Possible in developing countries?
According to International organizations, up to 300 million people in the world are reaching unacceptable levels of financial situations due to medical care costs. Aside from a philosophical point of view where this is unbearable, the WHO Constitution (1946) envisages “…the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right of every human being.” This means that Health protection is actually a right which is also currently supported with the Goal #3 in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
Numerous Public and Private bodies are working on this hyper complex task taking into account that any discrimination is unacceptable (Age, Sex, Race, Religion, Health Status, Disability, Sexual orientation, Gender Identity or Migration Status). Western countries have succeeded to some good extent to protect their populations through public funding but developing countries still struggle to design and implement a successful model.
One may wonder if the private sector could contribute to this goal. Current reality is that Private Health Insurance plans have always had the reputation to be costly, untrustworthy and highly discriminatory (Pricing layers, Age limit for elderly, Medical questionnaires, Pre-existing conditions not covered, slow to respond for acceptance of a surgery, rejections of claims for unclear reasons, etc).
Next to this, numerous crisis times have highlighted the importance of family bonds, which is particularly resilient in developing countries. Intergenerational support has been the safety net of millions of people.
The Private Insurance industry could see a chance and find ways to contribute wider to the society’s Health protection coverage. This would require to design plans which have the following characteristics:
– Be Affordable
– No Pricing discrimination based on individual current Health Status
– No Age minimum or maximum, everyone has the right to be protected (such as newborn less than 15 days or Elderly people above 65 years old)
– No restrictions on current or past state of medical conditions (critical conditions, chronic diseases, diabetes, HIV/ AIDS, etc.)
– No Medical Questionnaire
– No Rejection of yearly renewal
– Allow easy Hospitalization without having to call and wait the Insurance for validation
In short, Health Insurance plans that accept Everyone with no discrimination and a fluidity in the Health treatment for peace of mind. On top of this, why not a Worldwide coverage to symbolize the idea that Health protection is universal?
Such features would not be easy for a private insurer to cover, knowing that their underwriting models do not estimate this to be realistic and sustainable to meet today’s capitalism bottom line. However, a fast-growing Health Insurance Specialist, SafetyNet Insurance Services, believes that such Private Health plan is possible thanks to reinventing the entire Value chain:
– Be a Pure Insurance Specialist in Health and only focused on Health
– Have the Family as the core source of financing (Public systems have been mostly based on taxes and Private plans based on Individual payment. Crisis periods proved that those have their limitations)
– Believe that loyalty can be a trigger for a good cover (Public Health systems are based on a long-term but Private Health Insurance are still yearly plans which encourage loyalty to very little extent)
– Use modern technologies to enhance transparency between parties
– Set trusted cooperation with Medical facilities with transparency on pricing (Health Insurance and Medical ecosystem need to cooperate more closely)
– Acknowledge that a responsibility should remain with the insured
Those are the foundations of ‘SafetyNet Insurance Services’.
It is not an easy challenge but SafetyNet Teams are working -every single day- to this goal to Making Health Insurance Affordable and Accessible for all Ages.
SafetyNet Teams.
If you want to know more, contact us:
info@safetynet.sg
Tel: 023 23 57 57
LinkedIN: SafetyNet Cambodia
Facebook: SafetyNet Cambodia