Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Switching to a new rider for Shield plan

Dear Mr. Tan,
I just received a notice from X advising existing policy holders of the Plus Rider to switch to the Assist Rider. The rationale being that it will assist policyholders to save more in the long run. Medical cost according to their notice has increased as much as 30%. The difference between the Plus Rider and the Assist Rider is that the Plus Rider ensures that the patient does not have to co-pay whereas the Assist Rider would require the patient to pay up to $2000 or 10% of whatever is claimable. The Plus Rider will no longer be available to new policy holders.

What is your view? Would you switch to this? Do I have to take a healthcheck in order to renew my policy or are existing applicants automatically ensured coverage?

REPLY
You have the choice of discontinuing the rider or switching to the new rider. I hope that this FAQ can help you to make your decision:
http://www.tankinlian.com/faq/shield.html

You are not required to do a healtheck to switch to the new rider.

2 comments:

Crazy Aries said...

if you can still afford the premium of the plus rider, you can continue. just downgrade your entitle ward to enjoy cash benefit if your plan is the enhanced version.

Pls note that the shield plan is design to claim for big bills instead of small one. So the main consideration whether to keep the rider depend on yourself.

my shield plan from GE do not provide any rider and i don't need it as well.

Wayne said...

If you are still under the Plus Rider can still afford the premiums, it is better to keep the Plus Rider.

I did my sums and found it to be worth, even if the renewal premium were to increase by 50%.
See my ST Forum article on IncomeShield:
http://www.waynekoh.com/2007/11/as-charged-medical-plan-takes-load-off.html

By the way, I am from an IFA. I have devised an Excel spreadsheet that calculates the premiums (Medisave/ Cash) for a given age and period.
See http://www.waynekoh.com/2008/04/do-you-have-s9k-in-your-medisave.html

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