COVID Insurance Plan Nepal: Should You Buy a Coronavirus-Specific Insurance Policy?
The global pandemic is going on around the world creating a crisis on different levels in different sectors. COVID-19 or as we call it Corona Virus was first reported in the city of Wuhan in China. WHO had reported ‘mysterious pneumonia’ sickening dozens of people in Wuhan. WHO reported the first death on Jan 11th in Wuhan and the USA reported its first confirmed case on Jan 21, 2020.
Whereas Nepal reported its first case on Jan 23rd in a 32-year-old man who had returned from China on 9th Jan who recovered and returned home on 31st January. Since Nepal had been ‘Corona-free’ until the 3rd week of March and that’s when Nationwide lockdown was imposed.
COVID-19 had already infected 2,45,16,557 people worldwide and 8,32,747 have died because of the virus. There are still 66,97,616 active cases of the virus and it does not seem to slow down anytime soon.
Nepal also has seen a growth in the cases lately with close to 1000 people getting infected every 24 hrs. There have already been 35,529 confirmed cases in Nepal with 183 deaths, and only 20,073 people have recovered.
Types of Corona Insurance
With the chaos and fear among people, there has been a lot of talk going around about the Corona Insurance or the ‘COVID-19 SURAKSHA KAVACH’. The insurance is 100% free for government employees as stated in the Budget Announcement for the Fiscal year 2020/21. For a normal citizen, they pay the following:
| Category/ Insurance Amount | Individual Insurance Plan | Family Insurance Plan |
|---|---|---|
| NPR 100,000 per person | NPR 1,000 per person | NPR 600 per person |
| NPR 50,000 per person | NPR 500 per person) | NPR 300 per person |
Thoughts on the Insurance
The prices for insurance seem to be reasonable. With the Family Insurance Plan, you only pay Rs.600 and get up to Rs.100,000, if you ever get infected with the COVID-19 virus. With the already going Economy crisis, a sum of NPR600/1000 per person or even NPR300/500 per person won’t burn a hole in your pocket. But in case you get caught by the COVID-19 virus (which I hope you don’t), paying your hospital bills could cost a hefty amount of money which could add a lot of stress with already what you had to lose due to the lockdown.
Almost 7.5 Lakhs people have already insured and I suggest every one of you to also do the COVID-19 Insurance. It won’t cost you a lot, but you might get the money when you need it. NPR1000/600 is nothing in front of what you could bear if the family gets infected.
To get the insurance here are some companies where you can get it done:
United Insurance Co. (Nepal) Ltd.
But to keep in mind, Insurance won’t help you stay away from the virus. That’s totally on you and the surrounding people. So, make sure you stay protected with a mask on and sanitizers with you all the time. I recommend you to use PPE/Face Shields if you feel you work in a highly contagious area. And also try avoiding gathering and don’t come out of the house until and unless you absolutely need to.
Here you can also read more about the Corona Virus,
STAY HOME, STAY SAFE
