Nurses under RN HEALS get health insurance

BORONGAN, E. Samar - Feb. 21(PIA) To ensure the nurses' security, the Department of Health (DOH) in the province made enrolment to health insurance a priority for the nurses it recruited to the Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement Local Services (RN HEALS) Program.

According to Alexi Abellar, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Provincial Head, the 170 nurses assigned to 23 municipalities in the province will be enrolled to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.

"We know that there are risks in this kind of job and we want to make sure we give the assistance necessary to help them," Abellar said in an interview with Radyo ng Bayan DYES-Borongan.

The DOH has shouldered the cost of the nurses' health insurance for the duration of the program.

Aside from this, the nurses will also receive an P8,000 allowance every month.

Angeline Norcio, one of the nurses in the program, expressed elation over the benefits the government agencies bundled for them in the program.

Maslog Mayor Septimio Santiago of Maslog town confirmed that if the nurses perform well, his Local Government Unit (LGU) is willing to add a reasonable amount to the allowance.

Vernard Pinanggay of PhilHealth said that the nurses can enjoy the benefits of their health insurance in three months.

The nurses were deployed to their assigned towns on February 14, 2011 after a two-day orientation.

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86,000 employees of 2,200 employers passed required insurance at work in Azerbaijan

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Over the last 1/5 month of implementation of the Law on Compulsory Insurance against Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases, three specialized life insurance companies in Azerbaijan have managed to ensure insurance of about 85,724 workers of 2,236 employers in the total amount of 942 manats.

 

At today's press conference in Baku a member of the Qala Sigorta Board of Directors, Vusal Abbasov, has informed the Company has signed about 900 contracts for insurance of about 50,000 workers.

 

"The premium on these agreements reached approximately 300,000 manats," Abbasov said.

 

Ateshgah Heyat's deputy chairman of board Akbar Madatli says that their Company has entered into 1,316 contracts for insurance of about 30,724 employees, and fees totaled about 542,000 manats.

 

PASHA Heyat's deputy chairman of board Niyaz Ismailov has said, in turn, that although their Company started operating on 14 February 2011, it already has agreements with 20 employers for insurance of up to 5,000 workers. The premiums amounted to 100,000 manats.

 

State Labour Inspectorate under the Ministry of Labour & Social Protection estimates that at least 1.5 million employees of about 400,000 employers are subjected to insurance. Expected premiums on them are expected to reach 30-40 million manats.

READ MORE - 86,000 employees of 2,200 employers passed required insurance at work in Azerbaijan

Swan hints at inquiry into state disaster insurance

THE government may set up an inquiry to examine whether states should be forced to take out commercial insurance for natural disasters, as it seeks to secure the final vote to pass its $1.8 billion flood levy.

 

South Australian independent Nick Xenophon, who is now the pivotal figure, wants to relieve the burden that disasters place on the taxpayer.

 

The government already has sufficient lower house crossbench support for the levy, after concessions last week collectively worth $150 million over the budget period. It has the backing of the Greens and Family First's Steve Fielding in the Senate.
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Treasurer Wayne Swan hinted at an inquiry when he told Channel Ten there was a ''legitimate question'' being raised about what the states had done on insurance. ''It is probably timely for us to evaluate all of those questions, to have a good hard look at them to see what the implications are for the future.''

 

Senator Xenophon said the ''big picture'' was why the flood levy and spending cuts were needed. ''It's because the government of Queensland failed to take out appropriate insurance,'' he told Channel Nine.

 

He said that if he supported the levy, ''I want to make sure this is the last time Australian taxpayers have to pay a disaster levy''.

 

Senator Xenophon said Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales all had forms of natural disaster insurance; Queensland, the territories and Tasmania did not. ''There ought to be a system where the states have a huge disincentive if they don't take out natural disaster insurance … Now is the time to fix this.''

READ MORE - Swan hints at inquiry into state disaster insurance

Health insurance becomes portable

If you are not satisfied with the services of your health insurer, don't feel frustrated. Thanks to Health Insurance Portability, you would be able to switch to another health insurer from July 1 st onwards, without having to lose any of the benefits that your current health insurer provides.

 

Why Health Insurance Portability?
IRDA in its new regulation says "Persons shifting from one region to other regions are many times put to disadvantage due to lack of insurers' office providing necessary policy servicing at the new location. Further, employees shifting from one organization to another organization many times lose health insurance cover due to lack of portability of the health insurance policies. It is essential to protect the policyholders against discontinuity and consequential loss of Pre Existing Diseases (PED) cover by making the health insurance plans portable across the insurance companies." The portability will ensure that the policyholder is not tied to one single insurer throughout his life for fear of losing the cover of PED. It will be implemented from 1 st July, this year. This means that come July, you can switch to any health insurer of your choice whenever you want. Almost all health insurance companies have a defined "waiting period" of 30 days before you start getting cover for the pre-existing diseases. In the current scenario if you change your health insurer you need to again spend the "waiting period" with the new insurer. Policyholders who have chronic illnesses like cataract, hysterectomy etc often face a waiting period of 2 to 3 years. You would be able to "carry forward" the credit gained for pre-existing conditions in terms of waiting period you enjoyed with previous insurance company, as per the new portability guidelines. For example if under a previous policy, the condition was excluded from coverage for two years and under a new plan with a different insurer the exclusion period for the same condition is three years, the new health insurance policy can only exclude the condition from coverage for one extra year

READ MORE - Health insurance becomes portable

Closed-End Insurance Fund to Raise Money

A closed-end version of Securis I Fund, a hedge fund focused on insurance risks, will start a public fundraising for long-term capital this week, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the plans.

 

Securis wants to raise between 100 million pounds ($162 million) and 200 million pounds, the newspaper said.

READ MORE - Closed-End Insurance Fund to Raise Money