Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Reply to Dr Lim Boon Hee in Today Paper

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Reply to Dr Lim Boon Hee in Today Paper

Dr Lim Boon Hee asked, "did NTUC Income bite off more than it can chew"?

The frank answer is "yes". We are suffering from temporary indigestion. But, it is not serious. We hope to be able to recover from it fully by October.

When we tendered for the Medishield Plus scheme, we wanted to offer to the 300,000 members a better package that gives about higher coverage at a reduced premium. Our offer was the most attractive. We were given the entire portfolio of 300,000 members.

We made the best estimate of the likely work load based on our experience with 500,000 Incomeshield policyholders that are insured with us, and with the data provided by the Ministry of Health.

The actual volume of claims was higher than expected. This is due to the difference in the way of handling the claims through the integrated system. We have to change the computer system to deal with the higher situation and new way of processing. It takes time to design and implement the changes. There were other integation issues as well.

The matter was aggravated in June, when we introduced the Enhanced Incomeshield plan to meet with the many requests from our existing policyholders. We offered a two month period for upgrading of this plan. We received 60,000 requests. It was not possible for us to cope with this unexpected volume, as many policyholders rushed in to beat the deadline.

We have now decided to offer the upgrading to the remaining policyholders to take effect on the next renewal of their insurance plan. All existing policyholders will be given an additional opportunity for the upgrading within a 12 months period. The terms of the upgrading will also be clearly explained in the FAQ that will accompany the renewal notice.

We apologise to our many policyholders who were affected by our backlog. We plan to sort out this matter by October.

11 comments:

Truth Seeker said...: This simply means that Income's planning is flawed. When bidding for such important projects and doing such enhancements, there is no proper planning and manpower allocation. As such the cost benefit analysis was incomplete.

The end policyholders will be the one eventually suffering as a result! Even though the problems can be sorted out, via a new computer system or additional staff, this will increase the overheads and eventually be passed on to the consumer if the cost is not justified by the premiums brought in.

It suggests that Income, whether intentional or not, for the sake of business will just go all out without proper due care given to future experience if upon awarding the project.

Just to draw an analogy, imagine that the bidders for the IR project in Singapore did the same thing as Income. Just to get the award, they promise the sky and the moon hastily and underestimate the efforts. If they cannot cope eventually, who suffers? Cut corners to make things work?; August 19, 2006 9:19 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: This gentlemen, called Truth Seeker, is always being negative. He feels safe about making unjustified criticism in the cloak of anomymity.; August 19, 2006 2:30 PM
James Ong said...: If we look at the bigger picture, NTUC Income has done very well over the years for its policyholders.

I respect Mr Tan's frankness and willingness to show transparency in its operations.

Every institution has its own hiccups. It is the subsequent resolution that matters. I am sure Mr Tan will sort this small matter out smoothly.

On a final note, no matter which company we belong to or represent, we should promote the overall professionalism of the industry. Discussions if needed, should be constructive...; August 19, 2006 5:01 PM
Freddy said...: This is a minor indigestion. Actually, I read that in the majority of the cases, the policyholders have not suffered because the letters of guarantee have been given to the hospitals. Only the hospitals were paid a bit later.; August 19, 2006 11:53 PM
Truth Seeker said...: Mr Tan,

in the cyberspace, everyone is annoynomous. We all do not know who is behind the screen typing. Even your replies may or may not be from yourself. Label me as being negative by all means. Unjustified statements? in your view only or in everyone's?

My intention for posting is simple. There are always more than 1 side of things. Income has indeed provided value in some areas so far. Unfortunately, it has not always been that transparent as well. Hidden charges, half disclosures are seen in some instances. Commonly know in the industry, it has on some occassions engage in putting competitor's pdts / intiatives down too without proper due checks. I rest my case.; August 20, 2006 1:23 AM
Victor Foo said...: Please allow me to correct your statement.

I think in the cyberspace, responsible writer(s) will choose to be known whereas irresponsible and scrupulous writer(s) will opt for annoynomous instead. Not everyone inthe cyberspace is choose to be annoynomous. Not me. Not James Ong. Not Freddy. At least.; August 20, 2006 11:24 AM
The Thought of Life said...: I think people choose to be anonymous for various reasons. But it is understandable that Mr. Tan's blog here is not purely to educate people, but also serves as a kind of promotional tool for NTUC Income. So as critical readers, we should always remember that fact.; August 20, 2006 3:15 PM
WA Gapar said...: Dear Mr Tan

As someone who had benefitted from Income's service over the past years, please allow me to post some comments. I have generally been happy but would like to suggest the following:

1. Provide letters of guarantees to policyholders of Incomeshield Plus Rider's Plan P for admission to private hospitals. To prevent an opening of floodgates, you can specify the common private hospitals namely East Shore, Gleneagles, Mt Elizabeth, Mt Alvernia, Thomson Medical and Raffles Hospital. I compare Incomeshield Plus Rider to say, Aviva's Ideal Medical which provides a letter of guarantee. Aviva's is of course more expensive where premiums are concerned, but there are many who would not mind paying more for more. With a letter of guarantee provided, the insistence on claims being settled quickly would subside. Having said this, let me share with you that at my recent hospitalization in Changi General Hospital, I had to pay an upfront deposit of $1200 because the system had not captured my renewal of the policy. A letter of guarantee was eventually provided, but it was too late. I am optimistic of course that INCOME would move away from the current chaos in due course, but I hope your good office would also ensure that policyholders who are inconvenienced as such have their claims settled as soon as possible.

2. Another point I wish to make is on upgrading from Plan Advantage to Plan Preferred. When I took up Incomeshield in 1996, Plan A was the highest plan and covered both private & public hospitals. Now that Plan P is in force, the Plan A members have to pay a pro-ration factor for private hospitals. We were not informed of this, and it was only during my casual reading of your website that I discovered this. I had earlier this year in April or May 2006 requested to be upgraded to Plan Preferred. A form was submitted NTUC's Branch in Woodlands and this was collected by a male customer service officer. In spite of repeated emails asking for the status of my request, I have still not received any replies. It was indeed disappointing.

I must be candid and tell you that I was seriously considering other insurance companies - but I also remember the fact that as a co-operative, I would probably stand to benefit because you would have the interests of your members at heart. I also considered the fact that I had always considered INCOME's service as superior, and am happy with it and trust that you can deal with the "indigestion" even though I still have to keep prompting your staff to ensure that my claims are being looked into. I hope you will not disappoint me.

I really hope to see a smooth resolution of the challenges you are currently facing, and I am confident that you would be able to resolve them.

Regards,
(as a responsible writer, I would rather not go on the basis of anonymity but because this is a blog and my name is rather unique - probably the only one in Singapore thus far - I'd rather not be easily identified by people I know. However I trust it would suffice that I give my Incomeshield Policy No? If you'd like to contact me, you can check my details. (Incomeshield Policy Number 90047237). Cheers!; August 20, 2006 3:42 PM
VivaRevolution said...: Let me put it this way. This is a blog run by the CEO of NTUC Income - so it is normal that he will champion his company's business goals. So there is nothing unusual that his focus is on marketing his products and in the course of doing so highlighting the shortcomings of the products of its competitors.

As long as he does not mislead people( and readers will be the judge of that ) I don't personally care.

However, general observation with regards to what appears to be the absence of planning when taking on projects at a lrage scale which has led to this "indigestion" or whatever you call it are also inferential observations which probably have some validity to them.

Accept the criticism graciously and move on. You cannot expect to have this "indigestion' which affects policyholders and then expect ALL consumers to accept it. It is not possible - that is reality.; August 21, 2006 9:31 PM
VivaRevolution said...: Admiting that there is a problem is good. Fixing it is better. Putting proper planning and contingencies in place to minimise problems from arising is even better.

But I confess, what would I know? After all I've never run a company before. How could I possibly be dishing management advice out? How dare I do so indeed....; August 21, 2006 9:36 PM
metalstamping said...: Hey all of you, the cyberspace is free for all. Which rule says it cannot be remains as anonymous?

Everyone writes with a certain element of prejudice, so let's be sincerely honest.

A blog is a space where everyone is free to post what they think - as long as no insults, vulgarities, racial, religious issues are involved. Cool?; August 22, 2006 10:02 PM

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Reply to Dr Lim Boon Hee in Today Paper

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