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Hospitalisation and surgery (H&S) insurance coverage is a must have for everyone. What might not be perceived as a must have is the rider that is usually offered and one possible reason is that this is an out of pocket item which means that we cannot use our Medisave savings to pay for it.
However, I am quite happy to pay for the rider and will encourage anyone who can afford the rider to get it. Early last year, I shared that:
"So, it means that I only have to pay 10% of my total medical bills if I were to be hospitalised and this 10% has an annual cap of $3,000 in my case. So, if my hospitalisation and related bills were to total more than $30,000 in any year, I would still pay a maximum of only $3,000."
Hospitalisation bills could turn out to be quite burdensome. Knowing that I have only got to pay $3,000 even if my bills should exceed $30,000 in any one year gives me peace of mind.
The rider costs more as we age but don't let that dissuade us from having it because the rider will become even more important as we age. Why?
The chances of being hospitalised and of being hospitalised for many more days per visit will only go up as we age. This is quite natural. So, naturally, we should keep the rider. Simple.
So, in the case of my mom, I told her I will pay for her H&S rider if she cannot afford it. I would rather pay for the H&S rider and also the maximum of $3,000 annually in case of hospitalisation than to pay the regular deductible and co-insurance with each stay in a hospital for her. There is no way of telling how much these might cost on a per visit and per year basis but with the H&S rider, I know how much I should be prepared to pay every year.
If only risk management was always so easy.
Get ourselves and our loved ones insured well and we will not have to fear big hospitalisation bills that will one day come to us. This is simple enough to understand. So, for those of you who have yet to act on this, there is no time to lose.
Of course, I understand that it is a pain having to pay for anything. It would be wonderful if everything in this world was free but that would remain a dream. So, we work so hard to make money only to see the money going to pay for all the expenses in life? I know the feeling. Ouch.
Well, it would be less painful if the money used to pay for all the expenses in life were money that we did not work so hard to make. Huh? Well, what if it were money that was made by money that we worked hard to make? OK, I am sure you get the idea now.
Make some money that will help us spend less money especially on necessities in life. H&S and the rider are two such necessities.
Related posts:
1. How to get free medical insurance?
2. Enhanced Incomeshield for my mom.
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9 comments:
Always ideal for one to pay for the enhanced medishield's policy premiums with annual interest on one's Medishield account and dividend income to pay for the policy's rider.
Hi AK,
Absolutely agree with you. I have known of staff who were stricken with cancer at a young age but medical coverage by company is rather limited. I too, would encourage everyone to take up the hospitalisation coverage. The cost is reasonable and can be paid using medisave.To ease the payment of the rider, one can do so with monthly giro..not so painful than to pay one shot. Do it when you afre healthy to avoid exclusion clauses.
Hi AK,
Fully agree with your view. I have all my family members covered by H&S insurances with riders too.
Have a good weekend ahead, and selamat Hari Raya Haji!
Yup! Medical insurance is very critical with the ever increasing medical costs.
Do look out for the upcoming nation-wide changes to the medical insurance scene with the revamp of Medishield Life in 2015.
Hi AK,
My wife and my insurance expenses are considered really low by many. $133 per month for the both of us which works out to less than $70 each.
A far cry from the typical insurance pitch that goes like this: "5-10% of your salary should go to insurance".
But even so, that doesn't mean we cut back on the insurance we really need. Interestingly, we also have this rider with NTUC's Income Shield. =)
You are right AK. I bought incomeshield for my mum more than 15 years ago. It was only this year I was able to make claims because my mum was down with cancer and her hosp bills hit the deductible limit per year for her plan. Income helped paid her hosp bills and chemo bills to hospital. The 10 percent co-insurance was paid through medisave.. Cancer can strike anyone..a good H&S plan is worth investing for life in Singapore where medical costs are so high.
Hi AK as always great article and sound advice! just to add my 2 cents worth, the premium rider I bought covers 100% of my HS expenses for the highest class possible (private hospital A wards). Why? Cuz its always easier to downgrade in the future if I needed to reduce my premiums and secondly, I have the option of staying in a any restructured hospital A class and get paid for that! About$150 per day based on my plan. I have not done any claims yet (thank God:))!!! but my friend had the same plan and she had no problem with claims. Except if u choose private hospital then you have to foot the total bill before discharge and that can be a 5 to 6 figure amt easily.
? I was on standby in case she bust the limits on all her credit cards!!! Cheers
agree. another great post from AK :)
Hi everybody,
Thanks for the encouraging comments and also the sharing of personal experience and perspectives. Really appreciate it. Keep them coming. ;)
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