March 24, 2012

UPDATED: Comparison of Medical Cards from Leading Life Insurance Companies

Updates (as of 10/12/2012): Increased overall lifetime limit of Great Eastern Smart Medic.

This article intends to compare some of the main features of the standalone and investment-linked medical cards (i.e. medical riders that is attached to an investment-linked life insurance) offered by some of the leading life insurance companies in Malaysia, such as ING, Prudential, AIA, Great Eastern, Allianz, and AXA-Affin Life. For the purpose of this article, we will assume that a non-smoking male with the next birthday of 30 years old wants to purchase a medical cards with a room & board rate of RM 200 per night.

Here's what he will get from the life insurance companies mentioned above:
* Annual & lifetime limit for Allianz Powerlink MediCover was revised to 100,000 & 1,000,000 respectively.
* The premium for Allianz Powerlink MediCover 200 in the comparison table is based on previous schedule of benefits listed here. Will update once i have the updated info. Thanks chew_ronnie for providing info regarding the revised premium for 30 yo male.
NOTE: To open Google Docs in a separate tab, please click here.

From the comparison table above, the boxes highlighted in Yellow are the advantages of the features of each medical card if compared to the same feature of competitor medical cards.

As you can see, every medical card has similar features with differentiating amount of coverage. It is important to note that there is no such thing as the "best" medical card in the market, but rather the "most suitable" medical card for you. When i mean the "most suitable" medical card, i mean that the coverage offered is within your comfortable zone and within your budget.

For me, I tend to focus on features like the number of days covered for room & board and ICU, kidney dialysis and cancer treatment coverage, high annual limit, and as well as the co-insurance and annual premium paid. The reason why i exclude high lifetime limit as a selection criteria is because i believe that if you have any terminal disease such as cancer, it is quite unlikely that you will survive for a long period to fully utilize all the lifetime limit. For example, if you spend RM100k to cure your cancer for the first time and after a few years, the cancer relapse and you spend another RM100k to treat the relapse. It is quite unlikely that you will survive a few rounds of cancer relapse to fully utilize your RM 1 million lifetime limit. That's why i always think that RM 1 million lifetime limit is more of a marketing gimmick to me!

In my opinion, the best value medical card is Allianz MediCover Plan 200 since it offers reasonably high coverage at the lowest premium. However, please note lower premium now doesnt mean that the premium will not rise. People tend to abuse their medical cards to treat minor sickness/diseases, and such claim cases will increase the premium in the future.

I think Great Eastern Smart Medic 200 medical card is the most complete and balanced for me. It offers one of the higher coverage package in terms of annual limit, treatment days for pre and post hospitalization, and cancer/kidney dialysis treatment at a very reasonable premium (second lowest premium). Another plus point for GE Smart Medic 200 medical card is its no claims bonus in increment of annual limit every 3 years. This will come in handy in the later years since medical inflation is very much higher (probably around 15%) as compared to the national inflation rate. The biggest drawback of Great Eastern Smart Medic 200 medical card is the 10% co-insurance especially for outpatient cancer & kidney dialysis treatments which might burn a hole in the pocket for cancer & kidney dialysis patients.

For most medical cards, you will see clauses such as "claims as per reasonable charges", which is sort of vague to me. For me, all charges charged to me is reasonable as long as the insurance company pays for it, but from the insurance company standpoint, my view might not be valid. If the reasonable charges as determined by insurance companies are much lower than the charges incurred, you will have to fork out extra! Therefore, you need to be aware of such clauses in the fine print and be comfortable with it before signing up the medical plan.

To get the details about each medical card, please follow the links below:
Disclaimer: The information published is for your reference only. Please refer to your insurance agent for the most up to date information.

121 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, i can share with you the smartmedic plan from GE for u to make comparison!

Jutamind said...

Hi, thanks for the offer. you may drop the soft copy to my email address jutamind@gmail.com

PS: I understand that GE has revised their medical plans coverage as of early this year. If you can provide me with the latest soft copy brochure, that will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

jutamind,
I like your post! your post solve my headache for choosing the best medical plan. but I heard Prudential got rebate anually for Pruhealth 200 as much as RM300. Is this true?

Jutamind said...

Thank you for enjoying my post. I, as a consumer, like to share what i find out with all of you.

Yes, I'm aware that Prudential has a feature called NCB (no claims bonus) for their medical card as well, but i do not have the details.

As far as i'm aware of, I think Prudential's NCB gives you rebates if you dont claim medical expenses, as compared to Great Eastern NCB feature of extending your annual limit. Having larger annual limit will be extremely useful when you age as the medical expenses will rinse significantly by then.

Jerry Tan said...

Hi Jutamind,

Nice post! However, the Allianz Powerlink policy I received from Allianz yesterday showed an annual limit of RM 100,000 and RM 1 miilion lifetime limit.
You might want to check whether your figures are correct there. Just sharing..

Jerry Tan said...

Sorry I forgot to mention.
Mine is Plan 200

Jutamind said...

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to check on this and updates accordingly.

If you do get the Powerlink brochure, do send it to jutamind@gmail.com

thanks.

Anandhan said...

Pru Health's premium is actually much lower than RM1032,the actual insurance charges can only be seen in the quotation.
U should also check out AXA Affin General Insurance's SmartCare Optimum Medical Plan.
GE's medical plan does not cover PET Scan.

Jutamind said...

Hi Anandhan,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not an insurance agent. The info i get is from their web site/brochures. So if the info provided there is wrong/differs from the quotation, then i guess they should fix their web site/brochures. But, anyway, it's good to know.

As for AXA SCO medical plan, yes it's a good medical card. I'm limiting this article to compare the medical cards from life insurance company only since it's almost impossible to find out all info for all insurance companies in Malaysia. The article is meant to give the consumers a head start for finding out info on medical cards, and by no means conclusive.

Raph said...

hi,

Do you made this comparison? why AIA one, u dont put the latest one?

Jutamind said...

Hi Raph,

I'm not an agent, so i might not get the latest details for all the insurance companies.

If you are an AIA agent and dont mind sharing the info, please do drop me the schedule of benefits and premium table to jutamind@gmail.com and i will do analysis from there.

if you have great product at competitive prices, why not share it out? hey, i might even put up your name if you are a great AIA agent that provides me with latest info.

Jerry said...

Just my 2 cents worth guys, when you want to choose an insurance company, go for the ones which is growing and not companies which have been here for ages.

GE and Prudential have been long in Malaysia and they have many matured policies meaning they are paying out a lot of matured policies.

Cost of insurance can only be low when company's management expenses and claims are in check. That is why I go for allianz as i believe this giant insurance company will not let me down. Not for at least 15 years.

Just sharing my honest opinion

Jutamind said...

I guess for the premium companies, you wont get cheaper cost of insurance since the brand sells by itself.

Allianz is a new comer in the life insurance arena. that's why it has to price itself lower to get market share. but believe me, once the brand name is there, the cost of insurance will be revised up.

Ken said...

For manulife, there are lifetime limit for the outpatient treatment.

Jutamind said...

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the feedback.

For the purpose of this article, I'm referring to the basic medical card and omit out all optional riders.

As far as i know, outpatient treatment of room & board 200 of ManuCare100 comes in additional package called OB40k which comes with 20k/40k of annual/lifetime limit respectively.

On the other hand, emergency accidental outpatient treatment comes with the basic medical card and has a limit of 2000.

Ken said...

The annual limits for Manulife is high compared to other company. But if I'm customer of Manulife, I will definitely purchase another medical card from other company because there are limits on outpatient kidney and cancer treatment. If one person diagnoses with kidney failure, he/she has to do treatment for his/her rest of the life, which I think RM40k/lifetime is not enough. 1 Month already cost about RM 2k in Malaysia. and for Cancer outpatient, I believe most of you know it's cost. RM 40 definitely not enough.

Jutamind said...

Yes Ken, I agree with you that the biggest drawback for ManuCare100 is the optional feature of outpatient treatment for cancer/kidney etc and its limited annual/lifetime limit.

Perhaps you can have a look at GE and Allianz which i think still gives a bang for a dollar you pay.

PS: I'm not an agent so my recommendation is purely my own opinion.

ken said...

I got the brochure for AIA.
ExcelCare Plus & MediCover Plus

R&B : RM 200
Hospital Daily R&B : 120 Days
ICU : 120 Days
Home Nursing Care (per confinement) (180 days life time limit) : RM 4000

Co-Insurance free per policy year: RM25,000

Lifetime Limit for outpatient
Kidney Dialysis treatment : RM 110,000
Cancer treatment: RM 165,000

Annual medical card limit: RM 115,000
Lifetime Limit: No limit

Insurance cost at 31 years old: RM588

Jutamind said...

Hi Ken,

Yes, the info you get for AIA ECP and MCP is correct. Please refer to my AIA medical card article here: http://senseofmoney.blogspot.com/2009/09/aia-excelcare-plus-ecp-and-medicare.html

You may refer to the section ECP and MCP Schedule of Benefits for the details on coverage and section ECP and MCP Premium Table for Male for the premium charged.

Albert said...

Jutamind,

Thank you for sharing.

Albert

Anonymous said...

just received allianz statement. the unit purchase at higher price and later when minus the cost of the insurance, all the rider unit price bought at lower price. i just wonder why is is like that and whether it is benefiting the policy holder

another issue , prudential clearly say that their medical card is guarantee renewal in their policy. look for the same clause in allianz powerlink, it is written in different way. is it meaning is is not guarantee renewal

Anonymous said...

i call my agent to find out about the powerlink 200 plan, seems the ,medicalcard yearly 100k and lifetime 1 million is applicable only for new policy. old policy no. if my agent is wrong pls advice

Jutamind said...

I'm not sure about the buying of units at higher price and then after deducting cost of insurance, the units appear to be purchased at lower price. Please check with your agent for better explanation. I need to have a look at the statement before i can comment on this.

As for guaranteed renewal thing, as far as i know most of the major life insurance companies provide guaranteed renewal. Of course please read the exact policy wordings in details and double confirm with your agent.

For the schedule of benefits listed in the blog article, it applies to the latest policies only, which means that if you buy a new investment linked policy today, you will enjoy the benefits listed in the article. For those with older policies, sometimes the insurance companies provide auto upgrade. Do check with your agent asap!. Personally, i had such case like yours, meaning that there was a new medical plan for my insurance and there was an upgrade plan/promotion but my agent never told me about this. By the time i want to upgrade my medical plan, the agent told me my plan is expired and can never be upgraded again, unless i buy new policy and new medical plan.

Albert said...

Hi,

Thank you for making the comparison. It is really helpful. Just to check, the premium on the table is based on annual or monthly?

Jutamind said...

Thanks for finding my article helpful. The premium listed in the table is for per annum.

Please do let me know if the medical card info in the table is outdated, so that i can update them for sharing.

Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

just to share my experience with Allianz, I have a medical policy bought in 2006 and its lifetime limit is only 3 times its annual limit (annual limit is 50,000 and lifetime is 150,000). In 2009, I received an endorsement from Allianz notifying me that my medical lifetime limit has been upgraded from 150,000 to 500,000 WITHOUT additional premium or cost! Wow, this really a good practice and and thanks Allianz for this treat. My wife policy from Prudential was not that lucky. She received offer from Prudential that her annual limit will increase BUT the lifetime limit stays at 3 times annual limit. And to only increase her annual limit, she has to sign an acceptance letter cause the offer comes with an INCREASE in PREMIUM! Now she has changed her policy to Allianz:)

jutamind said...

Not having to pay extra premium for extra coverage now, doesn't mean that Allianz will not revised their future premium. It all depends on the claims rate for the particular insurer.

If the claims rate is higher than the projected rate, then it's very likely that most insurers will revise the premium in the future. The only difference is what's the quantum of the premium increase.

To keep on switching medical card to different insurer whenever there's a premium increase might not be a good solution, especially those that comes with investment-linked policies. We need to weigh the pros and cons of switching medical plans.

Anonymous said...

can compare on the AXA Affin insurance?

Jutamind said...

which medical card from AXA Affin? AXA Affin Life or General Insurance?

Please provide more details and i will try my best to get the info.

Anonymous said...

if i answer you correctly, is Medical Care Plus, really appreciate that.

Victor AY said...

Can you include TokioMarine MedicPlus health insurance to the spreadsheet ? Thanks

Jutamind said...

Tokio Marine Medic Plus is a slightly different product due to its deductible nature. I wouldn't buy Medic Plus as the primary medical card, but instead have it as a supplemental/top-up medical card.

That's why i didnt group Medic Plus into the comparison table.

Sanyorita said...

The auditor- Kindly put some remarks (heading/ subject/ title) stated the date of update in the sheet copy for our reference.

Sanyorita said...

Dear auditor- The readers would appreciate your lil effort by insert the Title, Subject & Date of Update (Revision) in the sheet copy for their reference. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Allianz Powerlink policy is guaranteed renewal. It is stated in the contract under Medicover heading 1. Period of Cover and Renewal.
Prudential agents have been going around telling people Powerlink has no guaranteed renewal benefit.
They're wrong. Only Allianz Care (a stand-alone medical insurance) does not have guaranteed renewal. Powerlink has a guaranteed renewal benefit, just like all other investment-linked insurance.

Jutamind said...

As far as i know, all of the medical rider attached to investment-linked policies are guaranteed renewal.

As for standalone medical cards, at least for those i've compared as listed in the table in the article are guaranteed renewal.

James Chieng Sau Dung said...

GE Great MediCare 2 (Stand alone medic card) is guarantee renewal?

Jutamind said...

I'm not an insurance agent, so i cant give you a confirmed answer. But, according to this URL (http://vital-money.com/great-medicare-2.htm), it is not guaranteed renewal.

Chin Teck Teoh said...

Hi ,thanks for the comparison on medical card .Agreed the most important benefits to choose a suitable card is on the annual limit and premuim . By the way, my son were admitted recently and the insurance company do not allow cliams for admin,billing and dispencer fees.Why is that? .I believe it's aslo part of the hospital fees.Please clary

Jutamind said...

It all depends on the fine prints of your medical card, even though i suspect these charges that you mentioned are grouped into so called admin charges (except charges for medical report) which is normally not claimable.

but these charges are normally minimal and you should be glad for yourself for having the foresight to buy medical card for your son.

For me, I would not mind forking out some money for those admin charges, if my medical card doesnt cover them. I would not expect 100% cash free medical claims going forward.
For me

Anonymous said...

I have email a complete quotation to you for your comparison with others ILIP medical plans

Anonymous said...

I have email a complete quotation to you for your comparison with others ILIP medical plans,please do inform me what's your opinion on this

Anonymous said...

any hidden drawback for GE smart medic?

Jutamind said...

For the details, you really need to read the fine print of the policy documents, which i dont have.

This article is just to be used as a guidance for the consumers.

Wi1s0n said...

Wonder if anyone aware the following points :

1. Which card offer more/better choices of hospital in their panel list. This could be the primary concern when you are in real life situation to decide which hospital of choice available.

2. If it required a minimum deposit (refundable or non-refundable) OR just need to present the medical card to cover the full bill OR to pay first and claim back later.

3. The grace period before the coverage is in effect. Some cards has a 60 days grace period for certain disease and 9 months for major disease. Better to be sure on this, otherwise you may not be covered even though started paying for the premium.

4. Clause of plan termination by the insurance company or it is a life policy, self renewed non-terminable by the insurance company.

5. Life of the plan coverage is important because it is the later years when you need the coverage the most.

Hope those who knows share more on the above points.

Jutamind said...

Hi Wi1s0n,

Thanks for the excellent comments. I will definitely take your comment into consideration to enhance this article or for my future articles.

Anonymous said...

By the way, why did u removed my post?
Something wrong with it?
I was just sharing the latest plan by prudential with u all
Or is it because of something else involved?
Please let me know bro

Anonymous said...

Are an agent? If i ever offended u in any way i am sorry because ken did post AIA plan and u never did removed his post, but i was

Jutamind said...

Hi,

I'm not an agent but i do not like my blog articles being spammed with all your info.

For those insurance agents out there, if you do have good/updated info on insurance products to share with all consumers, i welcome you to send them to my email address(jutamind at gmail.com), but please refrain from spamming the blog articles.

I do reserve the rights to put my personal comments and thoughts on your products for discussion purpose.

I hope everyone can respect this. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry then

Anonymous said...

May I know the Manulife medical card is grantee renewable? And the age limit is 100?
Thank you
Kumar

Jutamind said...

Age limit is 100 for sure, but i dont see anything mentioned about guaranteed renewable in their document. So i would assume it is non guaranteed renewable.

Please double confirm with Manulife agent for certainty.

Anonymous said...

Hi jutamind, can u put tokio marine iprotect with healthcare supreme (their medical card) in your comparison table?

Jutamind said...

Hi,

Are you their agent? If yes, please send the details to me, jutamind at gmail.com

I'm aware of this product but somehow cant find any info at all. So, if you have any info to share with all consumers, please do let me know.

Isaac said...

Let me say something
1) For agents from various insurance company, please do not spam/bombard this fella blog with your company products. You may email his your products brochure/product sheet/informations in order for him to make comparison. It's an apple to apple comparison and if your company product is so competitive, what's the harm of sending him the info.
2) I believe jutamind is not an insurance agent and he may get mistake when doing the comparison, for the insurance agent of that particular company where he has made mistake, you may correct him and shed some light on him.
3)Everyone,please appreciate the effort of this fella to do a comparison chart for other consumers to choose a insurance product that suit them. If you don't say thanks, at least pay some respect not to spam his blog.
4)We create a discussion platform here to discuss about medical card offered by insurance company in malaysia. Please refrain yourself from create argument or offend others.

Lastly, by chance I've read this fella jutamind blog via a search in the internet, i'm not associate in any form with this fella jutamind. I just make a fair statement. Have a nice day everyone.

Jutamind said...

Thanks Issac for the sensible comments.

Yes, I'm not an agent. So, my info might not the most correct or updated. Just take it as a reference and counter check with your agent.

When i first bought my insurance i know nuts about insurance. So over the years i take the initiative to learn more about insurance products, and hence the articles about insurance.

The idea of these articles is for info sharing. So for those agents who are reading this article and found outdated/wrong info, do send me the correct/updated info.

yis said...

Really thanks for our sharing! For me If want to buy any insurance, I also will consider the company' financial position in market.Even the company can provide very good package but sometime economic downturn, insurance company cant guarantee& cover all the "claims".It will make trouble to life assurer to fight for their claim!
Am i wrong?Please advise,thks.

Jutamind said...

Hi yis,

Of course the financial standing of the insurance companies is one of the consideration factor. However, from historical point of view, I've never heard of any insurance companies in Malaysia go bankrap. Worse case is the insurance company is sold to another richer 3rd party.

If the claims ratio is too high, the insurance companies can always increase the premium at the cost of the consumers.

Man Surani said...

how about takaful options?

Jutamind said...

Hi el the man,

Sorry, I do not have much info for takaful insurance. it could be one of the topics that i could research into in the future.

Anonymous said...

could you compare with Tokio Marine Life insurance company? from what i see it seems to be a good medical card.hope for your comparison n advice

Jutamind said...

Hi,

I will write another article on TM Life medical later on whenever i can find some free time.

RPQ said...

Hi all,


I'm an insurance agent myself but I'm not gonna talk bout any product.
I'm only giving some advise for those looking to buy a policy..

Please consider things below in choosing an insurance/takaful policy:

1. Get a link-insurance/takaful policy that have
i) life protection (life + critical illness + accident)
ii) Medical Card
iii) Saving/investment

2. A link-investment is a guaranteed renewal especially for medical card till age 70/80/100. Meaning if you are paying RM200/mth, the premium remains the same till 70/80/100 unless you upgrade the policy. If a rider (medical card only) you wont get any cash money back and the premium will increase over the years or each coming years when you use it.

3. Get a medical card that offers annual limit waiver. In 10-20 years medical bills will increase tremendously, if you have a RM750k lifetime with no annual limit, then you may use any amount at any time without limit now or then.

4. All policy and medical card comes with a grace period. Find a policy with the shortest grace period. Certain sickness/illness fall under "specific illness" even though the medical card is effective, but if admitted because of those "specific illness" you may have to pay the hospital bill yourself without the possibility of getting re-reimbursable/claim.

5. Most medical card comes with a co-insurance/takaful as low as 10% as (BNM policy). Most medical card does not cover admin charges, payable by policy holder, nevertheless the admin charges normally below RM50 @ 100.

6. Get a policy that offers Hospital Allowance at ANY hospital, private or government. You're buying a policy to get a treatment in a private hospital so there's no use if you only get allowance if admitted to Government hospital only. The allowance can cover back your 10% co-insurance/takaful and admin charges.

7. Ask for a quotation from your agent to see your projected cash saving/investment. You should get a policy that gets you return of 80-100% if not more in 30 years time. That's the amount of money you can withdraw for your own use, the others go to hospitals and next of keen.

8. Get a medical card that does not LIMIT the amount usage for cancer and dialysis treatment. If you pay a Medical Card worth of RM50k p.a you should be able to use all of the sum (subject to co-insurance and admin charges).

9. Please disclosed of all your medical history when signing/registering a policy. Insurance companies always have a way of finding out your medical history records sooner or later, you don't want you policy to be terminated if they find out or you'll end up paying the bills yourself.

10. Lastly get a policy from a well known insurance company and not a third party insurance company or a bancassurance policy for a piece of mind.


Hope the information given helps..for those who would like to know more, PM me at arepeque@gmail.com


Thank you...

Anonymous said...

There is hidden cost for most medical card when it come to situation where you were force to upgrade your room entitlement example fr 100 to 150 due to no room or room price increase in future. Everyone know that you have to pay the room price different of RM50 x number of days you stay but there is a 20% co-insurance cost on the medical bills because of this upgrade. Some insurance company have a max-cap of the 20% co-insurance and some no max-cap at all. If your medical bill is 20,000 then you have to pay 4,000 without max-cap. I know that Allianz have max-cap of 1,000 only. I think GE or Pru have no max-cap.

Anonymous said...

To whom it may concern

First of all, thank you for the time spent to actually make all these comparisons and I appreciate your effort on this.

I have not gone through the whole comments posted by others but I must highlight a note that was posted in your blog itself.

I am an insurance agent myself and I have to say that I noted a misleading point in your blog.

Your blog mentioned,
"I think Great Eastern Smart Medic 200 medical card is the most complete and balanced for me. It offers one of the higher coverage package in terms of annual limit, treatment days for pre and post hospitalization, and cancer/kidney dialysis treatment at a very reasonable premium (second lowest premium). Another plus point for GE Smart Medic 200 medical card is its no claims bonus in increment of annual limit every 3 years. This will come in handy in the later years since medical inflation is very much higher (probably around 15%) as compared to the national inflation rate. The biggest drawback of Great Eastern Smart Medic 200 medical card is the 10% co-insurance especially for outpatient cancer & kidney dialysis treatments which might burn a hole in the pocket for cancer & kidney dialysis patients"


With regards to the 10% co-insurance charges was added in recent years. This took place because some customers became ignorant that they have a lifetime limit capping where sometimes medical officers and practitioners overcharge their bills knowing that an insurance company is paying for their medical bills. When co-insurance was not added, customers will sign any form as the insurance companies are paying their medical bills and some ignores the fact that they might be paying for medicines and accessories that weren't even actually used. Thus, co-insurance is a small insurance charge that are added so that when the customers are required to take out some money out of their pocket, we will have to also identify, read the clauses and know what they are actually paying for. It is actually an awareness for them and in a way not blowing their lifetime limit capping.

Besides, yes it is a 10% co-insurance bill but it will not blow away anyone's pocket because it has a maximum limit of 500 ringgit. If the medical bill reaches up to RM 2000, then 10% co-insurance charges will be RM 200. And I know that is not going to be a big of a burden.

The misleading point here is, if the medical bill is for example, RM 20,000, Then I suppose the 10% co-insurance charges will be RM 2000. BUT, the customer is only required to pay RM 500 as that is the maximum they will take out from your pocket for any co-insurance that exceeds more that 500. SO IT IS ONLY MAXIMUM OF 500 RINGGIT. (Sorry for the caps :))


I hope I got the message right across. And again, forgive me if I had said anything wrong along the way but I just wanted to get some facts across.

For further enquiries, can drop in at kavithagovind.061084@gmail.com

Best regards!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jutamind,
I like your post! Here really save my time for google'ing the Medical card.

What surprise me is under HLA MedGLOBAL IV, Pre-existing illness are excluded.

Jutamind said...

@Kavitha Govind, correct me if i'm wrong. I was looking through Smart Medic brochure again. The 10% co-insurance with a limit of RM500, is applicable only to normal hospitalization. But for kidney and cancer treatment, the 10% co-insurance with no limit still applies.

I guess life insurance companies can choose to exclude pre-existing illnesses or charge a premium loading. If you buy medical cards from general insurance companies, they will definitely exclude pre-existing illnesses.

小明 said...

it's seems that prudential just can't buy only medical card only as you need to link it to either life or investment link products? this is what my agent told me.....

thanks

小明 said...

Hi,

for your advice, what the best bet for a stand alone medical card which
guarantee renewal and the price is affordable?

thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi, i heard GE had launch something great under their smart medic plan. can u get the details to share with us...tq

esther said...

Hi. Thx for all the info. Just starting to look around for a medical plan. Have been approached by amassurance recently concerning medi card and investment. Plan looks good. Would u like to comment? Thx

Anonymous said...

Anyone know which medical card should I take with a pre-existing illness (asthma). Most coverage excludes pre-existing illness. If I have to pay higher premium, which medical card will be the most reasonable?

Jutamind said...

@小明, for Prudential medical cards, you need to buy it together with another life policy.

As for the "best" medical card, as i always say it...there is no "best" medical card, only the most suitable medical card.

My personal opinion is medical cards from GE or Allianz have quite comprehensive coverage with reasonable premium. It's up to your requirements really!

@Anonymous, as someone mentioned there could be some updates with GE Smart Medic, for those GE agents out there, anyone want to share the info for everyone's benefits???

As for coverage for pre-existing illness, most of the life insurance companies do cover the existing illness with loaded premium (probably 60-100% loading).

@esther, i have no details of the amassurance medical card. maybe you want to share with me by sending it to my email jutamind at gmail.com?

Anonymous said...

hi,
i know that the premium of medical card will be increased over time based on age.

How about Critical Illness?
I have one rider attached to a Term Insurance to age 70 (AIA).
Does the premium will be increase over time or it is like (total premium of years)/(no of policy years)?

Thanks!

JEGO said...

if i have sleep apnea, do i need to pay any loading and how is this calculated?

jutamind said...

not sure on sleep apnea. any agent out there can feedback on this?

anyway, the easiest way is to ask the agent or submit the proposal for underwriting. If there's any loading, you will be notified of the loading amount.

blizice said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
blizice said...

Hi Jutamind,

I want to ask what is your opinion on the pre-hospitalization treatment days and post-hospitalization treatment days. Allianz give very competative premium for the coverage and medical benefit except for the period for pre and post hospitalization benefit. Do you think it is just sufficient or ?

Thanks

blizice said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
blizice said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Hi jutamind

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I am presently covered by my corporate medical insurance. In another 10 years, I'll be retiring but am concerned about getting coverage upon retirement (eg should I have preexisting illness by then). If I buy now, which medical insurance would be suitable for my situation? Thanks.

Jutamind said...

Hi blizice,

For me, i would focus on post hospitalization treatment days since after hospitalization, i'm sure you will have to go for further checkups/consultation/follow up treatments. Alliaz is providing 60s post hospitalization treatment days, which is supposedly the standard nowadays. Anything more is probably a welcome extra stuff, but of course with a price as well.


Hi Anonymous, you should always get your personal medical card, regardless whether your company gives you corporate medical card or not. If you have no pre-existing illness, then it will be easier to apply for medical card, but the premium wont be cheap at your age. At your age, it's probably better for you to get a standalone medical card instead.

Anonymous said...

Apakah manfaat yang disediakan di bawah PRUflexi med?1 Manfaat ini tidak akan mengurangkan Had Tahunan Menyeluruh.2 Tertakluk kepada Caj Munasabah dan Biasa Diamalkan. Nota: Deduktibel merupakan amaun tetap yang anda mesti dibayar dahulu daripada jumlah kos manfaat layak (tidak termasuk kos bilik & penginapan harian) untuk mana-mana satu hilang upaya dalam tempoh 90 hari. Bakinya akan dibayar oleh Prudential sehingga had tahunan. Untuk deduktibel sifar, jumlah kos manfaat layak yang ditanggung oleh pemegang polisi akan dilindungi sepenuhnya oleh Prudential.ManfaatAmaunElaun Bilik & Penginapan Hospital Harian1(120 hari setahun)Manfaat Hospital & Pembedahan2> Unit Rawatan Rapi / Unit Pergantungan Tinggi (60 hari setahun) > Pembedahan> Manfaat Dalam Hospital & Khidmat Berkaitan Seperti yang dikenakan. * Tertakluk kepada deduktibel sifar atau RM300 untuk mana-mana satu hilang upaya dalam tempoh 90 hari. Manfaat ini akan mengurangkan Had Tahunan Menyeluruh.Manfaat Rawatan Pesakit Luar2> Rawatan Sebelum Masuk Hospital (dalam tempoh 90 hari sebelum masuk hospital)> Rawatan Selepas Keluar Hospital (dalam tempoh 90 hari selepas keluar hospital)> Penjagaan oleh Jururawat Di Rumah (180 hari seumur hidup)> Pembedahan Harian> Rawatan Kanser> Dialisis Buah Pinggang> Rawatan Kecemasan untuk Kecederaan Akibat Kemalangan – 2% daripada Had Tahunan Menyeluruh setiap tahunHad Tahunan Menyeluruh (RM)Had Seumur Hidup (RM)20 x Had Tahunan MenyeluruhBantuan Perubatan KecemasanYa

Anonymous said...

Prudential offers 90 days for post and pre hospitalisation

Anonymous said...

Hi jutamind,

I heard prudential medical card very efficient when comes to claim and discharge from hospital? What i heard is it requires only 1 to 1.5 hr while the rest need to wait 3 hrs and above.
Any information on this? Just want to know more, thx!

Jutamind said...

@Anonymous,

According to the brochure from Prudential web site, PRUHealth has 30 days pre hospitalization and 90 days for post hospitalization. But for PRU Flexi Med, both pre and post hospitalization is 90 days.

Personally, i have not made any medical claims before. But if your news is true, i guess it shows one of the advantage of PRU medical card.

Maybe someone else who has made any medical claims before can vouch for the info above.

Vela said...

Hi,
Good articles, comments and sharing. Very beneficial. Thx.

sh33poh said...

Last week I got a quotation from GE agent for SmartMedic 200 which is tied with life for my husband (age 30, non-smoker).

Details are as follows:
a) Death: RM80,000
b) Critical illness: RM80,000
c) H&S: Room - RM200
Annual limit - RM120k
Life time limit - RM1.2m

The above requires an annual premium of RM2,400 (RM200/mth).

If (a) & (b) are to be reduced to the minimum of RM12k, the annual premium will be RM1,800 (RM150/mth).

In the above comparison table, it shows that the GE Smart Medic 200 requires only RM498 annual premium and I wonder how different it could be compared with the quotation I received?

Can someone pls enlighten me?

Also, would like to know if there is any Allianz agent out there? I would like to understand the product MediCover Plan 200 further.

TQ!

Jutamind said...

Hi sh33poh,

The premium RM498 is only for the medical rider, i.e. medical card only. The premium quoted to you by the agent is the premium for the whole policy.

Hope this clarifies the situation.

sh33poh said...

Hihi,

Thanks for your prompt response.

Even if RM498 covers only the medical card, the minimum life insured of RM15k for death & critical illness would take up the balance of the premium - RM1,302, which is very expensive. Average out to 11 yrs of the premium paid (i.e. RM15000 / RM1302).

My objective is to have coverage for medical insurance which is auto renewal (not standalone medical card) as this is more guaranteed.

In this case, would be great if you could suggest which ins product will suit to my needs?

Thanks a lot!~

Jutamind said...

Hi sh33poh,

You need to ask your agent to provide the break down on what is being charge per rider. It could be that the min premium for the coverage is much lower than RM2400, and those surplus goes to the investment linked fund. This also means the agent is pocketing some moolah for higher commission due to higher premium.

Of course, there is a min premium per policy which is likely to be either RM1200 or RM1800 per year. This is quite standard across all insurance companies.

As for which insurance is the best for you, i guess you should look into what you need first.

Personally, i feel GE and Allianz are having quite good coverage with reasonable premium, but of course plans and premium changed all the time.

nikolai said...

thanks for the feedback!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi sh33poh,

I personally thinks that since your main concern is a guaranteed renewable medical card, i would suggest you take note of the term "portfolio withdrawal" in their T&C, which this term might not be favorable to you as it means company served the rights to cancel your product with prior of 90 days notice.

From there, you can narrow down your choices and choose the one that suits your needs.

Hope this point can help you in making your choices & goodluck!

Anonymous said...

Nice post


interested in Medisoft software

life insurance cover said...

Great resource! Thanks for sharing, I found it valuable.

Foxerlow said...


Life Insurance In Malaysia is regarded as temporary insurance (as opposed to permanent insurance like whole life), and as such, it does not provide any surrender values, paid-up values, loan values or any of the non-forfeiture privileges.

I'm Just a Man! said...

Thanks admin. I'm considering to take insurance with medical card + saving for me, my wife and my 3 years old son. Alliance look interesting with my needs. I'm regret not taking it in few years back.

In your opinion:

1. Which one is the best if I want more saving or return.
2. Best for whole family. (I'm not sure if there is a product for whole family.

Thank you.

Unknown said...

I truly get pleasure from while I read your blogs and its content.auto insurance

Unknown said...

Greeting from Kelvin! Im an agent from Allianz. I really do enjoy your sharing here! :) You are right, choose the medical plan that is suitable for you. No medical plan in the world that is the best. If you need any information or advice can email me personally. choo.allianz@gmail.com. CHEERS!

stefan said...

nice blog with proper discussion.just choose suitable med card.however,you may oso consider company claim rates and investment value.all insurance company also want to earn money.if today insurance company earn rm1 but need to pay out rm1.20.it is work.insurance company will not allow this thing happen.so the premium will increase to cover back.so the stability of the company should be concern

Moyes said...

please post the cost of insurance for allianz enhanced medicover for comparison

taj said...

Hi All!

While searching for medical insurance...this blog is really useful. I am searching for a medical insurance/card that can cover both in Malaysia and UAE. For my wife, an additional maternity coverage will be a plus.

Please if anyone can assist.

Thanks.

CK Tan said...

Hi Taj,

I will be able to assist you. Kindly drop me an email or contact at "ck.eliteconsult@gmail.com"

Cheers

Unknown said...

Manulife Manucare Plus (New Standalone Medical Card)

Room & Board: As Charged (forever single room)
High Annual limit: 320k
Life-time limit: 3M

affordable premium rm108 per month (for age male 30 non-smoker)

for more infor pls contact me: 012-629 4922 henry.manulife@gmail.com

kj said...

planning to look for ilp with medical rider or standalone medical. Anyone has the latest comparison in in the market..would like to compare the features and rates

email:kaijye0313@gmail.com

Nathan Rider said...

You have shared the best blog. This is what I really need immediately.You have shared the best blog. This is what I really need immediately.

Fadhil said...

Born and bred Malaysian. Currently working in Abu Dhabi. Really excellent posts. As they say over here..."syukran" ! Looking forward to come back to Boleh Land and shop for my retirement medical card.

Dean John said...

hey great information your site contains will return when I have time to read more.

Commercial Insurance Companies

Angel Rio said...

Quickly this site will indisputably be famous among all blogging people, because of its fastidious articles or reviews.how much does whole life insurance cost

Warren said...

It is great to have an insurance coverage for anyone as we don't know whats going to happen to us anytime and we may get short of fund to pay for that.

Herry Johnson said...

Health Insurance from reputable insurers like Bupa, Cigna, Aetna and Now Health. Health policy covers Malaysia, Singapore, Medical Insurance, Myanmar and worldwide.

Unknown said...

Irrespective of receiving daily oral or future injectable depot therapies, these require health care visits for medication and monitoring of safety and response. If patients are treated early enough, before a lot of immune system damage has occurred, life expectancy is close to normal, as long as they remain on successful treatment. However, when patients stop therapy, virus rebounds to high levels in most patients, sometimes associated with severe illness because i have gone through this and even an increased risk of death. The aim of “cure”is ongoing but i still do believe my government made millions of ARV drugs instead of finding a cure. for ongoing therapy and monitoring. ARV alone cannot cure HIV as among the cells that are infected are very long-living CD4 memory cells and possibly other cells that act as long-term reservoirs. HIV can hide in these cells without being detected by the body’s immune system. Therefore even when ART completely blocks subsequent rounds of infection of cells, reservoirs that have been infected before therapy initiation persist and from these reservoirs HIV rebounds if therapy is stopped. “Cure” could either mean an eradication cure, which means to completely rid the body of reservoir virus or a functional HIV cure, where HIV may remain in reservoir cells but rebound to high levels is prevented after therapy interruption.Dr Itua Herbal Medicine makes me believes there is a hope for people suffering from,Parkinson's disease,Schizophrenia,Cancer,Scoliosis,Fibromyalgia,Fluoroquinolone Toxicity
Syndrome Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva.Fatal Familial Insomnia Factor V Leiden Mutation ,Epilepsy Dupuytren's disease,Desmoplastic small-round-cell tumor Diabetes ,Coeliac disease,Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease,Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Ataxia,Arthritis,Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,Alzheimer's disease,Adrenocortical carcinoma.Asthma,Allergic diseases.Hiv_ Aids,Herpe ,Copd,Diabetes,Hepatitis,I read about him online how he cure Tasha and Tara so i contacted him on drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com even talked on whatsapps +2348149277967 believe me it was easy i drank his herbal medicine for two weeks and i was cured just like that isn't Dr Itua a wonder man? Yes he is! I thank him so much so i will advise if you are suffering from one of those diseases Pls do contact him he's a nice man.

Anonymous said...

Hello, Everyone,I'm Adrik Vadim living in Kurgan City , I want to share with you all on here on how Mr Benjamin help me with a loan of 15,000.000.00 Rubles to start up my food beverage delivery after all I have work in several hotels here in kurgan just to earn a living but unfortunate I was still having difficulties to pay a rent but I thank God now that I'm a self employ now with 5 workers working in my care. Just if you looking for financial freedom I will advise you contact Mr Benjamin with this email below and whats app number as well. 247officedept@gmail.com   +1-989-394-3740

Green Health said...

I like your post! your post solve my headache for choosing the best medical plan. but I heard Prudential got rebate anually for Pruhealth 200 as much as RM300. Is this true?
medical marijuana in Spokane

Green Health said...

An informative and valuable resource for making informed decisions about medical cards from top life insurance companies.
Florida Medical Marijuanas Doctors

Accurate medical supply said...

This is what I really need immediately. You have shared the best blog. This is what I really need immediately.

Calgary bookkeepers said...

nice blog with proper discussion. Just choose suitable med card.however,you may so consider company claim rates and investment valeral insurance company also want to earn money. If today insurance company earn rm1 but need to pay out rm1.20.it is work. Insurance company will not allow this thing happen.

Accountant calgary said...

nice blog with proper discussion. Just choose suitable med card.however,you may so consider company claim rates and investment valeral insurance company also want to earn money. If today insurance company earn rm1 but need to pay out rm1.20.it is work. Insurance company will not allow this thing happen.so the premium will increase to cover back.so the stability of the company should be concern

Accurate medical supply said...

Accurate Medical Equipment and Supplies is a locally owned company providing medical equipment and supplies to North Carolina residents.

Siddharth Shinde said...

Finding the Best Medical Insurance in Singapore can be a real game-changer for anyone looking to secure their health and peace of mind. With the myriad of options available, it's crucial to weigh factors like coverage, premiums, and provider reputation. From personal experience, I've found that researching and comparing policies thoroughly pays off in the long run.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...