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medishield enhancements

the ministry of health has announced enhancements to the medishield scheme effective from March 01, 2013 and these include:

a.   annual and lifetime limits will be increased from $50,000 and $200,000 to $70,000 and $300,000 respecticely;
b.   maximum age of coverage will go up to age 90 from age 85 currently;
c.   the maximum entry age of 75 will be removed;
d.   coverage will also be extended to inpatient psychiatric treatment at $100 per day but capped up to 35 days per year; and cover short-stay wards in Emergency Departments;

on the flip side, class B2/C deductibles will go up by $500 for those aged 80 and below and premiums will be raised between $17 and $251 yearly. To help with the higher premiums charged, our government will be giving a one-off top-up to medisave of between $50 and $400 for those on medishield. At the same time, the medisave withdrawals limits will be raised to $1,000 (for those aged 76 to 80) and $1,200 for for those over 80 years of age.

my comments:

the enhancements are long overdue and is welcome news to all who are on the medishield scheme estimated to cover up to 92% of the population.
however, medishield will not extend coverage to babies born with congenital diseases or those that need neonatal care.
another request to allow medisave to pay for either the deductible or co-insurance rider was rejected which may lead to both overconsumption and overservicing of health care.
i would have been delighted if the enhancements include lifetime coverage because of increasing life expectancy and higher limits on in-patient benefits. but i guess the ministry of health is taking what i term as 'baby steps' in balancing the enhancements with the expected repricing of premiums which is still pretty hefty for those who are already elderly and living in the twilight of their years.

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prudential - launch of pruflexicash protection plus

 
prudential has added an anticipated endowment plan to their stable with the launch of pruflexicash protection plus.

benefits:

• Lump sum payment of up to 4 times the sum assured of PRUflexicash protection plus in the event of Death Accelerated Terminal Illness or Accelerated Disability¹
• Flexible policy terms of 15 or 25 years
• 3 smart ways to enjoy your Yearly Cashback³:
  • Receive a Yearly Cashback after the second policy anniversary and use as you wish, such as a family holiday.
  • Enjoy bigger payouts on your policy if you choose to defer receiving your Yearly Cashback after the 10th policy anniversary or later⁴.
  • Accumulate your Yearly Cashback and get a non-guaranteed interest⁵ of 3% p.a. by leaving it with us.
• Future Insurance Option⁶ (FIO) to buy new plan⁷ within 4 years from first premium due date even if health changes. You are assured of enjoying increased coverage of up to 4 times the sum assured of your PRUflexicash protection plus or S$200,000⁷, whichever lower.
• Whichever policy term you choose, upon maturity you will receive in total 120% of the sum assured of PRUflexicash protection plus, plus all the bonuses (non-guaranteed) that were added to the plan every year.
• Choice of cashing in bonuses (non-guaranteed) accumulated
• Option to borrow up to 90% of policy's cash value^**
• Interest-free loans to cover medical expenses resulting from a surgical operation⁺
• Add on these supplementary benefits for more comprehensive coverage
  • Crisis Cover III provides you with a lump sum payment in the event that you are diagnosed with any one of 30 critical illnesses
  • Crisis Waiver III pays for your premiums in the event that you are diagnosed with any one of the 30 critical illnesses
  • Comprehensive Personal Accident III provides an additional lump sum payment in the event of accidental death and dismemberment
    • reimburse your medical expenses incurred due to the accident and pays out a weekly income if you are unable to work because of the accident.

^	Terms and conditions apply
**	There is an annual interest rate on the loan amount, which is non-guaranteed and subject to change.
+	This loan is available at the discretion of the insurance product provider and may be granted upon satisfying required conditions.
1	Policy provides coverage against Accelerated Terminal Illness and Accelerated Disability during the term of the policy, and before the anniversary of the policy on which the Life Assured will attain the age of 65. We will pay for either Accelerated Terminal Illness or Accelerated Disability but not both.
2	Bonuses are not guaranteed and will vary according to the future experience of the participating fund.
3	Yearly Cashback is a payout of 5% of PRUflexicash protection plus sum assured after the 2nd Policy Anniversary.
4	No later than one year before the end of policy term.
5	An annual interest rate will be applied on the accumulated Cashback. The interest accures on daily basis. This interest rate may vary.
6	This benefit is only applicable to PRUflexicash protection plus purchased under standard terms. The maximum age to exercise the FIO is 44 years old.
7	Excluding PRUflexicash protection plus or any other policy with a FIO.

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happy birthday, Singapore

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fee-based model may leave more underinsured

in a recent interview with the straits times, mr tony wilkey, the chief executive of insurance at Prudential Corporation Asia commented that moving the renumeration model to a fee-based one could leave even more people underinsured.

"It is a different value proposition for the consumer to write a personal cheque in advance to get the advice before a product is delivered.

The affluent customer is more likely to pay, but historically in other countries, the mass market consumer has not been seen as willing to write cheques.

This concerns me because if they are unwilling to pay for advice, then the likelihood of them purchasing what the family needs could be impacted. Theoretically, we could end up increasing the underinsurance gap."

two other CEOs, mr chris wei of great eastern life and ms annette king of manulife also raised similar concerns.

my comments:

mr wilkey was giving his comments on the likely sweeping reforms by FAIR set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in march and will make it's recommendations by the fourth quarter of the year.

my take is there is no one perfect renumeration model or one size fits all approach to the renumeration structure, just as every individual is unique.
the answer may life in adopting several structures and as mr wilkey has opined that we may end up increasing the underinsurance gap if a pure fee-based one is implemented.

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