Traveller Assist wins $8.2-million DBA contract in the US
Medical and security assistance provider Traveller Assist has won the contract to become claims and assistance providers for a new Defense Base Act (DBA)
As all US government contractors and subcontractors working abroad on military bases are required to have DBA workers’ compensation insurance to cover injury or illness to employees, under the new contract, Traveller Assist will provide additional claims and assistance services to workers under US military contract in Kurdistan, Turkey, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and parts of Africa.
Traveller Assist already has two years’ experience providing DBA assistance on behalf of two major US insurers throughout the Middle East, with extensive experience in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Bahrain and Oman. And Traveller Assist will be following the same operating model as these in the new contract, expanding their on-the-ground staff presence and co-locating staff with clients in high-volume case locations.
Further still, Traveller Assist is forecast to open over 20,000 DBA cases under the new contract over the next three years, worth over US$8.2 million, These new cases will provide concierge-style assistance that enables workers to submit claims, schedule hospital consultations, co-ordinate physiotherapy appointments and book associated travel.
Ted Gordon, Vice-President, Defense Base Act Insurance at Speciality Risk Solutions, detailed that Traveller Assist was the obvious choice for the company: “The decision made a lot of sense and already within the first three weeks of the contract they have successfully handled over 300 cases, which is a testament to their capabilities and tenacity.”
Barry Ince, Defence Base Act Contract Director at Traveller Assist, commented: “It has taken over 15 months to get to this point of starting the new contract and has included extensive due diligence on our company and security clearance applications for case managers due to the nature of the work we undertake and the sensitive information available to us.”
Traveller Assist has also entered into a scheme with the Department of Labor to retrain and employ former US military contractors who have been downgraded to administration duties only as a result of being injured in the line of duty, and who have previously been through the DBA claims process themselves. This scheme is due to commence in the summer of 2020.