YOU ARE STILL INSURED EVEN YOU DON'T BUY ANY INSURANCE PLAN.

Does the sentence above sound weird?

When a person doesn't buy insurance like medical card and personal accident, he is still insured. Why? It is because he is the insurance company. He pays his medical bills himself.

WHY SHOULD EVERY CONSUMER BUY MEDICAL CARD?

We can be hospitalized due to a critical illness and an accident. An accident can happen any time to anyone. As we all know, a private hospital is a very realistic organization. If we don't have enough cash, the doctors there will not save our life.

We can go to a government hospital. The medical bill there is very economical. However, we need to wait for a long time before we get a treatment. When we are injured seriously, do we have the time and patience to wait? If the answer is no, every consumer should have at least one medical card.

Of course, a medical card doesn't guarantee us an admission to all hospitals without a deposit in Malaysia like what I have explained previously in my post titled WILL A HOSPITAL ACCEPT OUR MEDICAL CARD AS A GUARANTEE OF ADMISSION TO THE HOSPITAL WITHOUT A DEPOSIT? (March 17, 2009). But, it at least helps us to admit to all of the panel hospitals of an insurance company without a deposit.

WILL A HOSPITAL ACCEPT OUR MEDICAL CARD AS A GUARANTEE OF ADMISSION TO THE HOSPITAL WITHOUT A DEPOSIT?

A medical card is not a credit card and therefore will not be accepted by some of the hospitals in Malaysia. The medical card is to help panel hospitals to recognize us as policyholders of an insurance company.

Sometimes we have to pay a deposit and our medical bills ourselves first even we are admitted to a panel hospital. Why? To know the reasons, please read my post titled WHAT ARE THE REASONS A POLICYHOLDER CAN'T MAKE A CLAIM FROM AN INSURANCE COMPANY? (March 25, 2009).

IS A MEDICAL CARD THE ONLY CARD WE NEED?

We can be admitted to a hospital due to a serious road accident besides a critical illness.

In the insurance market, there is no one medical card that guarantees policyholders an admission to all hospitals in Malaysia without a deposit. Hospital A is a panel hospital for insurance company X but it may not be a panel hospital for another insurance company Y. In other words, there is no one insurance company which has all the hospitals in Malaysia as its panel hospitals.

So, what are the possible solutions to encounter this situation?

We can buy more than one medical card from different insurance companies like AIA Berhad, ING Insurance Berhad, Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad and so on. All insurance companies have their own list of panel hospitals.

Besides that, we should bring alone several credit cards with a high card limit. Why? If all of our medical cards are not accepted by a hospital, we can still use our credit cards to settle our medical bills. After discharging from the hospital, we can claim our money from the insurance companies.

If we don't have medical card and credit card, what we can do is bring along a lot of cash. I personally think that this way is not a good solution as it is no longer safe in certain places in Malaysia if the world economy doesn't recover fast.

HEALTHCARE ISSUES IN MALAYSIA.

The following articles are about the healthcare cost and problems that significantly affect everyone of us in Malaysia:

• Rising pressure of healthcare cost
• Getting a lifeline with definitive health policy
• Generic drugs vs branded ones
• Room for more hospitals
• Providing patients quality service
• Private hospitals move towards specialised disciplines to meet demand
• Medical insurance still affordable in Malaysia
• Work together to ea$e the pain

Source: The Star Online, Business, March 14, 2009

WHICH HOSPITAL SHOULD WE GO IF WE HAVE MEDICAL CARD?

If we don't want to pay our medical bills ourselves and the situation is not urgent, we should go to the nearest panel hospital. If the situation is very urgent, we must go to the nearest hospital and claim our medical bills from insurance companies later.

TIPS FOR THE BEST MEDICAL EXAM RESULTS.

Okay, we are applying for medical card and we have been told that the insurance company requires a medical exam (usually paid by the insurance company). The exam typically consists of blood and urine samples, blood pressure readings, height and weight measurement and a medical questionnaire. Information from the medical exam will be used by the insurance company to help determine our health class. The health class the insurance company assigns us will determine our premium rates. So, it is very important that we get the best medical results.

The following tips are to help us attain the most favorable and accurate exam results:

• If we can, it's best to fast for a period of at least eight hours prior to the exam. This step will result in more accurate blood test results. Early morning appointments may be appropriate.
• If we must eat prior to the exam, no heavy meals and little or no caffeine on the morning of the exam. Decaffeinated coffee and a light breakfast would be best.
• Stay off salt for 3-4 days prior to exam. This step may have a beneficial effect on our blood pressure.
• No alcohol for 24 hours prior to the exam as alcohol tends to elevate blood pressure for 12 -24 hours.
• Get a good night's rest before the examination.
• If we smoke, don't smoke within 30 minutes of the exam. Smoking tends to constrict artery walls and elevate blood pressure.
• If we have an acute illness (i.e. the 'flu'), we should consider rescheduling the exam as some acute illnesses affect the urine and blood tests.
• (For female only) We should tell the examiner if we have our menses as our urine will be affected and a notation can be put on the lab slip.

Source: Modified from http://discussion.lifeinsure.com/

WHAT IS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDICAL CARD AND 36 CRITICAL ILLNESSES?

Medical card is a plan that covers the cost of our medical treatment in a hospital. If a policyholder stays in a hospital and his medical bill is RM 10,000, the insurance company will pay the money to the hospital, not him. In other words, he gets nothing in the end. If he pays the medical bill first, he can make a claim later from the insurance company. In this case, he still gains nothing in the end.

A 36 critical illnesses plan is a policy which provides a financial support to a policyholder who is diagnosed with any one of the 36 critical illnesses. To know the full list of the 36 critical illnesses, please read my post titled A LIST OF 36 CRITICAL ILLNESSES. (January 6, 2009). If he has already bought a 36 critical illnesses plan with sum assured of RM 100,000, this amount of money will be payable to him once he is diagnosed with any one of the 36 critical illnesses. With this amount of money, he can concentrate on getting well. In fact, once he gets RM 100,000, he can spend it in whatever ways he wants including buying the latest model of Honda City.

HOW CAN WE USE OUR MEDICAL CARD WITH CARE?

I have explained the importance of using our medical card with care in my previous post titled WHY MUST WE USE OUR MEDICAL CARD WITH CARE? (February 4, 2009). In order to make sure that there is enough limit or fund in our medical card when we need it the most at older ages, we must use it rationally.

What we can do is we just use it when we really have to use it. We should never stay in a hospital just because of a minor illness or injury. Some of us may think that we have already paid the premium and there is no reason why we must not use it whenever we want. In fact, there is a very strong reason why we must use it with care. When we buy a medical card, we pay the premium and are entitled to a lifetime limit of RM 200,000, for example. As long as we are still paying the premium, the RM 200,000 is still ours. So, when insurance companies pay our medical bills, they actually use our money or lifetime limit.

Besides that, we can achieve the objective by bargaining with doctors about our medical bills. How? When we are hospitalized, we tell the doctors that we have no medical card and ask them about the cost of a treatment. After that, we, as rational consumers with good bargaining skill, should use this skill in negotiating with the doctors about our medical bills. They will usually give us a discount if they know that we have no medical card. As a result, we can save our money. After the treatment, we pay our medical bills first and make claims from insurance companies later. Of course, if we are hospitalized due to a very serious injury or a critical illness, we must not bargain with the doctors. In this case, our life is more important.

WHY IS MEDICAL CARD A MUST FOR WOMEN?

According to a doctor from Pusat Rawatan Islam Sdn. Bhd., nearly 98 % of all women have fibroids either small or large. The cost of the operation in one of the hospitals in Seremban was around RM 12,000 in the year of 2007. The cost now will be much higher than the cost in the year of 2007.

A female patient who has medical card doesn't need to be worried about the cost as this risk will be borne by insurance companies.

For details about fibroids, please click the following links:

• http://www.hmetro.com.my/Monday/SakitPuan/20081013094154
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uterine_fibroids
• http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/fibroidtumors/a/fibroidtumors.htm
• http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca/centres/pelvic_health/fibroids/index.html
• http://www.womenshealthlondon.org.uk/leaflets/fibroids/fibroids.html

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.

IS IT ALRIGHT THAT WE BUY INSURANCE ONLY AFTER WE GET MARRIED?

Last year, one of my friends told me that we should buy insurance only after marriage because family plans were better than individual plans.

I think it is wrong to say so as we all don't have the ability to predict when a critical illness or an accident will strike. In addition, no research says that humans will bear a higher risk after marriage. We only bear a heavier responsibility after marriage. Any lucky and unfortunate events can happen to us any time.

Is a family plan really better than an individual plan? It all depends on the size of a family.

For personal accident offered by AIA Berhad, a family plan is generally better than an individual plan.

But for medical card offered by AIA Berhad, a family plan is not necessarily better than an individual plan. For details, please click Medical Card (AIA Berhad).

WHY MUST WE USE OUR MEDICAL CARD WITH CARE?

We must use our medical card with care because we may not be able to buy another new medical card from the same insurance company or other insurance companies in the future.

When we are old, we need the medical card the most. However, our medical card may not be enough to cover our medical bills as we keep making unnecessary claims when we are young. We may say that we can buy another new medical card. We can only do so if we are still healthy. Although we are still healthy, some insurance companies may not want to cover us because we make too many claims in the past.

Some insurance companies promise us that our medical card is renewable every year but they never promise us that we can buy another new medical card any time. If some insurance companies want to cover us, they will charge a higher premium or impose more exclusions or both.

In addition, if we use our medical card with care, the premium rates of medical card will probably remain unchanged in the future. In other words, our next generation will probably not pay more for the same medical card we have now.

WHAT IS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDICAL CARD AND PERSONAL ACCIDENT?

Before we can understand the main difference between medical card and personal accident, we must know the meaning of in-patients and out-patients and how to differentiate them.

An insured is usually considered as an in-patient only if he physically stays in a hospital for minimum six continuous hours upon the recommendation of a physician. He must be a registered resident bed patient being charged for using the room and board facilities of the hospital. Patients who don't fulfil the requirement are considered as out-patients. In other words, out-patients are receiving medical are or treatment without being hospitalized.

Generally, medical card is used by in-patients whereas personal accident is used by out-patients. In other words, we usually use medical card when we have to stay in a hospital for treatment due to serious illnesses and serious accidents. We usually use personal accident if we don't have to stay in a hospital and we receiving treatment in a clinic.

IS IT ALRIGHT IF AN INSURANCE AGENT FILLS OUR APPLICATION FORMS WITHOUT OUR PRESENCE?

When Financial Planning Seminar was over, I met a friend of mine in Pandan Jaya, KL. He bought a medical card from me. The annual limit and overall lifetime limit are RM 90,000 and RM 300,000 respectively. The annual premium is RM 445.50. He signed immediately after our dinner.

Unless my clients want, I will never fill the application forms in front of them not because I want to do hide something but because I want to save my time and their time. In fact, it is alright if an insurance agent fills the application forms without our presence as our application forms will be photostatted and attached to our policy contract. After we get our policy contract, we must make sure the photostat of application forms are correctly filled by the agent. If there is a mistake, we can ask the agent to correct it. If we find that the policy contract is not relevant or doesn't have the benefits the agent has mentioned earlier, we still have 15 days from the date we receive our policy contract to cancel it and get back our money after deducting all the expenses incurred by the insurance company like what I have mentioned previously in my post titled WHAT IS A 'COOLING OFF PERIOD' OR 'FREE-LOOK PERIOD'? (January 6, 2009).

WHAT IS A WAITING PERIOD?

For some of the insurance products offered by AIA Berhad and other insurance companies, there is a waiting period. A waiting period is a duration within which certain illnesses are not covered. In other words, an insured is fully protected only after the waiting period. It is important for the insurance companies to prevent misrepresentation and fraud by some of the consumers when applying for insurance plans like medical card and 36 critical illnesses.

For medical card called ExcelCare Plus or ECP from AIA Berhad, waiting period can be divided into three:

1. Hospitalization or surgery due to illnesses or out-patient treatment for kidney dialysis within the first 30 days after the issuance or reinstatement of ECP contract.
2. Out-patient treatment for cancer within the first 60 days after the issuance or reinstatement of ECP contract.
3. Treatment or surgery for tonsils, adenoids, hernia or a disease peculiar to the female generative organs within the first 120 days after the issuance or reinstatement of ECP contract.

In sum, an insured is fully protected by his medical card only after 120 days after the issuance or reinstatement of ECP contract. All the three cases above will only be covered after 30 days, 60 days and 120 days respectively.

36 critical illnesses can be covered by many types of insurance plans from AIA Berhad. Waiting period for 27 critical illnesses is 30 days. For the other 9 critical illnesses, the waiting period is 60 days. For details, please read my post titled A LIST OF 36 CRITICAL ILLNESSES. (January 6, 2009).