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The plight of the foreign workers injured in last week’s brutal attacks has turned the spotlight on who will bear the brunt of their hefty medical bills.
While foreign workers who get hurt on the job can claim compensation up to a fairly large sum, this is not the case when they are injured under other circumstances.
Under current Ministry of Manpower guidelines, all employers must buy medical insurance for S-Pass and Work Permit holders, including domestic workers, to cover them for non-work related incidents.
Coverage had increased from the beginning of this year, from a minimum of $5,000 a year to $15,000. The amount includes inpatient care, day surgery and any other treatment required.
However, the payout may not be enough to treat severe injuries like those sustained by the two foreign workers in the recent Kallang attacks. Hospital bills can total $50,000.
Said lawyer N. Srinivasan: “These workers are without recourse. They could take action against their attackers, but there’s no use in that because all they will get is a paper judgment, which can’t be enforced as their attackers are unlikely to have any money to compensate them.”
He added that in many cases, the remainder of the bill is likely to end up being written off by the hospital. If the worker is lucky, his employer might take up a collection among fellow workers and send him home with the money.
Many of these foreign workers are also heavily in debt to agents when they arrive. They will now also have to cope with the loss of income.
Social worker Jolovan Wham, who works with the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, feels that insurance coverage for these workers needs to be more comprehensive.
“They should be covered for disabilities that arise from non-work related situations, as well as a loss of income,” he said.
He added that while migrant welfare groups might be able to chip in if the amount is fairly small, there is little they can do if the bill runs into the thousands.
Thankfully, non-work related incidents are few and far between.
“Perhaps a voluntary trust fund should be set up to help alleviate the difficulties of these victims,” he added.
In the case of domestic workers, they also have Personal Accident Insurance in addition to medical insurance.
The former insures them against accidental death and permanent disablement.
The minimum sum assured is $40,000 and will go to the worker, or her family.
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