METCare launches Sankofa health insurance plan

The METCare Sankofa health insurance plan is launched in UK

Peter Yankey cuts the balloon to launch the Ship,
with assistance from Nana Otuo Acheampong

The METCare Sankofa Health Insurance Plan, dubbed the “Ship”, has been launched in London.

The METCare Ship, which was developed by Metropolitan Insurance Company Ghana Ltd in collaboration with Tristar Financial Services – both Ghana-based financial institutions – will be run in the UK by Goldcare UK Ltd.

Under the scheme, subscribers in the UK can insure a dependant resident in Ghana for a monthly premium of £15, while the underwriters agree to meet claims up to a maximum of ¢10 million for outpatient services and ¢25 million for any admission at any private or public health institution in Ghana. As an added attraction, UK policyholders and their spouses are also entitled to one-month health insurance cover while in Ghana at any point during the payment period.

Setting the tone for the launch, Nana Otuo Acheampong, a lecturer in finance at the University of Portsmouth, who chaired the event, recounted the premium placed on the health of the nation by President John Kufuor. In his recent State of the Nation address, the president noted: “The overriding aim of the government is to have a healthy nation, because it is only when the people are healthy that they can work to grow the economy and improve upon their quality of life. Thus a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.”

Acheampong said the case for a national health insurance system has been made and as such METCare’s Ship is a worthy project.

Daniel Aidoo-Mensah, chief executive of Metropolitan Insurance Company, said since its establishment in 1997, the company has kept faith with its clients by introducing a number of customised products. These include universal life insurance (Met Gold Plan), a dedicated savings and investment plan for Muslims (the Met Labbaika Plan) and the firm’s health insurance scheme – METCare.

The METCare Ship, the CEO explained, currently has more than 75,000 subscribers, drawn from corporate organisations, diplomatic missions and among the general public. “The facility, which is currently operating and enjoying a high degree of popularity in the US market, covers payment for general and specialist consultation, drugs, surgical treatment, diagnostic tests, hospital accommodation, as well as dental and optical care,” said the chief executive.

Aidoo-Mensah said the absence of a comprehensive social insurance policy in Ghana had placed the financial burden of caring for the less fortunate members of society on Ghanaians living abroad, and stressed that the METCare Ship provided a convenient and effective medium for the discharge of this onerous responsibility.

Dr Yaw Oppong, head of METCare, took his turn to elaborate on the benefits and opportunities that accrue to a METCare Ship policyholder.

Launching the scheme on behalf of His Excellency Isaac Osei, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK, Peter Yankey, minister responsible for welfare and consular affairs at the Ghana mission in London, noted that radical reforms initiated by the NPP government to revamp the health sector in Ghana reflect the high priority the government places on the health needs of all Ghanaians.

He said the Ghanaian government will deliver on its pledge to all citizens regarding implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme when parliament passes the relevant bill later this year. The scheme has already been piloted successfully in selected districts.

Yankey praised the ingenious and pioneering role played by the Metropolitan Insurance Company in providing private health insurance, and for “identifying and designing a unique product tailored specifically to respond to a very pressing need confronting Ghanaians living in the diaspora”.

He observed that such insurance schemes had become an indispensable facility in contemporary life in Ghana, where the safety net that the extended family previously provided for poorer relatives has been severely eroded by rapid urbanisation and globalisation.

He urged Ghanaians resident in the UK to embrace the METCare Ship, so as to ensure the scheme’s success, and expressed the hope that other Ghanaian companies would emulate the example of Metropolitan Insurance Company in bringing out innovative products.

Also present at the launch were Asante Marfo-Ahenkora, managing director of Tristar Financial Services; Ray Sowah, manager of retail banking at Ghana International Bank; as well as Kwabena Fosu-Mensah and Olivia Anaman, both of Goldcare UK Ltd.

Others dignitaries were Alhaji Ahmed Jumah, Chief Imam of the Ghanaian Muslim community in the UK; Rev James Enin of the Ghana Catholic Chaplaincy; John Watson, chief executive of 3 Diamonds Ltd; and Charles Wereko of the Ghana High Commission.