adminGrace Nyoni Midlands Correspondent
Gweru-based medical insurance firm, the Zimbabwe General Medical Aid Fund (ZG Medical), has started tapping into the country’s vast informal sector neglected by conventional insurance and medical aid companies that do not cover clients without formal employment.
With an estimated population of about 80 percent now plying their trade in the informal sector, ZG Medical public relations and marketing consultant Vanessa Moyo, said the company is now shifting focus to individuals without “pay slips”.
This initiative, she said, was also in line with the Government’s drive of supporting the informal sector now providing over 60 percent of employment.
“The emergence of the new dispensation in Zimbabwe saw the emergence of an even greater dispensation in terms of health insurance,” Moyo said.
“Medical aid cover in Zimbabwe has often been known to cater for those with pay slips and those who can afford it. Zimbabwe General Medical Aid Fund has taken an initiative to offer medical aid cover to the marginalised people in society in Zimbabwe.”
ZG Medical was offering packages that ranging from $5 to $55 per month.
The minimum package gives clients access to all Government hospitals where they are given medication without co-payment.
“Not only does it target the informal traders, it is tailor made for the unemployed and of course low income earners,” she said.
ZG Medical was working towards increasing the number of people on Health Insurance. Currently recent surveys show that just about 10 percent of the Zimbabwean population.
Apart from targeting the marginalised, Moyo said they were also offering flexible Medical Aid packages tailor-made for companies and insuring both companies and their employees on one health policy.
The company is seeking professional relations with many organisations and has already established partnerships with institutions in the Midlands such as the Midlands State University, and collaborates with corporates like PSMI, United Bulawayo Hospital, Clay bank Hospital.
Bongani Ndlovu