Affordable health insurance to protect against catastrophic health expenditures is core to sustainable health systems and universal health coverage for all. Despite progress on health indicators such as infectious diseases including HIV, TB and malaria, out-of-pocket expenditures are still 60% of total health expenditure in Cambodia. reach52 started offering affordable insurance through our reach52 marketplace service last year. We’re now expanding our insurance range through an exciting new partnership with ProSur Insurance PLC in uninsured markets in Cambodia.
The new partnership enables us to offer affordable plans (ranging from $6.25 to $9.50 per year) to rural markets, providing cover for medical expenses, hospital and surgical fees, accidental death, and disability. ProSur is also collaborating with reach52 to equip our networks of community-based agents to promote and explain the benefits of insurance in their communities. This capability support is currently being delivered through virtual channels due to the COVID-19 situation in Cambodia. Access to these affordable plans protects people in the target markets from having to sell assets or borrow from high interest lenders to afford critical medical expenses for their families. Our own research has also demonstrated the importance of insurance in preventing patient delays in seeking treatment in the first place, as often the fear of financial ruin for medical costs stops people from seeing a healthcare professional at the time they should. In the first few weeks of the ProSur partnership, there has been strong uptake from communities able to purchase affordable health insurance for the first time. This expanded insurance service is part of our current expansion in Cambodia, through which we’re engaging NGO partners to run our services in their established communities.
Unfortunately, this is not a unique problem in Cambodia, with the WHO estimating that in 2020, approximately 1 billion people (almost 13 per cent of the global population) spent at least 10% of their household budgets on health care. We’ve made stronger financial protections central to our purpose to reach 52% of the world with accessible health services.
Kolab Chhim, Cambodia Country Manager comments “Insurance is relatively new to the country and with limited access to information on insurance in the rural communities, building understanding and trust is even more challenging. Working together with ProSur and our NGO partners will bring a difference and change to our communities, enabling better financial planning and better health care access for their loved ones”.
If you’re interested in partnering with reach52 to reach new markets with accessible health and financial services, please get in contact.
Kolab Chhim – Cambodia Country Manager – kolab@reach52.com
Rich Bryson – Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer – rich@reach52.com