Local Myanmar companies to start health insurance sale next January

Nine local Myanmar private insurance companies will begin a new version of health insurance sale to local citizens and foreigners in January 2017, the official media reported Tuesday.

The new version of health insurance has guaranteed to pay partial cost of hospitalization expense and insurance coverage for accidental deaths, the Myanmar Insurance (MI) was quoted as saying.

MI has sold this kind of health insurance since July 2015.

Myanmar's insurance sector is far lagged behind the regional countries. Since 2012, the country has started liberalization with the sector, granting licenses to private companies.

The private companies were only allowed to operate six kinds of insurance services -- life, fire, motorcar, fidelity, cash-in-transit and cash-in-safe when they started. There are still restrictions on this sector.

There are 12 local private insurance companies in Myanmar while 20 foreign companies are waiting to enter the market, opening representative offices. Endit