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.

WHEN DO WE USUALLY GET OUR POLICY AFTER WE HAVE PAID PREMIUM?

Some of my clients think that they will get their policy on the same day after I receive their premium.

In fact, generally, we can get our policy only after around two weeks. It can be earlier or later. We must understand that only healthy people can buy insurance easily. In other words, not all people can buy insurance especially when they are not healthy. That's why all insurance companies need some time to make sure that all the applicants are healthy. If they are not healthy, insurance companies may require them to provide a medical report to determine whether they are eligible to buy an insurance plan. Underwriters are the ones who assess all the information provided and approve our application. They may need to assess more than several hundred new and old cases a day. After approval, they still need some time to issue our policy.

Actually, we don't have to be worried if we get our policy only after one or two months after the application date. If we submit our application forms on February 26, 2009 and the issue date is March 2, 2009, we are still insured and protected by an insurance company starting from March 2, 2009 although we receive our policy in May 1, 2009, for example.

To know when our protection starts, please read my post titled WHEN DOES OUR COVER START? (February 16, 2009).

WHAT IS THE CONSEQUENCE IF WE ARE UNDERINSURED?

When we are underinsured, we are still insured but not protected fully. As a result, our family may still suffer from financial problems.

When we, as the main breadwinners in our family, can't work any more due to a disability or death, the insurance proceeds are the only source of money we have besides our savings in banks and other investments like shares and unit trusts. If we are underinsured, we may need to use our savings to continue living comfortably. We can sell our shares and unit trusts when we need money. However, as we all know, the values of our investments are heavily influenced by the performance of the current market. When the market is bearish, we are not willing to sell them because we may lose a lot of money. Consequently, our wealth accumulation process will be significantly affected.

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.

WHAT IS THE CONSEQUENCE IF A VEHICLE IS UNDERINSURED?

A vehicle is underinsured when its sum insured is much lower than its market value. When this happens, a policyholder is responsible to bear a certain portion of a loss of his car. For details, please click here.

IS A RECEIPT WRITTEN BY AN INSURANCE AGENT RELIABLE?

In general, receipts written by insurance agents are unofficial and invalid. In addition, they have no right to write a receipt. Only the receipts printed by insurance companies are official and valid.

That is why insurance agents can't give us official receipts immediately after they have received premium from us. If they can do so, we must be careful and know that the receipts are not valid. If they get our premium and never pay it to insurance companies, insurance companies can't help us much as the receipts are not official.