Income plan for ‘after retirement’ a must : AIA’s focus: Healthier, longer and better lives | Sunday Observer

Income plan for ‘after retirement’ a must : AIA’s focus: Healthier, longer and better lives

12 August, 2018
Pankaj Banerjee, Upul Wijesinghe and Nikhil Advani at the media briefing. Pic: Chaminda Niroshana
Pankaj Banerjee, Upul Wijesinghe and Nikhil Advani at the media briefing. Pic: Chaminda Niroshana

AIA will focus more on healthier, longer and better lives for people. It launched its brand promise last week culminating its efforts to make lives of people improve on aspects of health and better living.

“As an insurance company, we have a responsibility to be in this space. Sri Lanka has a lot of health concerns - tobacco consumption, where 10 percent of the population is engaged in smoking 11 cigarettes a day. It is estimated that there are 1.5 million smokers in the country. The per capita consumption of alcohol is 3.5 litres. Over 24 percent of people do not exercise and 30 percent of people do not eat a balanced diet,” CEO AIA Pankaj Banerjee said.

There is a need for an income plan after retirement as only 13 percent of the working population is entitled to a pension. Over 48 percent depend on children as a source of income.

AIA will start paying a pension under its insurance cover for customers from 2022 March. It plans to penetrate more in to the country’s health insurance sector to fill the gap in the industry. The health spending of Sri Lanka is only 4 percent of the GDP which amounts to US $ 2.5 billion.“With a rapidly aging population, improving life spans and more nuclear families the need for personal pensions has never been greater.

We’re encouraging the overall wellness of Sri Lankans by motivating them to lead healthier lifestyles and rewarding them to do so,” he said.

AIA’s mission was validated by the findings of its 2018 Healthy Living Index survey which highlights health trends across Asia.

survey found that Sri Lanka is facing a critical illness ‘finance gap’ where savings, current levels of insurance and government health provisions may not be enough to pay for the treatment for critical illnesses. 41% of respondents expressed their worry about having to financially cope with these serious illnesses.

“So how can AIA help?” asked Deputy CEO Upul Wijesinghe; “The cost of medical treatment is increasing. With people living an average of 20 years after retiring, how can retirees ensure that they can sustain their lifestyles along with the inevitable medical bills?”

“This is where our products can help” he said; “Our flagship health product AIA Health Protector will help customers focus on getting better and not have to worry about finances. It covers 37 critical illnesses, 250+ surgeries, hospital expenses allows Sri Lankan’s to secure the best medical treatment world-wide.

“AIA Smart Pensions is another option. It lets customers replace their monthly pay cheques with monthly pension cheques that increase each month to fight against inflation, guaranteeing the pension to beneficiaries if you aren’t around.”

“AIA Vitality is another example of how we help people live healthier” said AIA Chief Marketing Officer Nikhil Advani. AIA also introduced ‘The Healthiest Workplace Survey’ in Sri Lanka - a comprehensive survey of the health and wellbeing of employees around Asia-Pacific.

Comments