Health Insurance for Beginners | Buy Health Insurance in Singapore

Health Insurance | Insurance

Joined workforce? Buy health insurance as a first move!

Now, you are armed with a degree, are all set to enter the workforce, but are you well-equipped to handle any emergency or you are still dependent on your parents?

You need to shield your health along with wealth. Your parents have already spent a fortune on your education and it won’t be appropriate to burden them in case any medical emergency strikes.  We understand that till now your parents have handled stuff like insurance on their own and you are new to the world of insurance.

Why do I need Insurance ?

Before stepping into this arena, you must seek professional guidance to understand it in a better light. For being in Singapore, where medical & health care facilities are world-class, your question would be: Government covers me with Medishield, why do I need to have insurance on top of it? You need to understand that Medishield is basic cover provided by the Government, which doesn’t cover if want to get treated at Cat A hospital, in case ailment demands it. Hence, there is a need to cover yourself comprehensively with some of the Insurance Plans provided by Health Insurers.

For which it is advisable to understand various policies offered by insurers. Taking the help of a financial advisor is advisable as he knows most to the things and can answer all your questions. There is no obligation to buy from him, but he is a professional help at hand.

After a good amount of understanding, if you have zeroed in on the policy, you need to compare it with policies available in the market on Insurer aggregators’ site for policy features and premiums. Maybe the advisor you consulted represents one or two companies, hence tried to sell plans from those companies only. Don’t fall into that trap only to regret later. You need to compare plans across insurance companies to have a better and clear picture of the policy.  It will help in decision making.

Research & Choose

Now the real action begins, once you have decided on which policy to for? You are still apprehensive whether it will serve the purpose? Is the insurer’s track-record good in handling such policies? Is his claim settlement process smooth?

Now, the time is for delving deeper: What are the actual coverages, what are the exclusions, what riders to go for, what are deductibles and whether it has the concept of co-pay*?

Final & most important is that you need to make the future projection of your income. It should not happen that you take a very loaded policy which you are unable to honour. You should understand its tax-implications and also know that with age, your premiums will rise and will your income be enough to support a rise in premiums.

Yes, you need to check all this before signing on the dotted line.

*Co-pay: Co-payment is very common in health insurance policies, which means that you will need to pay a percentage of the bill you’re trying to claim. So, if your policy requires 10% co-payment, you’ll have to pay your own S$1,000 if you claim a S$10000 bill.

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