COVID19

COVID-19

Our Response to COVID-19

2 min read
Jun 22, 2021

COVID-19

MetLife is committed to protecting the health and well-being of our customers, communities and employees. We managed the challenges in 2020 by developing new ways to serve and support customers while prioritizing the health and safety of our people and communities. In keeping with our efforts to provide financial protection and support for people during life’s most destabilizing moments, between premium credits and contributions from the MetLife Foundation, we provided more than $250 million of relief to help people cope with COVID-19.

For Our Communities

  • MetLife Foundation committed $25 million globally to pandemic relief and recovery.
  • Donated medical supplies, including facemasks, hand sanitizers, and disinfectant wipes to help protect first responders and others.
  • Offered MetLife majority-owned properties as housing for healthcare workers, and as hospitals, if needed.
  • Established a new paid voluntary leave program for in-house medical professionals to help fight COVID-19.
  • Supported 11 hospitals through Fundación MetLife Mexico, along with launching the “Caring for those who care for us” campaign to support medical personnel.
MetLife Foundation supports 13 programs in Vietnam
MetLife Foundation supports 13 programs in Vietnam.

For Our People

  • Adjusted sick-leave and vacation policies and ensured that all employees had coverage for COVID-19 testing, treatment, and hospitalization.
  • Expanded mental health counseling and developed new mental health resources. Launched a comprehensive BeWell platform for our employees inclusive of financial, social, physical and mental wellbeing.
  • Offered expert-led information sessions on COVID-19, responding to wellness, safety, and health.
  • All licensed healthcare workers employed by MetLife were provided an opportunity to volunteer at hospitals and other healthcare facilities in two-week rotations with full pay.
Tyler Bradshaw, VP of Financial Wellness & Engagement, attends the Group Benefits Sales University
Tyler Bradshaw, VP of Financial Wellness & Engagement, attends the Group Benefits Sales University.

For Our Customers

  • Deferred rate increases, extended premium grace periods, waived late-payment fees and pandemic exclusions, fast-tracked claims, and made it easier for customers to file claims and applications.
  • Provided U.S. customers with credits on their auto and insured dental PPO premiums.
  • Offered the PlanSmart Financial Wellness planner line to small businesses at no cost. Launched a new microsite with free information on how to manage financial health.
  • Created a Financial Wellness content hub to help our U.S. customers navigate their financial lives in the challenging environment created by COVID-19.
PlanSmart Financial Wellness planner

Our global impact

Provided more than

$250 million

of relief to help people cope with COVID-19

Expanded coverage
and digitized claims
and other services in several markets.

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U.S.

Customers

Created a Financial Wellness website to help our customers navigate their financial lives in the challenging environment created by COVID-19.

Employees

Enhanced employee benefits, including free COVID-19 testing and telehealth visits; access to virtual support for weight loss, asthma, musculoskeletal health, and diabetes; work flexibility; and additional cash protection for MetLife employees who needed to be hospitalized.

Launched the BeWell program, a global mental and emotional well-being support initiative.

Communities

All licensed healthcare workers employed by MetLife were provided an opportunity to volunteer at hospitals and other healthcare facilities in two-week rotations with full pay. MetLife Foundation donated $2.6 million to 14 food banks across the U.S.

Latin America

Customers

Brazil: Enabled digital signature and virtual sales experience to encourage agent and customer interaction.

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ukraine: Waived exclusions and covered pandemic-related claims, which otherwise would have been excluded; such exclusions remain in the contracts.

Mexico: Implemented a new process that allowed customers to submit documents by email and receive funds through wire transfer in two days without leaving their home and without the need to print documents.

Employees

Colombia: Launched PrimeroTuVida in Colombia and then expanded in record time to all of Latin America.

Mexico: Enhanced employee benefits, including facilitation for COVID-19 loans.

Chile: Launched MetLife Orienta, a virtual medical center operated by an external provider, with telemedicine services.

Communities

Mexico: Supported 11 hospitals through Fundación MetLife Mexico, along with launching the “Caring for those who care for us” campaign to support medical personnel.

Chile: MetLife Foundation and Fundación Chile delivered technology resources to 1,700 senior citizens, keeping them connected with medical personnel and family.

Brazil: MetLife Foundation donated more than $100,000 in personal protective equipment to Hospital Santa Marcelina.

EMEA

Customers

Across EMEA: Launched a microsite to serve as a central platform for information designed to help understand the virus and prepare appropriately.

Employees

Across EMEA: Prepared and deployed 735 laptops and desktop computers helping 20% of our workforce who did not have remote capability before COVID-19, work remotely.

Hungary: Hosted a series of webinars for agents to redefine their relationships with customers, and for clients to keep them updated with current financial trends in the markets.

Communities

Across EMEA: MetLife Foundation donated nearly $500,000 for various needs ranging from healthcare to food insecurity.

Italy: MetLife Foundation’s donation helped Milan’s Buzzi Hospital and other hospitals in the hard-hit Lombardy region.

Asia

Customers

Across Asia: Extended grace period for premium payments and interest payments on policy loans for up to six months.

Bangladesh: Hosted a COVID-19 Customer Support Program, “Sathe Achi,” with free, 24-hour access to telehealth services, along with one-time financial support for those suffering from COVID-19, garnering more than 119,000 registrations.

Japan: First in industry to grant special extension of premium payment grace period.

China: Accelerated the underwriting and application process to give more customers coverage when the COVID-19 outbreak first occurred, issuing 50 million RMB worth of policies in just 3 weeks.

Employees

India: Introduced a COVID-19 Helpline for PNB MetLife employees in partnership with MediBuddy to get guidance and support on a 24/7 basis from trained and experienced doctors.

Japan: One of very few companies in Japan to set up a call center system that enabled close to 70% of operators to work from home while receiving inbound customer calls.

Korea: Rented additional office space to enable social distancing among customer service teams and provided each employee with 30 face masks.

China: In the early stage of the outbreak, the company launched an emergency plan to purchase masks for employees and afterwards provide masks and regular disinfection at the office for returning employees.

Communities

Across Asia: MetLife Foundation contributed $3.7 million across 22 grants and 10 countries in the Asia region.

India: MetLife Foundation provided over $600,000 to nonprofit organizations to address hardships and support COVID-19 relief efforts.

Japan: MetLife Foundation committed over $1 million to Nippon Foundation to support around 6,800 nurses and caregivers in hospices and home-care nursing centers across Japan.

Korea: MetLife Korea Foundation conducted a virtual livestreamed concert to engage citizens while they stayed home and to support the struggling arts sector that had been impacted by COVID-19.

Bangladesh: MetLife Foundation committed over $240,000 to nonprofit organizations to provide financial assistance to the vulnerable families of deceased healthcare professionals and arrange for protective equipment and lifesaving ventilators.

China: MetLife China and MetLife Foundation donated $450,000 to the Chinese Red Cross for a frontline hospital in Hubei Province.

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