A Big 'C' to Reckon With

Singaporeans are familiar with the 5 ‘C’s – condo, club membership, cash, credit card and car. Now, there’s another ‘C’ that is making headlines in the media here. You guessed it - it’s Cancer.

Some startling statistics from the Singapore Cancer Society:

• 1968-1972 – 12,000 cases (incidence rate of 135 per 100,000 males & 103 per 100,000 females)
• 1998-2002 – 38,000 cases (incidence rate of 231 per 100,000 males & more than double for females to 240 per 100,000)
• Sharp rise attributed to the dramatic increase in breast cancer in women and colorectal cancer in both sexes

On 6 March 2010, The Straits Times did a special report on Chinese and Cancer. The cover photo is a lady by the name of Mrs Cynthia Fong, age 55 and she suffers from breast cancer. The shocking part is this – her ‘target’ drug Herceptin costs $4,000 per shot and she needs a total of 17 shots. That works out to a whopping $68,000 just for drugs alone!

Cancer treatment, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, can easily drain one’s medisave savings as well as wipe out the accounts of one’s spouse and family members’. Medishield insurance can be used but there are limits.

Mrs Fong has emptied the bulk of her own and her husband’s medisave, health insurance schemes and family’s savings.

The price tag for Mrs Fong’s new lease of life so far is $100,000 and she still has yet to fork out at least $30,000 more for her shots.

There would be additional treatments and medical expenses after Mrs Fong is discharged from hospital. Realistically speaking, the total bill is highly likely to be more than $130,000. And this is only over a period of 12 months.

Cancer is not a cheap affair, not to mention the emotional and physical trauma that one must endure during and after chemotherapy.

Solution to high medical costs

In Mrs Fong’s case, it seems like she did not own a medisave-approved enhanced shield plan that has ‘as charged’ benefits.

When one has an ‘as charged’ plan, treatment costs, consultations, surgical benefits, daily room and board etc. are charged as per the bill, subject to the yearly claimable limit. For example, the best plan, Plan 1 (any private ward), from Aviva has a yearly limit of $500,000.

It does not cost an arm or a leg to be covered under a comprehensive medical plan.

To give you an idea of what the premiums are like with one insurer:

Age 1-30 - $158.55

Age 31-40 - $241.28

Age 41-45 - $446.70

Age 46-50 - $481.46

You may withdraw up to $800 (for insured person below 81 years old at age next birthday) per insured person per year or $1,150 (for insured person 81 years and above at age next birthday) per insured person per year.

With continuous enhancement to medisave-approved shield plans, the deductible and co-insurance portions can also be fully covered by riders. When you have these riders, you are effectively covered 100% by the insurer - this means you are reimbursed in full without forking out a single dollar.

Why wait when you are healthy?

There is no reason to hesitate getting yourself covered by a comprehensive hospital and surgical plan.

My recommendation is to get the best plan which gives you access to private hospitals. Private hospitals have its privileges – prompt attention, shorter waiting time and reduced agony over availability of beds (as compared to restructured/government hospitals).

As this type of plan could potentially cover huge hospital bills, pre-existing conditions are almost always excluded unless declared and accepted by the insurer.

Aviva’s moratorium underwriting is the first in the industry. This gives people with pre-existing conditions a chance to be covered for their existing conditions.

What this means is that during the period of 5 years of continuous insurance from the date of commencement of the cover, if the insured person has not, in relation to the pre-existing condition experienced symptoms or sought advice or tests from a specialist, physician or alternative medicine provider or required treatment or medication, Aviva will cover that pre-existing condition.

Give yourself and your loved ones the best gift you can, and that is not to be a financial burden when you have an illness.

Fool-proof Medical Insurance Reduces Stress

What is Medical Insurance

With medical care costs escalating steadily, you need to protect your financial health should you be hospitalised as a result of an illness or accident.

Medical insurance or health insurance is perhaps one of the most overlooked area in financial planning. And many people do not realize that a hefty medical bill can potentially derail their financial plans overnight. For example, a heart angioplasty at National Heart Centre would set you back between S$21,000 and S$31,000.

So, do you have a fool-proof medical insurance plan in place?

Since the introduction of medisave approved integrated private shield plans, we are spoilt for choices. An enhanced plan has 'as charged benefits' instead of sub limits for each category of medical expenses. Besides the usual room and board, surgery, doctor's fees and treatments etc, other benefits available with such plans include confinement in community hospitals, pregnancy complications, congenital conditions, letter of guarantee and benefits for major medical transplant.

What to watch out for

Every life insurer would offer medical insurance solutions. A medical plan is made of 2 parts: 1) the basic plan and 2) the rider. There are full riders and there are partial riders. A full rider covers the deductible (up front payment, depending on the ward class) and co-insurance (10% of the balance of the bill after deductible). On the other hand, a partial rider covers only the co-insurance portion. Hence, it is expected that a full rider will cost more than a partial rider.

Besides the riders, the plan type will dictate the level of benefits. In choosing a plan, be sure to go with one that covers your health concerns.

How we help you

So, how do you then select from the plethora of options in the market? Do you have the time and energy to meet up with different insurers to understand their plans?

If the answer is no, then you would be better off consulting a professional financial advisor who has access to the different solutions available in the market. He or she would be able to highlight the differences between each plan and advise on a plan that best fits your needs.

We go through a structured questionaire with our clients to get them thinking about their requirements for health care. Our recommendation will be based on their responses to the questions.

We have counselled many who have pre existing conditions and advised what is best moving forward to ensure that they get cover for other conditions. As a rule of thumb, insurers exclude pre-existing conditions altogether. However, Aviva is the only insurer that has moratorium underwriting v/s full medical underwriting. Aviva’s moratorium underwriting is the first in the industry. This gives people with pre-existing conditions a chance to be covered for their existing conditions. What this means is that during the period of 5 years of continuous insurance from the date of commencement of the cover, if the insured person has not, in relation to the pre-existing condition experienced symptoms or sought advice or tests from a specialist, physician or alternative medicine provider or required treatment or medication, Aviva will cover that pre-existing condition.

The type of medical insurance you have can either make or break your financial plans.

Consult a professional financial advisor before you make the purchase. One wrong move and you could lose your insurance coverage completely.