IS IT TRUE THAT EVERY MEDICAL CARD IN MALAYSIA HAS RENEWABILITY FEATURE?

Renewability feature makes sure that a policyholder can renew his policy even if he has made a previous claim. So, does every medical card in the market have this feature?

The answer is no. I know that there is at least one insurance company which offers a medical card without this feature. I don't want to criticize and mention the name of the insurance company here as this is not my purpose of creating this blog.

As we all know, our health deteriorates as we get older. At the age of 60 or more, we face a lot of health problems and we need our medical card the most during this period. If we can't renew our medical card as we have made several claims previously, we have to bear ourselves the mounting medical costs as we have no more protection from the insurance companies. We may say that we can buy a new medical card from other insurance companies. However, they may not accept our application because our risk is already very high.

So, does AIA Berhad offer medical card with renewability feature? The answer is absolutely yes. According to Mr Khor Hock Seng, the CEO of AIA Berhad, the plan (ExcelCare Plus) comes with a renewability feature where the policy will not be cancelled even if a previous claim has been made. The plan will provide continuous protection so long as it is within the benefit entitlement and annual and lifetime limits of the plan. This feature may prove useful when at older ages certain illnesses have a higher tendency of recurrence.

According to the brochure and policy contract of the medical card offered by AIA Berhad, the plan is renewable at the option of a policyholder until the occurrence of any of the following:

1. non payment of premium or premium not made on time.
2. fraud or misrepresentation of material fact during application.
3. this policy is cancelled at the request of the policyholder.
4. total claims of this policy have reached the lifetime limit specified.
5. on the death of the insured (hence terminating coverage for dependants too).
6. the insured ceases to qualify as a dependant.
7. the insured attains the coverage age limit specified.
8. termination of coverage for all policies in a certain market and the company withdraws this policy completely from the market in accordance with the Portfolio Withdrawal Condition.
9. termination of a plan to which ExcelCare Plus rider is attached (if applicable).

If all the situations above don't happen, a policyholder can renew his coverage easily. In sum, it is very important to make sure that our medical card is renewable every year so that we still get the protection we need the most at older ages.

WHAT DOES PERSONAL ACCIDENT ACTUALLY COVER?

I find that some people don't really know what a personal accident plan actually covers. They think that personal accident only pays us for injuries that happen on the road. In fact, the coverage of personal accident is very much wider.

According to a brochure by AIA Berhad, personal accident plans generally have the following benefits:

1. The definition of accidental injury does not require qualifying words of violent external visible means.
2. Injuries caused by gas inhalation, drowning or similar misfortune with no external sign of injury.
3. Food poisoning.
4. Immediate death or injury caused by harmful insects or snake bites.
5. No exclusion on intoxication.
6. Injuries resulting from hobbies on any sports or games.
7. Death or injury by murder or assault.
8. Injured as a non-participant in riots and civil commotion.
9. Injuries caused directly or indirectly by fire.
10. Motor cycling risk.
11. Injuries while on board as a passenger on scheduled or non-scheduled licensed flights.
12. Injury while on board as a passenger on military air transport service of any Government anywhere in the world.
13. Skyjacking risks.
14. Injury caused by natural perils like earthquake, volcanic eruption, tidal wave, floods or lightning etc.
15. Injury resulted from radio-active emission.
16. Grace period of 31 days provided. No worry for due dates.
17. Renewal bonus of 5 % on the original Accidental Death And Dismemberment sum assured (maximum RM 300,000) for 8 years.
18. No medical examination is required when applying.
19. No territorial limitation (except war zones).
20. World wide claim services.

However, some of the 20 benefits above may not be found in certain personal accident plans. For example, the 17th benefit (renewal bonus) can't be found in Easy Cover PA.

WHAT DOES FIRE INSURANCE ACTUALLY COVER?

I find that some people always think that fire insurance only pays us for loss or damage to the building caused by fire. In fact, the coverage of fire insurance is very much wider.

Besides fire, fire insurance also pays us for loss or damage to the building caused by

1. explosion
2. theft
3. malicious damage
4. strike & riot
5. aircraft damage
6. impact damage
7. bursting of pipes
8. floods
9. other perils.
   

The building here includes fixtures, fittings, interior decorations, walls, gates and fences.

Then, is fire insurance very expensive? Fire insurance offered by AIA Berhad is called Home Plus. To me, the premium of the plan is reasonable. If a building (house) is worth RM 100,000, the annual premium is RM 116 (0.116 % of RM 100,000) or RM 119 (0.119 % of RM 100,000) depending on the type of the building.

OCCUPATION CLASSES.

A brief description of the occupation classes is as follows:

• Class 1 - White collar workers in non-hazardous industry and confined within the office premises.
• Class 2 - Workers overseeing or superintending, engineer, supervisor of non-manual work with semi-hazardous industry.
• Class 3 - Skilled or semi-skilled workers using light machinery.
• Class 4 - Industrial workers using machinery or unskilled workers.

The classification of the occupation classes above is set by AIA Berhad. The occupation classes for other insurance companies may be different from AIA Berhad.

A LIST OF 36 CRITICAL ILLNESSES.

Generally, the 36 critical illnesses covered are:

1. Stroke
2. Cancer
3. Heart Attack
4. Coronary Artery Disease Requiring Surgery
5. Other Serious Coronary Artery Disease
6. Angioplasty Or Other Invasive Treatments For Coronary Artery Disease
7. Heart Valve Replacement
8. Fulminant Viral Hepatitis
9. Chronic Liver Disease
10. Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
11. Chronic Lung Disease
12. Kidney Failure
13. Surgery To Aorta
14. Aplastic Anaemia
15. Major Organ Transplant
16. Blindness
17. Loss Of Hearing / Deafness
18. Loss Of Speech
19. Coma
20. Major Burns
21. Multiple Sclerosis
22. Paralysis / Paraplegia
23. Muscular Dystrophy
24. Alzheimer's Disease / Irreversible Organic Degenerative Brain Disorders
25. Motor Neurone Disease
26. Parkinson's Disease
27. Terminal Illness
28. Encephalitis
29. Benign Brain Tumor
30. Major Head Trauma
31. Bacterial Meningitis
32. Poliomyelitis
33. Apallic Syndrome
34. Loss Of Independent Existence
35. Aids Due To Blood Transfusion
36. Cardiomyopathy

• For critical illness no. 6, only 10 % of the sum assured, subject to a maximum of RM 25,000 shall be payable (limited to only 1 payment). The remaining balance of the sum assured will remain in force.
• Critical illnesses no. 24, 26 and 34 are covered up to the age of 65 of an insured.
• The waiting period for critical illnesses no. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 29 and 36 is 60 days. For the other 27 critical illnesses, the waiting period is 30 days. For a male or female cancer, the waiting period is 120 days.