SINGAPORE — NTUC Income is partnering with the Education Ministry to extend its Income Family Micro-Insurance Scheme (IFMIS) to cover more low-income families, with young children in government or government-aided primary schools.

IFMIS is a free insurance policy that pays out S$5,000 in events whereby the main caregiver of low-income families with young children passes away or becomes totally and permanently disabled.

Under the new arrangement between the Education Ministry and NTUC Income, all primary school students who are recipients of the ministry’s Financial Assistance Scheme will automatically be covered under IFMIS.

In a statement, NTUC Income said the partnership with the Education Ministry will extend the reach of IFMIS to over 30,000 families.

The new partnership complements an existing arrangement with the Social and Family Development Ministry.

The micro-insurance scheme was launched in April 2010 to cover some 13,000 families who were already registered under the ComCare GROW schemes administered by the five Community Development Councils.

Those schemes later came under the purview of the Social and Family Development Ministry.

Recipients of the Education Ministry’s Financial Assistance Scheme (Primary Level) or the Social and Family Development Ministry’s ComCare Kindergarten Subsidies scheme are automatically covered under IFMIS. They do not have to apply or pay any premiums.

IFMIS is renewable every year with the application and approval of the financial assistance schemes, and does not involve underwriting, a waiting period, or exclusion of pre-existing illnesses. CHANNEL NEWSASIA