Beazley launches cover for virtual health providers in Asia

Beazley has launched an insurance product in Asia that covers risks associated with technology-enabled healthcare and wellness services.

While already a rapidly growing area within healthcare globally, the impact of COVID-19 has served to accelerate the uptake of digital health services, according to the insurer. From remote medical consultations through to the use of apps and wearable technology to monitor conditions, the number of telehealth users across Asia rose sharply in early 2020, making it an attractive sector to new entrants and investors.

Known as Virtual Care, the product is a modular insurance policy available via brokers in Singapore and Hong Kong. It covers the various risks that providers of virtual health services must deal with. Previously, firms would have to purchase individual policies for each risk class, which include:

• Medical malpractice and professional indemnity – a standard component of the policy, this covers bodily injury to any patient caused by a negligent act, accident or cyber incident.
• Tech and media liability – this covers technology platforms or products such as computer or telecommunications hardware or software, or related electronic products, against failure.
• Public and products liability – covers accidents resulting in bodily injury and property damage caused by products, including tech products such as wearables and self-monitoring healthcare devices.
• Cyber cover – protects against a broad range of cyber threats, including business interruption; cyber extortion and data recovery loss; data and network liability.

Beazley also offers optional extensions catering to various business needs, including mitigation costs, medical regulatory costs, claims due to loss of documents, and reputational damage costs.

According to Beazley, this launch in Asia follows successful launches of Virtual Care over the past three years in North America, the UK and Spain, which allowed the insurer to track and analyse claims trends within the sector.

“With demand for digital healthcare services in Asia set to rise in the coming years, the launch of Beazley Virtual Care in our region comes at an exciting time for the sector,” said Nicholas Tey, Beazley’s Asia regional manager for international financial lines. “We are very pleased to support clients as they develop and grow their digital health services, and ensuring that their risk exposures are covered in a simple modular policy.”