COVID-19 funds worth RM1.5 mil introduced in Malaysia for added vaccination security
Life insurance provider Sun Life Malaysia (Sun Life Malaysia Assurance Berhad and Sun Life Malaysia Takaful Berhad), a joint venture by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, have come up with two new COVID-19 funds worth a total of RM1.5 million (US$362,888).
The RM500,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Complications Fund and RM1 Million COVID-19 Medical Assistance Fund* will ensure medical assistance and reimbursement benefits to deal with any adverse side effects post-vaccination, including death due to serious Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI). The funds also provide coverage against rising hospital treatment costs due to the COVID-19 infection.
Raymond Lew, CEO and President/Country Head of Sun Life Malaysia said, “After a full year of battling the pandemic together, the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine has finally brought us to the next stage of recovery and Sun Life Malaysia strives to continue supporting our Clients throughout this process in line with our purpose of empowering them to achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives.”
“While there are naturally concerns over the vaccination’s efficacy, we are doing our part to ease these doubts by establishing the Vaccine Complications Fund to ensure Clients are more confident in taking the vaccine, knowing they are protected should any complications arise. At the same time, we know there are still many who are at risk of contracting the virus and our initiatives, through the COVID-19 Medical Assistance Fund, are in place to address those needs.”
The two latest funds are in addition to the ongoing RM1 million COVID-19 Relief Fund 2021, which has been extended until 30 June 2021 and provides RM1,000 cash benefit for Clients who are diagnosed with the virus along with a RM7,500 death benefit.
To date, the two tranches of the COVID-19 Relief Fund, launched in 2020 and 2021 respectively, have paid out over RM1.3 million in special relief claims to 577 affected Clients and their loved ones that ensured full protection during their hour of need.
[*For Clients and their legal spouse who have received the COVID-19 vaccine, the RM500,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Complications Fund will protect them from adverse side effects as a result of the vaccine. The fund provides a medical assistance benefit of up to RM5,000 for treatments requiring hospitalisation and a special death benefit of RM7,500 following death due to serious Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI).
Meanwhile, the RM1 Million COVID-19 Medical Assistance Fund will financially assist those affected by COVID-19 with reimbursements of hospital treatment costs in Malaysia for those diagnosed with the virus based on the hospital referral by the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia. Catered for Clients with individual Hospitalisation & Surgical (H&S) policies/contracts, the Fund provides a reimbursement amount between RM5,000 and RM20,000 depending on the severity of complications for COVID-19 Category 3 to 5 as defined by MOH Malaysia.]
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