Since 2008 december, govt has raised the medishield protection to 80 percent. previously its was 60 percent.
My question is this, i know that of course if you enhaced your medishield by upgrading with private insurance, you will get more benefits, which comes at a higher annual premium of about 100 plus.
However, with the currrent changes, is this basic medishield enough already. I think it is enough already. I am aware of deductibles and co insurance which i will have to pay, the lower limits for the claims and also the limited of coverage for b2 and c class.
However, i dun mind staying in this lower classes anyway. Currently have basic medishield now. If i stay in class A due to lack of beds, will my medishield still be applicable to a certain extent, or do i have to pay full hospital bills ?
Lastly, I also dun understand why do we need upgrade medishield with private insurances to push up those claim limits like daily ward bill and cancer treatment monthly bill.
I look at the basic medishield and its various claim limit and find that it is generally cover quite a large extent already, plus the chance of incurring very large bills is also unliekly.
Furthermore, i read that the reason why govt increased from 60 to 80 is because they want to make sure that in cases of high hosiptal bills, you are well covered, at least now got 80 percent. In conclusion, after reading abit, i believed that the basic medishield has a good protection already, and i do not wish to upgrade to private one.
Is my decision okay?? If it is a better decision to upgrade, then why they hell did the govt want to have 2 possible cases. If basic mdishield is really so poor covering our asses, i believe the govt would have that strongly tell our citizens to upgrade it to intergrated medishield, isn't it?
Ahem... Watch out for the serious disease coverage.... that can be a killer that medishield cannot fully cover. Only choice is to withhold treatment and hope to die early.
To put a long question short, is those enhanced medishield really that putting our consumers interest at hearts. do govt really advise citizens to upgrade them.
WHy am i so concerned? Because we have LEARNT FROM THE LEHMAN CRISIS that our world is a BUYER BEWARE market.... therefore, before i decide to upgrade to private insurance medishield, i need to make sure that this purchase is really a GOod deal,AND NOT ANOTHER SCAM that wants to suck every little bit of our hard earn money.
Please advice me, fellow consumers who are educated on this. ... I am very skeptical of agents advice... i usually need to balance with purely consumers opinions...
To add on, i have critical illness coverage, death, disability which are quite common insurance which totals to about 130 dollars of premium.
I am single, so have no dependants. what areas do i need to be covered . lastly, i have medishield.
no money kpkb, government help u save money also kpkb
when old no money, goverment help u save also kena kpkb..
Originally posted by january:To put a long question short, is those enhanced medishield really that putting our consumers interest at hearts. do govt really advise citizens to upgrade them.
WHy am i so concerned? Because we have LEARNT FROM THE LEHMAN CRISIS that our world is a BUYER BEWARE market.... therefore, before i decide to upgrade to private insurance medishield, i need to make sure that this purchase is really a GOod deal,AND NOT ANOTHER SCAM that wants to suck every little bit of our hard earn money.
Please advice me, fellow consumers who are educated on this. ... I am very skeptical of agents advice... i usually need to balance with purely consumers opinions...
here's a real small note of advise: yes, it is worth it to upgrade unless for your past fifty generations, all your paternal and maternal ancestors died peacefully in their sleep. The MAS rule forced all insurance companies which are running the enhanced medishield schemes to have enough funds to cover their expected loses.
am i right to say that basic medishield is basically quite safe protection already.
Enhanced is only for kiasu people right??
Basic already has 80 percent, plus its daily hospital ward limit, monthly treatment benefit seems quite decent ok right.
from cpf website question and answer
| Who should buy a Medisave–approved Integrated Shield Plan and how can I buy one? | ||
| A: | If you want to have additional insurance protection on top of what MediShield provides, such as coverage for stays in Class A/B1 and private wards, you may wish to consider buying a Medisave-approved Integrated Shield Plan. You can buy one of these plans from the following participating private insurers. | |
that day, one agent met me and told me that i should upgrade ... and give a few reasons.
It really sounds convincing... haha.. but after much thought, i realized that i should not trust her so much. God knows whether she is thinking about her interests or mine. Perhaps she is even psychoing herself so that she really thinks that upgrading is the right thing . maybe she did not really do her homework, although she has many many clients...
my search on the net, from electric new paper
DOC Money answers questions about which is the best health insurance to buy.
1. Do I really need health insurance?
It is not compulsory. You can pay hospital bills with your Medisave or cash. But a big bill might break your piggy bank. You could even go bankrupt.
When buying health insurance, you have three ways to go:
i) Medishield: It is an opt-out plan run by the CPF Board.
ii) Group health plans: If you work for a big company, you probably have it already.
iii) Private shield health insurance: We have about 20 plans, offered by the five big life insurance companies: NTUC Income, AIA, GE Life, Prudential and Aviva.
My advice: Buy one. Health insurance is practically a necessity.
2. Should I go for double coverage?
For group health plans, the employer pays part or all of the premiums, which makes this type of insurance a great deal.
Many people ask, 'If I have a group plan, should I go for double coverage?'
It means taking a private shield plan or Medishield in addition to your group insurance.
Financial advisors tell a story about how you will lose your group coverage when you leave your company. If it happens when you are 65 and in poor health, you could find yourself uninsurable.
They say, 'You had better buy back-up health insurance now.'
It isn't exactly unbiased advice since they receive a healthy commission if you buy.
Of course, double coverage doesn't mean double claims. You can claim from only one insurer at a time. Otherwise you could profit from being hospitalised.
The big question is: Which policy to charge? It turns out that people with double coverage often send the bill to their group insurance.
Why?
i) First, the group coverage may pay more.
ii) Second, they may want to establish a record of no claims from their private shield insurer and
iii) the group plan's deductible and co-insurance may be low or even zero if it is paid by the company.
Insurers love it when you pay premiums and don't send them any claims. It makes for big profits.
My advice: If you want back-up health insurance, go for Medishield. Paying 20, 30 or 40 years for a private insurance is expensive, especially if you never use it.
A slightly more risky but cheaper route is to go with just one plan: Your company's health insurance.
3. I have no group insurance. What to do?
The low-cost option is Medishield.
If you prefer to be sick in luxury, you can choose among 20 or so private shield plans from five life insurers.
Which is best? Each has its own set of bells and whistles such as
i) lifetime and annual limits,
ii) riders to pay your deductible and co-insurance,
iii) global coverage and
iv) as-charged plans, with no limit on the size of the bill.
Both the costs and benefits vary, which makes comparisons next to impossible.
Private shield plans are costly, especially for the elderly. At age 75, you pay only $225 per year for Medishield. For the five private shield plans, however, the average premiums are $2,000 per year - nearly 10 times more.
Besides the premiums, a private plan commits you to permanently higher deductibles and co-insurance.
My advice: No preference. None of the private shield plans has a clear-cut advantage over the others.
4. How does Medishield compare to private plans?
Ah. Now we have something to compare. You can do it by looking at the benefits and costs of each.
Benefits are claims the insurance company pays to policyholders. Costs are the premiums that policyholders must pay.
Divide one by the other and ta da ... you have a benefit to cost ratio.
Then look for the biggest number. It tells which health insurance gives you the most value for money.
Ranking health insurance
Based on 2006 insurance returns, here is how health insurance ranks:
First place: Group plans. They pay out $65 for every $100 in premiums taken in.
Why so good?
Part of the reason is group premiums are adjusted yearly. It shifts risks to policyholders, which allows insurers to charge less.
More importantly, these are mega-buck contracts evaluated by savvy HR managers who push for the best deal.
It produces a dog-fight among insurers which results in competitive prices.
Second place: Medishield. It takes a close second place with a ratio of claims to premiums (benefits to costs) of 50 per cent. It is a good deal.
Third place: Private plans. A confusing array of private shield plans makes price comparisons difficult.
This makes it easier for insurers to charge high premiums.
At the same time, double coverage keeps claims low. Both work against you to push payouts down to only $25 out of each $100 in premiums.
i found this relevant to my question in the new paper article
4. How does Medishield compare to private plans?
Ah. Now we have something to compare. You can do it by looking at the benefits and costs of each.
Benefits are claims the insurance company pays to policyholders. Costs are the premiums that policyholders must pay.
Divide one by the other and ta da ... you have a benefit to cost ratio.
Then look for the biggest number. It tells which health insurance gives you the most value for money.
i read another article..also by some dr money... here is the ranking of the premium to claim ratio... how much of premium goes to making the claim..
1. medishield - 80 percent
2. group insurance for employees
3. private insurances - 25 percent
Now, i am really thinking that these private insurances is really profiteering minded.... yucks.
got xtra medisave $$$ take lor