workers.”
Mr Andrew Yeo, CEO of NTUC Income commented, “NTUC Income has its roots in protecting workers in Singapore. Till today, we remain committed to make essential insurance accessible to people in Singapore, including those who are unserved or underserved amongst us. This is why we are constantly pushing the innovation boundary and our recent micro-insurance offering, which allows one to build insurance protection on micro-premiums, that are as low as 10 cents, is a case in point. When migrant workers are rendered unable to work due to serious injuries, illnesses or worse, death, their loved ones at home are also very much impacted as many migrant workers here are breadwinners of their families. Together with our partners, we are glad to offer C4M as an affordable option for employers of migrant workers in Singapore to plug the protection gap of this community of workers, who are playing a pivotal role in our society. The payout from C4M, should the unfortunate happen, will go a long way in helping the insured migrant worker and family tide over a difficult time. We are glad to be able to do our part for this meaningful initiative and to offer some peace of mind to migrant workers, when needed.”
