Downgrading of medical insurance plan

Downgrade or cancelling the plan is easy but should any medical conditions set in and you wish to upgrade or rejoin the plan later, your application is subject to underwriting and approval of the insurer. If insurer allow you to be insured after you are diagnosed with the medical conditions, usually they will impose an exclusion on the medical condition which means all hospitalisation and surgical costs incurred due to that specified condition will not be claimable.

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Medical costs can be hefty so I would discourage you from downgrading the medical plan. Instead, look for other ways to restructure your financial portfolio to support the premiums of the medical insurance plan.

The majority drawback of downgrading would definitely be the inaccessibility to upgrade if any conditions were to strike.

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Medical insurance policies are honestly very affordable thanks to the way the Singapore government has structured the system.

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No pre-existing conditions now doesn't mean no possibility of conditions developing in the future - if we are forward-looking we would realize that our risk only increases in the future.

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If possible, please keep the policy as it is. Especially if your intention is to upgrade it again in the future.

Hi anon,

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Unless you really have cashflow issues, the premium difference between a private and a government level plan is probably a few hundred a year. So I don't really recommend a downgrade as premiums are low for your age.

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The downside is that if you develop any conditions later, you will face an uphill battle to upgrade your plan back to private level coverage. Upgrading requires medical underwriting and shield plans have the strictest underwriting requirements.

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Just ask yourself this: Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to your health when you decide to upgrade later in the future?

Hi,

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There is on harm trying to downgrade your existing ISP. However, do note that if you wish to upgrade it in the future, it will be subjected to health underwriting.

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Cheers.