Insurance firm signs healthcare agreement

PNG Health Assurance Ltd (PHA) signed a memorandum of understanding with Lower Ok Tedi Investment Company Ltd (Lotic) for the community to have access to affordable healthcare.
Lotic and Lotic Bige Limited (LBL) chief executive Anthony Amerasinghe, said: “As a community company and a principal and preferred contractor to Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML), we are very much concerned as to how our communities and workers have access to affordable health cover.”
Amerasinghe said there was no proper health cover or health facility for communities in Western and workers contracted to OTML, other than what was facilitated by OTML.
“Present OTML system is inundated, and we need to look beyond the mine life to sustain the healthcare,” he said.
“Therefore, this Mou with PHA has been reached to introduce much-needed healthcare for the communities in Western, the public sector and the employees and contractors of OTML.”
The agreement between PHA and Lotic is a distribution agreement that will allow PHA to market its products in Western.
Amerasinghe said that in the first phase, PHA would register Tabubil and Kiunga hospitals as recognised hospitals for PHA members to obtain cashless healthcare.
PHA director Pradeep Soni expressed his gratitude and excitement that PHA was able to extend its services and products to the rural community in Western.
He said PHA was “a peoples’ insurance company, that was primarily focused on community outreach and improving the health care in the country”.
Soni said a core pillar of PHA was improving healthcare and creating access for the people.
He said the agreement was a step forward in the vision PHA had to create access for all the people of PNG to affordable healthcare.