With the number of both infections and fatalities on the rise, none of global reinsurers has agreed to partner with Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) to launch an insurance scheme for physicians and other health workers fighting Covid-19.
The lone state-run company moved to launch the health insurance scheme and contacted dozens of global reinsurance companies to underwrite the risks, but almost none of them came forward taking into account the severity of the deadly virus.
"We had approached some 42 (reinsurance) companies worldwide. Only one has communicated with us but ultimately (it) may not partner for the scheme," SBC managing director Syed Shahriyar Ahsan told the FE.
He said the reinsurance companies noticed that the rate of contagion and casualties from the pandemic is rising. So, they are unwilling to take the risk.
The SBC had initial talks with Paris-based company AXA France Vie S.A., an international leader in provident funds, life, and non-life insurance, reinsurance, and related financial services, on launching the health insurance scheme.
"Unless we can sign an agreement with the company, how we can proceed," said Mr Ahsan.
He said the corporation would not introduce the scheme if it fails to arrange a risk underwriter. "If we do not get a reinsurer, we won't launch the product."
The SBC has designed a product namely "Public Medical Hospital Staff of Bangladesh death cover due to COVID-19".
The doctors, nurses, and other medical staff will come under coverage, exclusively death, following hospitalisation arising from novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection, S and L type, whose genetic codes have been identified, since the beginning of the pandemic.
The AXA France Vie proposed that doctors will be given the coverage of Tk 500,000 and nurses and other health assistants of Tk 300,000. However, the SBC proposed enhancing the benefit of Tk 1,000,000 for doctors and Tk 500,000 for nurses and other health assistants.
To avail the insurance coverage, the doctors will have to pay Tk 7,000 and nurses and others Tk 3,000 per year as premium.
The SBC will bear a portion of the premium from its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), while the rest can be borne by the government or insured persons.
The government has already announced a compensation package for public servants who are engaged as frontline COVID-19 fighters.
They will get up to Tk 1.0 million if get infected with the deadly virus during duty. The compensation will be five times if any of them dies from the disease.
Public sector doctors, nurses, health workers, police, local administration and field level officials, members of other law enforcement agencies including armed forces are eligible for the compensation.
The government officials of grade 1-9 will get Tk 1.0 million, grade 10-14 Tk 0.75 million and grade 15-20 Tk 0.5 million in case of getting infected with coronavirus.
On Wednesday, some 19 people died and 1,162 others contracted the coronavirus, raising the death toll to 269 in Bangladesh. Globally, the fatalities have reached 291,843 and the number of infections surpassed 4.259 million.
