The Medical Aid Society of Malawi (MASM) is the first and largest Medical Aid (Health Insurance) services provider in Malawi. MASM started its operations in the country in the 1960s and was operating as CIMAS, a health insurance organisation from Zimbabwe that came into the country to provide health insurance services to the expatriate population working in various establishments in the country. Later on, CIMAS started taking on membership from Malawian citizens, and there came a time when the membership comprising of Malawian citizens overtook that of the expatriate population. Due to this fact, in 1983, the Malawian membership decided to establish their local organisation for the sake of continuity. MASM was then set up and registered under the Trustees Incorporation Act of Malawi as a Not-For-Profit organization with the main objective of providing an all-inclusive medical cover (health insurance) to Malawian citizens and other residents of the country at cost-effective rates. MASM is owned and run by its members through a secretariat headed by a CEO. A board of trustees then oversees the activities of the Secretariat.
Throughout the years, the MASM business has evolved from a small organisation to a giant that has grown to become a household name and reached heights only imagined then. Amongst many achievements, today, MASM leads the healthcare industry in the sector of health insurance in Malawi, otherwise known as medical aid. MASM has grown to become the largest and most secure provider of medical aid in Malawi, holding more than 80% share of the private health insurance market. The Society has grown in the past few years from covering some 50,000 lives to a book of over 145,000 lives spread throughout the country as well as from a staff complement of about 20 to that of over 100 in recent years. This excellent rate of growth has come about through its quest to provide high-quality healthcare solutions to its members at affordable rates at all times as enshrined in its Mission Statement.
As the largest Health Insurance services provider in the country, MASM boasts of having the largest service provider network as well with over 300 service providers that provide various healthcare services to the Malawian population in all the four corners of the country. The Society has also established links with strategic partners in South Africa and India to ensure seamless access to health care service facilities for its members who require healthcare services available in those countries.
In furtherance of its mission, MASM has strategically invested in various forms to ensure the sustainability of the Society. Such investments have included financial market instruments, important for covering immediately arising claims, as well as shares in various companies and construction of MASM House, important for long term sustenance. With an eye on forward and backward linkages, MASM has invested in Mwaiwathu Hospital and operates clinics through its MASM Med clinics brand. All these are being done in the quest to keep healthcare costs at an affordable level. For the first time in Malawi, the public is now assured of reliable Emergency Medical Response services through the establishment of the MASM EMS which provides properly equipped ambulances crewed by well-trained practitioners.
Further to this MASM entered into a partnership agreement with Health International of the United Kingdom so that it can provide extensive foreign treatment cover that the Society on its own could not manage to provide and this cover extends to the rest of the world excluding the United States of America and Canada.
MASM offers a menu of schemes to fit everyone’s pocket. From January 2014, the Society introduced a funeral benefit package as a way of supporting its members in times of bereavement. The benefit provides financial assistance in varying amounts according to scheme to the bereaved family of a member within 12 hours of being notified of the demise of the member.
As a good and loyal corporate citizen of this country, MASM has always given back to the society through various corporate social responsibility initiatives such as upgrade of the Children’s Ward at Kamuzu Central Hospital, completion of a new patients’ wing and renovation of old wards at Kachere Rehabilitation Centre, Provision of supplies, both medical and general, to hospitals in all flood-affected areas, make various contributions to hospitals during festive seasons, as well as sponsorships to medical students at the College of Medicine and charitable organisations like Lions Club, Rotary Club International, Pachibale Golf Society, SAFE and The Silver-Grey Foundation among others. The Society also sponsors MASM Social Football and Netball teams to keep its members of staff fit and healthy.
