It is the latter.

Upon receiving your policy booklet, you'll have to sign a document confirming the date you received the policy booklet.

Perhaps I can shed some light on this matter. I am an agent from AIA for some years now.

Every now and then there will be new and improved medical plans being introduced into the market.
With the new plans, AIA will pick from among their customers to offer the upgrade to the new plan.

Before this, in 2013/2014 period, the ECP+MCP plan was being phased out, and the introduction of APM (A-Plus Med). There was a round of GIO (Guaranteed Issue Offer) to both ex-ING and AIA customers (2013 was the year AIA Bhd acquired ING Bhd) to get onto the new APM plan.
Slightly later on there was the A-Plus Med Booster being introduced, again selected customers received this offer.

So what is happening now is the introduction of APH (A-Plus Health), which is a move forward, a medical plan that rides on the benefits of AIA Vitality, rewarding customers who stay active with the introduction of Health Wallet.
You must be selected for the offer as well.

With that said, what is ongoing now is also BNM cracking down on the issue of sustainability.
In previous years, whatever age of sustainability ( 30 years, Age 65/80/100) you choose, the illustration will mention "the death benefit covers till age 100".
So this created a few issues:
1. Confusing for consumers.
2. In an attempt to win the sale, agents sometimes compromise on the sustainability in order to lower the premiums.

What most agents were trained to sell was sustain to age 80 (cuz most Malaysians don't live past 80). Yes, you may have elders in your family past 80 and still kicking, but they are in the minority. We are just taking a very general viewpoint.
Partly why you may think some agents very nosy want to ask about your whole family what age what age, etc. We just want to deal with the issue of sustainability, to see if sustaining to age 80 would become an issue in catering to your needs. Of course, the longer the sustainability, the higher the premiums.

With that in mind, you will be receiving letters with a "recommended" or "suggested" additional premium amount.
You may choose to ignore and continue paying whatever your premiums are, or you can follow the recommended additional premium. After all, it is compulsory for the insurers to issue these letters, on the instruction by BNM. Everybody just wants to be compliant, and the choice of words (mentioned above) is not with the intention to force customers. Must remember: customers always has an option.
But, moving forward, the option to have your ILP policy sustain to less than age 100 is no longer available la. The cut-off date was July 1, 2019.

Please don't be angry with your servicing agents. Yes, we cari makan, but the guiding principle is always centered around you, our customers. The only way we can do well, is when we make sure you do well.
The only reason for us to sell more to you, is when you are growing and your portfolio expands.
So every agent wants to be part of your growth and part of your success.

Maybe give your agent a chance, maybe 15 minutes of your time to explore on your APH offer.
Ask about the health wallet benefits, the main advantages and/or disadvantages of the new plan, especially the RM300 deductible option, etc. We have been having training almost everyday this month to make sure everyone is fluent in the new product, and how it differs from the existing ones.

Hope this helps.

P.s.: Yeah, I kena ffk this morning so got time to sit in coffee shop to bang out some work, then check here as well.

The rm300 deductible simply means we fork out rm300 for each related claim. Meaning to say if I was admitted multiple times for the same issue, I only fork out rm300 in total. As you can see from the schedule, the term is “per disability”.

Why intro a deductible leh?
As we are well aware, everybody is very sensitive to cost. So you may refer to your offer letter, and see that the option without deductible is obviously higher.
It doesn’t mean you will be admitted faster, it is just introduced as a measure to maintain premiums at an acceptable level for the masses.
However, I am glad you mentioned about the issue of being admitted faster. I encourage you to download the MyAIA app on your phone, and you will be able to locate the panel medical facilities near you, and also the PLATINUM HOSPITAL NETWORK. I recently visited my client at one of the platinum hospitals. Frankly, GL got already or not I also dunno, the nurse come in and just inform us patient is free to leave already
After that what I do? Of course call my agency assistant to check and find out actually what is the status lah.

COI increase...hence premium increase. If you would like to join me in my observation ah, this news recycle every 2-3 years. If it’s just 1 or 2 company that does this, maybe it’s the company loh. But it’s everyone kena. I have a hypothesis la, which is the medical inflation rate that the actuaries in insurance companies have to follow is coming from the same source. Cuz why? Cannot be that all the companies are hiring idiots right?
Sadly, yes, what has been going around in the forum is consistent with my info la.
Got a lot of very good agents here giving very good input and updates as well.

Can tell you lah, since the balance score card was introduced, lots of “secret agents” dropped off already.
Good move by BNM!

This post has been edited by JIUHWEI: Jul 25 2019, 07:06 PM

Actually ah, the hospital insurance portal (at every hospital) are very advanced now. You don’t even need your medical card anymore. Just give them your ic tell them which is your insurer, and let them handle the rest.

But that is my experience serving my clients with med card from AIA and other bigger insurers than AXA and Etiqa la.

If you ask me lah, personally I took the deductible as well.
Why leh?
You see ah, if I stay healthy I don't have to pay the deductible at all mah.
But if I choose the deductible, it feels like I am paying the deductible every year, no matter I healthy or not.
I see it this way lah. More practical, and save some money on premiums as well.

Now I teach you how to go around the deductible.
Go to MyAIA portal, sign up for AIA Vitality.
In AIA Vitality, as long as we are Gold status, the RM300 deductible will be waived.

How to get to Gold status leh?
Just walk above 7500 steps every day, answer some health-related questionnaires on the portal, quit smoking (if you smoke), etc. All the activities that promotes a healthy lifestyle.

What else about AIA Vitality?
Frankly, I really do not care about the small-small incentives and rewards.
But, my wife and I use this benefit kao2: 10% discount for fresh produce at Jaya Grocer.
You may check out more here: https://www.aiavitality.com.my/vmp-my/

Oi oi, get your aia vitality first!

AIA vitality members automatic get 25% discount on Fitbit products.

I want to try and understand your situation here.
Do you mean previously ING policy? Cuz aia acquired ING back in 2013.
What happened from there was what we call INTEGRATION.
What it means is consolidating licensing with BNM to come under a single license, and at the same time integrating the systems from 2 giant insurers.
So the issue of not being able to upgrade, stemmed from the licensing issues back then. I believe there is an option for you under the current aia system. But I want to be sure, so maybe I'll have to get back to you on this.

While it is true that medical inflation is an issue we have to plan for, I believe your particular situation doesn't require you to absolutely have to terminate your existing policy. There are always other options to consider, but I believe you'll have to work with an agent about the options available, with your particular portfolio in mind.

What I would like for you to take out of this is about medical underwriting.
While a new plan with a higher coverage is cool, your current plan has already accepted you, most probably with no exclusions.

I believe others here can chime in on the issue of contestability period that should be part of your conversation with the agent that you're working with.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

She can buy travel insurance. Travel Insurance is essentially a PA (Personal Accident) policy.

However, all the coverage listed in the schedule of benefits are subject to illness or injuries sustained due to ACCIDENT.

How to define "By Accident" leh?
Got 3 premises:
1. Happen suddenly
2. It is violent (can see blood)
3. External impact (impact come from outside...like a punch, or object from outside enter the body)

So stuff like fall down ah, food poisoning ah, dengue ah, etc would come under the definition of accidental in nature.

Hey no problem!

Just hope it helps clear the air for many here, and for those approached by their agents on the matter to take up the upgrade offer, or agree to the recommended increase in premiums.

Especially with our medical insurance, we absolutely want to have it when we absolutely need it. And we want it to be with us for as long as possible!

Yes, it is very worth it.
I also upgraded.

So... what is preventing you from taking up the upgrade offer?

Does it affect your lifestyle expenses?

Depends on your age, smoker status, health history, among other factors

The existing one you have comes with a lifetime limit of 750k on outpatient cancer treatment and kidney dialysis (those post-surg, follow up sesh).
The upgrade doesn't have a lifetime limit on that.

For me, personally, this alone was good enough reason to take up the upgrade.

Not bragging here, but paying an extra RM40/mo, really doesn't occupy my mental capacity.

With that said, this comes on the back of a rate hike too.
Since now being offered as a take-over, no medical underwriting, no waiting period...
Why not leh?

so 7 years ago, you're 22 la.

For sure cannot get better coverage for the same premium amount liao la.

Why i say macam got a chance for that leh?
Cuz i thought you much younger. And now matured liao want to take up some responsibility, which i always support.
Around age 15 is when our COI is lowest.
If now you 22, want to get roughly same premium, not say cannot, but got chance.

But you 29 now... I wish I can say got chance la. But I rather just be frank and tell you no chance.

Sumore now rate hike. Yalah, damn sien la but what to do?


But good thing is you have your health. Try go back to your insurer first, see if they got better medical plan to offer you.
If still need underwriting, then might as well you shop around here, see which company plan you like, or which agent you feel more comfortable dealing with, (basically whatever factors that you prioritize la) and then buy your plan la.

Happy shopping

For medical insurance, it is based on the total hospital bill.
Let's say you have 2 medical policies: 1 from N years ago, 1 from recent years.
The old one may have a very low amount, and the relatively new one has more.
So let's say we exhaust the first one, the balance amount can be claimed from the second one.
Lidat lah.

For life insurance, however many policies you buy, each policy will have to pay whatever the sum assured is.
Let's say you also have 2 life policies: 1 very low amount, 1 higher amount.
Once fulfill the provisions in the policy, both will pay whatever amount of sum assured stated, as described by ckdenion^^^
Lidat lah. Same goes for PA policies and CI policies.

Is there a scenario that we may have overlooked?

Now that you know, maybe you can help your friends too by sharing with them.

Yes, it’s true.
However, it is completely up to you if you want to increase your premium or not.

The word of choice was “recommended”.
The recommended additional premiums is meant to make sure your policy can meet the expected sustainability to age 100.

It does have provisions for medical expenses, however, it does not cover for pre-existing illnesses.

Maybe you can communicate with me on your current situation privately?

I'll do my level-best to help you find a solution.

It's not necessary to add in A-Plus Saver.

However, depending on your situation, your agent might just be doing you a solid favor.

I feel you should be asking this question directly to your agent.

As I read your post, what was on my mind synced with how your story unfolded.
Aesthetic procedures are generally not covered, except something like a facial reconstruction procedure due to an accident.
But, I am also aware that there is too little that I know on your case to make any assumptions or tell you otherwise.

Best if you can get the doctor's comment on the reason/decision that led to the excision procedure.

Even with that in mind, it would still stem from a procedure aesthetic in nature in the first place.