Safeguarding your health with comprehensive health insurance plans will help prevent you and your family from suffering from financial loss as a result of an accident, illness or disability. It can provide an income while you are in the hospital, or cover the costs of your medical treatment or nursing care.
Types of Health Insurance
There are generally 5 types of Medical Insurance. They are MediShield Life, Hospitalisation, Critical Illness, Disability Income and Eldershield.
For Hospital Income plan, the following Liberty Medical Insurance plans are available :
1. proMediCare in addition to
2. MyHEALTH (Provides international coverage)
3. proMedico, proMediCare, and proMedico Plus (Provides local and regional coverage)
4. VitalCare (Provides cancer coverage)
Do contact us to get a comprehensive overview before deciding on 1.
Provides Worldwide Protection**
You can choose to be treated at any hospitals or clinics worldwide.
**selected plans only
Option for Dental and Maternity benefits
You can choose to add dental and maternal coverage for selected plans.
Choice of Medical Coverage
You can choose the plan that best suits your needs, from basic outpatient coverage to comprehensive coverage.
In short - yes, you do. A hospital stay, short or long, can cost thousands of dollars, even more for foreigners. Having medical insurance ensures that you do not need to cover the whole bill, and gives you one lesser thing to focus on while you are sick. It is also required by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to own health insurance in order to apply for a long-term pass in Singapore.
It can be hard to prevent that illness or accident, but you can definitely prevent yourself from the stress of paying high medical bills. Get the best health insurance quotes and save yourself from that stress and worry with Ion Agency.
The main applicant must be between 18 and 65 years. Some plans can be renewable up to age 80.
Yes, it will. Your insurance premium is based on the age band your age falls into upon applying and when you renew your insurance subsequently. If your age falls into the next age band upon the point of renewal, your insurance premium will increase according to the age band that you are in.
There many different benefits that you can select for your health insurance. Here are options that medical insurance companies generally offer for you to choose from:
Hospitalisation
Also known as inpatient cover, it is important to choose a plan that includes hospitalisation and covers medical expenses during your stay at the hospital. This also includes the room, surgery, medicines and diagnostic tests. Thankfully in Singapore, hospitalisation is covered in all medical insurance policies in Singapore.
Outpatient cover
Outpatient cover is for medical treatments that occur outside hospitals or for medical visits that do not require you to stay overnight in the hospital. Such examples can be if you see a GP, specialist or therapist. This benefit might be charged more by some health insurance plans for this to be covered. Speak to your Ion representative to find out what is best for you!
Evacuation and repatriation
This benefit comes in handy when you need emergency medical treatment but your local hospital is not a feasible option. Your emergency evacuation benefit will pay for you to get to the nearest medical facility to get the needed treatment to recover. Not only that, the repatriation benefit will pay for you to go home after the treatment. In the event that you pass away overseas, some plans have the option to cover the costs of bringing your body back home in the form of repatriation of mortal remains. We seriously do not wish that you would need to use it.
Dental insurance
Dental insurance will ensure that you are covered for check-ups, simple fillings, or even complicated dental treatment if you have gum disease or need braces.
Wellbeing and optical
This benefit covers routinal appointments. Such examples are annual check-ups, pap-smears or mammograms. It also covers optical benefits such as eye examinations, corrective glasses and contact lenses for those who require solutions to see clearly. This does not cover the purchase of glasses and contact lenses for cosmetic reasons.
Maternity
Congratulations on having a baby! This benefit covers the cost of routine pregnancy and childbirth. You can also be covered for newborn care, complications and pre- & post-natal check-ups with your obstetrician. Some health insurance plans have a waiting period of up to 24 months, so if you are planning for a baby, it can save you lots on cost if you are insured and wait past the waiting period. Speak to your Ion representative to find out more on the different insurance plans and waiting periods!
Vaccinations
This covers consultation fees and injections that you take to protect yourself from diseases. Some insurance plans cover child immunisations under a seperate cover, so speak to your Ion representative to find out more.
Here are some factors that you should consider before you choose your plan:
I. What does my plan cover?
All health plans entitle you to the following:
- Emergency services
- Hospitalization
- Surgery, organ transplant, and diagnostics during your stay at the hospital
- You will be entitled to more benefits and medical coverage with a much more comprehensive medical plan.
II. What is the cost of the plan?
It depends on what your premium is. If you pay for a higher premium, you will pay lesser when recieving medical care, and similarly if you pay lesser premium, you would pay more for your medical bills. Health insurance is paid in these three manners:
Premium that you pay to purchase your plan
Out-of-pocket medical expenses that are deductible, co-insurance, co-pay, or a combination of any.
III. Can I recieve treatment from any doctor or hospital I want?
This will depend on the condition of your plan. Most plans that are catered locally will have their own list of medical providers that you can visit. If the doctor is not in the list provided to you, your bill may not be fully covered or covered at all.
However, if you purchase international policies, you will have the freedom to seek medical treatment from doctors or hospitals that aren't under the list that is provided to you.
IV. Does my plan cover my routine examinations?
It depends on what kind of examination it is. Most preventative check-ups, which include mammograms, pap smear tests and other routinal check-ups are not included unless it has been specified by your insurer. The tests that are included are featured under the Wellbeing section.
V. How does my pre-existing medical condition affect the health insurance coverage I'm able to recieve?
Remember to declare if you or anyone in your family has a pre-existing medical or chronic condition, as it will affect your insurance coverage.
Your policy may exclude those conditions from your health insurance plans or even not cover the medical costs related to the condition.
There are situations where insurers are willing to cover these pre-existing conditions, but you will need to find out from your insurer if they will provide coverage for the pre-exisiting condition before the start of the policy date.
Often, insurance companies will offer additional premiums or cap the benefits to cover pre-existing conditions. Some examples of common pre-existing conditions are hypertension, high colesterol, asthma and diabetes.
VI. Will I be covered when I am away from home?
This is dependent on which plan you have purchased and the geographical area that is stated to cover in the plan. It is best reccomended to find out if the plan is able to cover you while you are travelling, and see if you are able to make claims if you are away from home.
Usually, only emergency treatments are covered if you travel beyond the policy's area of cover. Ailments such as cough or flu are less likely to get covered.
It will depend if you meet the criteria. You can qualify for a health plan if you are:
- A Singaporean living in Singapore or overseas
- A foreigner holding a valid immigration pass
- A foreigner who is a dependent (i.e. spouse / parent / grandparent / child of a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident) If you do not see a category that you fit into, do not worry. Speak to our trusted Ion representative and we will help you see if you can qualify.
Many corporate medical policies have low coverage, hence you might need to pay more out of your pocket if you have a high medical bill from being sick or injured. You should do research and find out what your corporate plans cover to see if you would want to apply for your own healthcare plan.
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