ASMI partners LEAP201 to provide migrant workers with group life, critical illness insurance

MIGRANT workers in the marine and offshore engineering (M&OE) sector will soon be able to benefit from cheaper group life and critical illness insurance coverage as part of a partnership between the Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI) and venture philanthropy organisation LEAP201.

In its press statement on Thursday, ASMI said that the Care4MigrantWorkers (C4M) group life and critical illness insurance scheme will be underwritten by NTUC Income, and will provide coverage to more than 35,000 workers in the M&OE sector.

The scheme will cover workers against non-work-related accidents resulting in death or total and permanent disability, as well as 37 critical illnesses, with a payout of up to S$10,000. It complements the Work Injury Compensation Act, which requires employers to purchase mandatory medical insurance which covers work-related injuries or diseases of the migrant workers they employ.

ASMI member-companies can purchase C4M for S$3 per worker per year, a 66 per cent discount from its usual price of S$9 as a result of the tie-up with LEAP201. The subsidy is limited to the first 10,000 migrant workers who sign up for the scheme for at least two years from Sept 25 to Dec 31.

President of ASMI Simon Kuik said that the association is grateful for the C4M initiative and the additional support that employers in the M&OE sector are getting.

C4M was originally launched by LEAP201 a year ago on Sept 30, 2020. The organisation partnered Migrant Worker Centre, a non-governmental organisation, to provide migrant workers with insurance coverage. At the time, both organisations collectively raised S$600,000 to subsidise insurance payment for the first 50,000 workers for the initial two years.

Employers of migrant workers have been able to sign up for C4M since Jan 1, 2021.

LEAP201 board chairman and founder Michael Lien said the partnership with ASMI is a "natural choice" as the latter has shown continuous effort to improve workers' well-being across the sector.

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