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<Prudent Strategies in Taking Out Medical Insurance> pdf (Chinese Version only)

Cases

Seven basic "must-knows" when taking out medical insurance

Frequently Asked Questions
Smart tips

Two major principles to decide on the scope of cover

  1. estimate the level and model of medical service and hospital charges you prefer, like which hospital, level of room, doctor’s fees, etc.
  2. whether the policyholder has other medical insurance? For example, group medical insurance provided by his/her employer and his/her spouse’s employer, or other individual medical cover.

(Choose a policy with no restriction on age at renewal which will provide better protection when you grow old.)

Choose an Appropriate Medical Insurance Just for You

In choosing an appropriate medical insurance, not only you should pay attention to the amount of premium, but also need to watch out for items like whether the level of protection is sufficient and the scope of cover is what you required etc.

Ask yourself as to the scope of cover

Mr Ng knows that it is more advantageous to take out medical insurance as young as possible, so he gathers information on different medical plans from various insurance companies for comparison.  He said: “Since I have to pay premium, I must find one that suits me best.  But the dozen of proposals all look the same to me.  Some charge more while some less.  I really haven’t got a clue which one is the most suitable for me.”

Many people have the same experience as Mr Ng – they are enthusiastic in obtaining the information but in the end will just pick any random plan since they do not know how to compare.  Consolidated advice from insurance professionals is that a policyholder should first consider what coverage is required, for example, which hospital, level of room  preferred: whether private, semi-private or ward.  Besides in-patient, he should also consider if out-patient protection and critical illness which will incur huge amount of additional hospital expenses benefit are required.

Scope of cover is proportional to amount of premium

With respect to premium, the insured limit and the covered items are usually proportional to the premium amount.  In other words, the bigger the insured limit, the wider scope of cover of a medical plan, the higher the premium will be.  Policyholders have to ensure that they can afford to pay the premium before they make a decision in this respect.  Besides, policyholders have to be aware that premium will increase with age for the same level of benefits covered.

One area easily overlooked by policyholders is that policies and their renewals have age restrictions.  The entry age limit in most of the existing medical insurance is 65 for new policies and 75 for certain renewal policies.  In other words, if a policyholder takes out medical cover before 65, under normal circumstance, his policy can be renewed until 75.  But due to increasing longevity of human beings, some insurance companies now offer medical insurance renewal possibly up to age 100.