Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Holes in medical coverage

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Holes in medical coverage

Read this article.

My view
Consumers in Singapore may face the same type of difficulty when the insurance company suspects that they have not declared pre-existing illness.

4 comments:

hyom said...: This risk is greater when customers choose the cheapest insurance policy.

Where the clauses are vague, the cheap premium does not give room to the insurer to be kind. The average person like me is not knowledgeable enough to compare insurance policies based on the clauses in the contract. So, what I did was to buy the policy which was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive.; September 12, 2010 7:14 PM
Spur said...: Since 2003/2004, all insurers in Singapore have been very narrow-minded when it comes to H&S insurance. They will exclude even for any innocuous treatment that you declare. E.g. Treatment for skin rashes resulted in exclusion for any and all current & future conditions related to skin. Another e.g. customer honestly declared that he occasionally suffers from back muscle aches --- insurer then excludes coverage for all back conditions, including for spine. These are some of the actual cases that I have seen.

Those with conditions like hypertension (no matter if mild) or mild diabetes are even worse off. Insurers may still offer the H&S insurance, but they practically exclude from head to toe. You end up paying H&S prices for basically personal accident cover.

Doesn't matter if cheap premium or expensive premium --- you've got to read the fine print and get the insurance company's written clarification on anything you feel is vague. The difference in pricing is mostly due to difference in amount of coverage and class of treatment coverage, not so much difference in the T&C.

Even if you pay $4,000 per year for H&S insurance, if the insurer suspects that you have some pre-existing condition, they can deny coverage. You're paying the $4K/yr for the very comprehensive treatment cover, not for the insurer's leniency. This will be a very losing proposition for the insurance companies.; September 13, 2010 12:41 AM
hyom said...: Hi Spur,

Thanks for your comments. I think even a highly educated person with limited insurance knowledge will have difficulty trying to understand the fine print and its implications.

I think for these people, it is better for them to pay up and hire insurance brokers to choose the right policy for them.

To reduce risks associated with pre-existing conditions, parents should buy H&S policies for their kids while they were still little toddlers. Basically, all of us should buy H&S policies as young as possible before the medical problems start coming out.; September 13, 2010 10:42 AM
Unknown said...: I think Govt should regulate the industry. The Govt should enforced a medical checkup and based on the medical report the insurance company then should not find excuses on non-disclosure to reject claims. It is best to and fair to co-share the medical checkup between the customer and insurance company to prevent future or unnecessary legal action and cost by both parties.; September 13, 2010 11:16 AM