well.. it is a trade-off between premium and coverage.

I'm looking for a moderate coverage which costs moderately.

Kurnia insurance provides a renewable package up to 70 years, which is the normal case for medical insurance.
I guess if you want to protect up to 100 years, you got to go for CI insurance. (I don't know what is the price.)

For your information, to get up to RM150k/RM450k limit, you will have to pay twice of RM520 = RM 1000+. (where as the premium keep increasing every five years)

If looking from other perspective, we are already better than previous generations who do not have any coverage, but live happily..
Buying one just to keep us free of mind as you know nobody will lend you money.

epalbee3,

ok - one thing first: dont confuse CI and health insurance.

CI pays a lump sum amount in case of diagnostic and survival of one of the 36 "dread deseases". there is no additional benefit to this insurance and premium will go through the roof once you get older. you should use a CI (if you really want to) only while you are young and the risk is low. that way CI can serve as a means of providing a financial cushion should you be unable to work further or in case you die provide relief to your family.

H&S (hospitalisation and surgical insurance) on the other hand pays your bills up the limit. the scope is pretty much that - hospital and surgery + some after care. this is what you need to focus on. if your H&S stops at 70 and you life longer who is paying the bills. i personally would want 80 or 100 for my H&S. CI can stop at 55 imho and cover can even decrease with age to provide adequate cover throughout time with low cost.

problem is: medical insurance will be damn expensive at 70++ so few insurance companies offer them. for example AXA, GE, AIA have plans that cover until 80 or 100. what you need to look at is the average costs until the end of the cover from your current age onwards. if you can afford the resulting average premium today, chances are you will be able to keep the policy in force despite inflation driving the premiums even higher in the future.

and yes: buy as much medical cover as you can afford .

my personal choice is H&S and PA over H&S and CI because PA covers more cases at a fixed price and high H&S covers the dread deseases too. CI is fine between 20 and 50 though but not entirely essential if you ask me.

that beeing said, i'd look into ways of increasing your annual H&S cover if you have the budget to spare. for example a so called top-up insurance with a high deductable is a very cost efficient solution to cover spikes. premium will be only a couple of 100 RM even for a 150k p.a. / 750 k lifetime extra cover.

As per AXA contract, this is the definition of 'per disability'

11. Disability Shall mean a Sickness, Disease, Illness or the
entire Injuries arising of a single or continuous series of causes. ANY ONE DISABILITY shall
mean all of the periods of disability arising from the same cause including any and all
complications there from except that if the Insured Person completely recovers and
remain free from further treatment (including drugs, medicines, special diet or injection or
advice for the condition) of the disability for at least ninety (90) days following the latest date
of discharge and subsequent disability from the same cause shall be considered as though it
were a new disability.

If you have an existing medical plan, you can opt for "Deductible' Option in AXA SC Optimum plan.
Bad thing about AXA, the way I rate them, is their limited lifetime limits on kidney/cancer treatments.  That's why their premium is affordable yet still gives you 'unlimited' lifetime limit.

I'vent been able to update my site, but maybe some info is helpful from within : http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Medi...aysia/message/2

Rgrds

numbertwo,

correct about the definition - i have the wordings too. but the question is: since there are no limits besides the annual limit besides for cancer / dialysis how does this clause affect the insured for other disabilities besides cancer and dialysis? the way i read it it doesnt affect you since there is no specified monetary limit present.

thanks for the pointer. i never saw it in conjunction with the 150days. that is a serious loophole. i am running AXA in combination with a top-up so i am pretty save in that respect and since both policies have serious weeknesses that dont really overlap (i.e. AXA 150 days, tokio marine 10k deductable) the combination of the two still seems to be a very attractively priced round coverage.

sadly so far i have not come across a better solution to overcome lifetime limit issues and fee issues i.e. premiums that are out of reach of the insured. anyone has a better solution besides going for an international insurance?

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Added on November 20, 2009, 2:04 pmquick update: william russel has an office in malaysia.

http://www.william-russell.com/individuals...ntial/benefits/

this plan might be a good idea too as the limits that apply to local policies dont apply here.

if you choose this policy as a backup with a 2,500 US$ deductable you can insure a 33 yr old for around 50 US$ per month with a 200,000 US$ annual limit. that would be pretty good. will check what allianz offers these days.

Hi All,

Is trher any plans that
a-cover specialist doctor visits
b-cover hospitalisations
c-other rest

Maybe you can check with AIA. They have better deal. And cover till 100yrs.

yeah too bad about william russel. but it seems allianzworldwidecare is available. at least i managed to a get an offer just fine. they have a pretty high end cover even on the lower plans and malaysia apparently enjoys some discount on the premium.

basic plan only around RM 400 per month. and this "Classic Individual" covers 1.25 million euros per year medical costs p.a. without any lifetime limit - take a look:

http://www.allianzworldwidecare.com/compar...duals?choice=en

annual premium for age 33 is €1,025.00 = RM 5000 = 416 p.m.

the optional outpatient is way too costly but the core plan is good. but hold your breath: premium at age 70 is €4,617 p.a.= 23k. if you compare this with local insurances that aint that bad considering the cover you get.

too bad they dont publish rates beyond 70, the support told me they cover until you die if you so wish but could not advise on premium due.

maybe one should ask them to offer a group plan for malaysia (lowyat medical plan ) to get extra discount....

my friend was offered a GE investment linked insurance with monthly 150 for 20 years.

he is now 30 years old. but medical insurance until 70 years old.
may I know how does he pay for medical insurance until 70?

Also the sum assured is RM35000 and CI is 20000 (until 100 years old). Does it mean 20000 is deducted from sum assured?does he able to get back money when he was 70 years old?

The thing about medical insurance is that it's good to have when you actually have health problems. So thinking that you end up paying for nothing, it's very small thing when you finally do have a health problem.

The earlier that you start medical insurance, the cheaper it will be in the long run. I see my parents now taking out insurance in the later part of their lives, they have to pay more than what they would have paid if they had started earlier. And the premium doesn't have to be in the high ranges. If you tell the insurance agent that your budget is low, they shoudl be able to give you a lower premium until you are able financially to pay more.

You may want to look for a policy that will cover both heart diseases and back problems. These may usually not be part of critical illnesses but it's popping up more regularly. Take it from someone who is experiencing both. It's expensive to treat.

The other thing is the cost of doing the medical tests. There's only a certain limit that the insurance will cover so gotta check if that covers it for you too.

Well, the golden years are below 30 years of age. After 30, that's when health problems start popping up and it's annoying when insurance or your company's health policy doesn't quite cover everything. Some ppl try SOCSO but even that is not a lot.

Hmm...and I think with the different types of insurance around, it's not easy to do the comparison. I remember spending 2 months just sitting down and trying to make head and tail on 10 different packages. 8 years ago, it was easy to decide what I wanted :

-best female coverage, especially during pregnancy and a newborn baby
-covered medical tests
-the various additional options
-the reputation of the company and whether I knew the agent

The insurance coverage we have here isn't as good as in the US or Europe but even then, even doing an operation is a big deal and that option may not necessarily be the best either.

I would say that it's hard to decide on the type of insurance to take without good friends to ask for advice.

I did get a prep talk from a friend recently that one of the Takaful funds is offering GPA insurance as part of the unit rates purchase and if one wanted to include the critical illnesses, they can pay for it but still at cheaper rates than what insurance companies are offering.

ILP usually deducts the units from your investment portion of your policy in order to pay for the riders(ie. medical, CI, payor waiver, etc.) that are attached to the ILP.  So, if the funds that you have chosen fails to 'shine', your premium will surely goes to paying the rest of the riders attached.   And remember to ask the agent, does he know anything about 'Top-Up' cases in ILP.  Top-up cases happen whenever the units in your investment funds are insufficient to pay for the cost of insurance+riders... , you will have to top-up a certain amount of money in your renewal.  Many ILP policyholders are not aware of this 'feature' in ILP.. So pls take note.

So, yes, ILP's return is not guaranteed, never listen to any guarantee mentioned by the agent as ILP will never have any kind of 'guaranteed' return.   What you gonna get after 20 years is all depending on the performance of the funds chosen in your ILP...  Good luck.

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Added on November 23, 2009, 7:30 pm

Hi myremi,

care to enlighten me how one would safe a few $$ if one took medical insurance in their early years...  Med insurance are age-banded.. If you bought one at age 50  you will be charged at the banded rate at age 50.  If you have bought one earlier say 40, you will still have to pay the same rate when you renew the policy at age 50.  The scenario is the same as whether you are 'healthy' at the age of 50 .  If there is a loading, it will happen irregardless whether you buy the policy at age 50 or age 40, still you will have to pay for some premium loading if you are not 100% fit & healthy..  Correct me if i'm wrong.

you save if you buy young if you choose a policy with guaranteed renewal w/o loading or exclusions. that way you get less than 100% but still pay the old premium whereas as a new customer you have to fork out extra or cant get cover at all.

kurnia only no loading and guaranteed renewal until 65. thereafter subject to their decision and then you need to take their senior policy anyway. so it allows them many times to impose loading or exclusions when you really need insurance that takes you no matter what. useless if you ask me. also lifetime limit is very low in relation to annual limit (3x only).

Tks PJUsa.. i have forgotten about this point..  thanks for the reminder..

But I won't bet that the policy will not have any change after 15-20 years...Suddenly you see 'portfolio withdrawal'... is something that we can't guarantee it won't happen forever..

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Added on November 24, 2009, 10:42 pm

Which one of the Kurnia's plan has 'guaranteed renewal'... So far their premium is not guaranteed as per their website:

PERIOD OF COVER AND RENEWAL PREMIUM
This Policy shall become effective as of the date stated in the Schedule. The Policy Anniversary shall be one year after the effective date and annually thereafter. The renewal premiums payable is not guaranteed and the Company reserves the right to revise the premium rate applicable at the time of renewal. Generally, if the health status has been good, the premium in future Policy years will increase by your attained age according to the age band.

yup, that might be a good alternative. but I have CI not with intention to cover that but more towards to cover the lost of income. My company medical card do not cover outpatient treatment and AXA plan is generally good except for dialysis and cancer.

but some other would want you to submit a medical report first before being admitted

Dear forumers,

I found out that my father does not have a medical insurance plan.
He is currently 59years, will be 60 in end of Jan 2010.
As far as i know, majority insurance companies will not accept my father application once he hits 60 on his coming birthday.

Therefore, I am very worried about the options we have due to the time constraint imposed.

His health conditions described as follows >>
1. he has high blood pressure. He goes for regular check up and take medicines to control on a regular basis.
2. he does not have any illness or high blood pressure related illness as of last check up (approx. 2 month ago).
I have tried to approach agents, however, the agents i have met, regrettably i had unsatisfactory service.
They do not seems to know what i want, and only trying to persuade me on getting a Investment-Linked Life Policy + Medical as rider for him, even at his age, factoring in the rising medical premiums as he age.
More so, some of them don't even know their product well :s
(i am sorry, i am not trying to offend anyone, this is just my experience i encountered n i would like to share)
*** My aim here is to get a H&S medical insurance ONLY for him. ***
(A) Could anyone suggest a reasonable/fair value/suitable H&S for my father, factoring in his age and health condition?

Due to the time constraint, i don't have sufficient time to make details investigation of the available H&S in the market.
I sincerely hope i could access your knowledge and wisdom here.
Thank you in advance for your information.

## I have a budget of monthly RM300-400 (including Loading if applicable) for age band between 60 to 65 at the moment, and I understand that the premiums will continue to rise according to the age band thereafter.

## my requirement are as follows >>
    i. Must be Guaranteed Renewal
    ii. Outpatient Kidney Dialysis, Cancer Treatment must be available, with reasonable level of coverage.

(B) Because of my past experience with agents, i am opting for walk-in where possible, may i know does anyone know which insurance companies accept walk-in for H&S, and offer discounted premiums if walk-in (discounted premium is optional, my main concern is the possibility of walk-in)

© If you have an insurance agent that you personally have used, and/or you sincerely think he/she is reliable and genuinely could offer assistance to me, i would be very grateful if you could PM me his/her contact.
I hope you guys could help me out in good faith, and i would like to thank you in advance for any assistance you could offer.

A quick question:
What's the difference between General Insurance's H&S and Life Insurance's H&S ?

I understand Life Insurance's H&S offer Guarantee Renewal, while General Insurance's H&S offer Conditional Renewal, but General Insurance's H&S will offer guarantee renewal after a specific period of no-claim, for example 1 year, or 2 year.

Last time i enquire about Tokio Marine's Medic Plus, the customer representative told me that the no-claim period COVERS also accidental event, that means, if involved in accident, make claims, then, the future H&S renewal will be subject to insurer discretion.

I am confused. Can anyone elabore further the pros & cons between getting a General Insurance's H&S and Life insurance's H&S.
Again, thank you deeply for any assistance offer.