Hospital plans. Since the insurers are changing to a copayment, will you be changing your insurer if you haventdone any claim? What insurer do you recommend?

To be honest, I think in the long term wise, insurance premiums and benefits more or less converge to the same outcome, so there's really no need to change insurer I feel.

At the end of the day, Shield Plans are mostly on a renewable basis, and the insurer can always adjust their premiums annually.

Coming from an economics point of view, if there is an insurer who is underpriced and offers more benefits, this gap would eventually attract more individuals to come in. Data also seems to show that health insurance with lesser or without co-payment features tend to result in higher claims (sometimes upwards of 60% and more).

The higher claims will eventually result in an insurance premium that is unsustainable for said insurer, and the premiums will subsequently have to be adjusted accordingly as well to reflect that. Hence in the long term, I personally feel like there's no need to be too concerned about your premiums.

What is more important is for you to get insured while you are healthy (so you don't get any exclusions or loading), and also get insured at a hospital class ward you are comfortable with, and one that you are hopefully comfortable with as well in the foreseeable future.

Cheers.

- Jeffrey (jeffreyleezq.com)​​​

To begin with, claim-based pricing is one of the plans that AIA offers for existing policyholders only. In other words, you can consider this plan if and only if you are holding onto the Max Essential rider series. While this may be true, you may also switch to the classic co-payment rider, Max VitalHealth. Hence, AIA is not forcing any of her clients into the claim-based pricing model. For more details, you may check with your insurance agent on the types of plans available that may be suitable for your needs.

Next, it must be remembered that you should also care about your health if you intend to switch your existing integrated shield plan to another insurer. This is because of potential changes in benefits and cost. Moreover, the waiting period for certain medical conditions will be reset too. Thus, this may be a point for consideration if you really decide to make a switch.

For one thing most (if not all) of the insurers are going through the 'transition phase' as an upwards battle against medical inflation, overconsumption of the healthcare risk pool. Accordingly, I will suggest you to consider a plan that you are comfortable with, and is able to give you the assurance that you need, e.g. wide range of panel doctors. You may wish to make a comparison via Ministry of Health's website, or to wait for the rest of the insurers to update their plans before you make the evaluation.

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