All About Health Insurance

[ZacK]

titank:

[Moderator's note: Topics merged.]


Hi All,

Anyone purchase any personal accident for child? Trying to find with some kind of benefits as follow:

(1)$1000-$2000 per injury. Can go medical clinic or TCM.
(2) Hospitalistaion & ICU coverage like $75/day, $150/day etc
(3) Can have some kind of refund if there is claim or no claim after certain period of duration.Eg 2, 3 years.

Those who have such expereinces so can share? Being getting calls from crdeit card centre listen until I blur on thier ins products. :!:

To each his own, but I usually do not like to buy insurance via credit card... If not familiar with insurance jargon better to get thru an agent or broker.

My info is not current, but based on my recollection (cant recall the reason), unless it is a specially created child personal accident plan which will allow you to purchase the plan standalone, most may require one or both parents to be insured as well before it can be extended to the kids.

Hopefully you may find the info you need from the following:
- http://www.aia.com.sg/AIA_Flexi_Personal_Accident.html
- http://www.axa.com.sg/axa_ins_sg/index.asp?pageid=products&prodid=personal&prodid2=personal&prodid3=smartcare_prime
- http://www.lifeisgreat.com.sg/en/jsp/products/products/protection/juniorprotector.jsp

[ZacK]

jedamum:

hi Zack,

thanks for replying.
yes, i had sent a (very long) list of inquiries to a GreatEastern's agent to get their replies.

Hahaha trust to you have a long list of queries ... Oh wait... Isnt this a trait of a KSP parent?

[jedamum]

Note:

for those interested in getting Eldershield Supplements (ValuePlus and Comprehensive) with Great Eastern, do note that the max entry age is 60yrs old.

[lifestylelink]

H2O:

[Moderator's note: Topics merged.]


Hi All,

There are so many kind of health insurance in the markets.
From AIA, Prudential, NTUC, etc.

Which ones is the best in terms of coverage?

Any recommendation?

There isn't any one best. There are all different mixes, cannot compare apple to apple. You can read my blog here on insurance.

http://babysamson.weebly.com/2/post/2009/07/decoding-insurance-products.html

[ann audrey]

Hi,


Does anyone know of a knowledgeable and responsible insurance agent from Aviva?

Can recommend me? Thank you

[ZacK]

This article on \"How to Pick A Financial Adviser\" from the Straits Times.


============================

Here are some things to consider when looking for a professional financial adviser. -ST

Wed, Nov 04, 2009
The Business Times

1 Relevant qualifications
Use an adviser with professional certification and ask him to declare the scope of his services. In line with the Securities and Futures Act and Financial Advisers Act, financial advisers are required to be certified under the various Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services Examination modules, said Ms Helen Neo, head of consumer banking, Maybank Singapore. The Certified Financial Planner is one such certification.

2 Experience

You would not consult a doctor who had graduated just yesterday. Doctors serve in hospitals for a while to get practical experience; similarly, it pays to find a financial adviser with a few years of experience.

If you are a mass affluent investor - young with an annual household income of about $72,000 - you could engage an adviser with about three years of experience, while a top-end affluent client - in your late 30s with an annual family income of at least $250,000 - should go for an adviser with about 10 years' experience, said Providend chief executive Christopher Tan.

3 Independence

Some advisers who sell insurance policies, securities or unit trusts have relationships with the firms providing these products. The advisers may also earn a fee from referring you to an accountant or lawyer when the plans are implemented. These commercial relationships should be disclosed to you, said Mr Ben Fok, chief executive of Grandtag Financial Consultancy. He suggested that investors ask for a description of the adviser's conflicts of interest in writing.

Mr Tan said investors who want to engage an independent adviser should avoid insurance firms and banks as their advisers would typically have access to only 'house brands'.

4 Relevant licence

Deal only with advisers licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). You can check if a firm or individual is authorised by using the MAS website or asking to see the original of the adviser's licence, said Mr Fok.

5 Firm's reputation

Reputation is important. Check the website and read the corporate profile.

6 Comprehensive advice

The adviser should conduct a proper fact finding of your financial health situation. Besides the financial analysis, ask how you can access your money in the event of an emergency, said ipac's Mr Greg Campbell.

'Your adviser should be able to provide regular written reports, and you should look for signs of excessive or unauthorised trading of your account. Also, you should be advised on proper disclosure on exit clauses, surrender charges and sales commissions,' he added.

7 Team approach

Financial planning is usually not done by one person. How can a professional adviser be an expert in investments, insurance, legal matters, tax and other areas? Mr Tan suggested working with an adviser who specialises in general financial planning but who is also supported by specialists in particular areas.

If the adviser works with professionals outside his own practice, such as lawyers, property agents or tax experts, to develop recommendations, check their backgrounds and ask if additional charges are involved, said Mr Fok.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

[titank]

Does anyone purchase medical insurance where allow oneself or family members to visit the clinic? This is good for person that are self employed or those companies the medical benefits does not cover the family members.

[thefashionpill]

There are plenty of insurance agents in the market, especially roadshows and such where they hussle you to buy this and that. My gf does this and i like that she plans my child’s insurance and education needs to exactly our budget and plans for our children in the long run.


if anyone’s interested can ping me for her contacts coz im not sure its ok to just post her number here.

Also not long after i bought a policy from her, the plan i got was child education plan of the year. Usually i prefers shopping around for the best but she proves to be very helpful and reliable thus now my family has stick to her for all our family planning needs.

[ZacK]

titank:

Does anyone purchase medical insurance where allow oneself or family members to visit the clinic? This is good for person that are self employed or those companies the medical benefits does not cover the family members.

From what I understand... Medical insurance that covers outpatient visits are expensive or if not they will come with a reimbursement capping per visit or may have deductible per visits.

Insurance premiums is a function of the probability that something will happen. Outpatient visits are almost a sure thing for many of us, the consideration is how many times do we visit the doc per year? So you can be sure that the premiums will not be cheap and IMO may not make much economic sense.

Here is an example I got off the web for outpatient visit:
Benefits_______________________Plan A_______Plan B
Maximum visits per year___________20__________10
Deductible per visit_______________S$8_________S$8
Premium______________________S$198________S$158
Terms and conditions apply.

Take Plan B for an example, max visit per year is 10x, premium payable is $158. So this works out to $15.80 per visit. However for every visit you make, you have to bear $8. So this works out to $23.80 per visit if you visit the panel doc 10x within the year.

If within the year, your visits to the doc is 5x, the cost per visit to you will be $158/5 + $8 per visit = $39.60.

Guess all of us would have to gauge how much we spend on average at the doctor and then compare this to the cost that we need to pay for such a benefit.

Note that outpatient insurance does not cover pre-existing or chronic illnesses where you require regular medications and also this is usually added on as a rider to a hospital insurance cover. Do not think you will find this cover as a standalone policy.

Personally for me, I take up insurance for risk events that are low in frequency but will have a high financial impact to my family... i.e. your death/disabilities/critical illnesses etc...

Events that are high occurrence but low financial impact, I will choose to \"self-insure\" and manage the risk and financial cost myself. e.g. would be the outpatient insurance.

Food for thought :?

[thefashionpill]

hi zack!


im not sure if i understand what you mean in terms of health insurance.
my health insurance is manage by my general and health insurance guy, of which ive got my own financial planner too. i know that there is two alternatives in terms of health insurance and accidental stuff.

for example i know that if i go jogging for example and get a mishap like say sprain my ankle or get dislocated i know that i am covered for my medical expenses in terms of my MRI etc…

that is kinda actually being covered by my general insurance accident plan.

as for my hospitalistation im covered by my health shield plan.
so im not quite sure what you are lookin for, but this guy that does both my accident as well as health shield guy is pretty good. u can call him for advice coz he’s kinda not pushy. i like it coz i dont like to be pressured to take up anything or be committed to anything i dont want. so he’s kinda good to check up with.

if u are interested u can msg me and i can send u his contact. coz im kinda new at this forum im not sure im im kinda allowed to post contact numbers here.

im sure it wont hurt to just call and enquire from him. coz afterall, with insurance and financial planning and such, u still need professional advice except we all know we dont and are afraid of the hard sell types. so he’s pretty alright.