Accident insurance for the child at school – Municipality of Nea Smyrni

Innovation results

In the program "Accident Insurance for the child at school", 300 students are currently served in total, receiving insurance coverage in case of an accident at school (school year 2020- 2021). As shown by the annual assessment (school year 2020- 2021), 82.5% of the participants said they were quite / very satisfied with the program. The insurance coverage in case of an accident of primary school students, provided a sense of security and relief to parents from the stress and anxiety they experience during their long wait in an emergency hospital, while covering medical exams and rehabilitation costs. At the same time there is ease of access as the whole process is done directly by telephone communication.

Design stage

The program was designed by the School Social Service of the Municipality of Nea Smyrni aiming at primary health coverage and care for students of public schools through a group accident contract. The relevant study defined the minimum requirements and then a contract was signed with a specialized contractor.

Implementation stage

By decision of the Mayor no. 19709/26-10-2020, "AEGA ETHNIKI" was assigned the group insurance of the students of the public kindergartens and primary schools of the Municipality of Nea Smyrni. Indicatively, the benefits concern: Insurance of Permanent Disability due to An Accident, Insurance of Hospital Expenses & Hospital Care due to An Accident, (medical expenses) of emergency expenses.

Primary Education Schools, the School Social Service and the Department of Education, Youth & Lifelong Learning of the Municipality of Nea Smyrni collaborated with the insurance company AEGA ETHNIKIS for the implementation of the program. The cooperation initially included the signing of a contract between the Municipality of Nea Smyrni and Ethniki Insurance regarding the terms of this program. The communication of the program, through the distribution of printed material, e-mail, as well as telephone communications to school heads and parents/guardians of primary education students of the Municipality, the receipt of applications, in accordance with the conditions of inclusion in the program, through the acceptance of consent by parents/guardians regarding the child's participation in the group Insurance Contract and the compilation of the list of beneficiaries.

The funding of the program is carried out from national resources, as well as from the budget of the agency. In the phase of development of the innovation worked 2 employees of the S.K.Y., 2 employees from the Department of Education and 1 employee from the Mayor's Office for 3 months and for 1 hour per day, while for the maintenance of the program 2 employees of the School Social Service are employed for 1 hour daily.

Challenges and solutions during design, testing and implementation

Although specific guidelines were given, regarding the submission of an application to the program (with several options, for the convenience of the beneficiaries), some difficulties were observed regarding the submission process.

The willingness of cooperation and development on the part of the project's action team contributed significantly to the development of the program "Accident insurance for the child at school". Moreover, the constant communication of S.K.Y. with AEEGA ETHNIKI (insurance company and insurer), contributed to the smooth implementation of the program.

The implementation of the program "Accident insurance for the child at school" confronted the School Social Service with a number of beneficiaries who found it difficult to understand that this program does not require any financial burden for parents / guardians. Therefore, the aim was to make it clear to the beneficiaries that the program "Accident insurance for the child at school" concerns a free benefit of the Municipality.