facebookConsidering to switch my health insurance policy, will minor, acute illnesses affect my coverage? - Seedly

Anonymous

25 Oct 2019

Insurance

Considering to switch my health insurance policy, will minor, acute illnesses affect my coverage?

Eg: Partial vision blurring. Eye specialist performed some tests. After 2 months, it recovered on its own with no treatment. Specialist says chances of recurrence is close to none, no need follow-up.

Let's say in future I need to claim for some other eye disorder (eg: glaucoma, eye injury) not related to the above condition. Will this be excluded from my new insurance policy?

How about, say, eczema that has already resolved? Will all skin conditions be excluded? Need to declare?

Thank you!

Discussion (18)

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Leslie Koh

23 Oct 2019

Associate Financial Services Manager at Prudential Assurance Company Singapore

If your specialist can provide a memo to state that you have fully recovered from the condition, then you shouldn’t have many issues from the new insurance policy. Same goes for Eczema.

However as mentioned by Haris, insurers are generally harsher on the underwriting for medical plans compared to regular life or endowment plans.

So do get the memo from your attending doctor and get the new agent to do preliminary underwriting check for you before you do the jump.

Even if the condition is fully recovered, please do declare to avoid any issues when claiming in the future.

Having said that, may I ask what’s the reason for switching? If you’re holding on to an older shield plan, do take note that switching out now will put you at a disadvantage as now new shield policies applications no longer cover 100%.

If the premium is an issue, do consider looking at downgrading your existing coverage with the current insurer. You should still enjoy the 100% coverage.

Do speak to your existing agent on what are the options available on downgrading before thinking of switching.

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Elijah Lee

23 Oct 2019

Senior Financial Services Manager at Phillip Securities (Jurong East)

Hi anon,

You would have to declare on the application form, but for health insurance, it is usually the strictest in terms of underwriting. Although chances of recurrence are close to none, will your specialist be able to provide a memo stating so? I would say that the most likely outcome would be an exclusion or even a decline.

Yes, skin conditions need to be declared, even if it has resolved. I once had a client with a skin condition (ichthyosis), who managed to get CI cover with no exclusions, but her health insurance was an immediate decline. So that should give you an idea of how strict it is.

As you already have an existing plan, you may wish to perform a parallel submission to the insurers, but if the underwriting outcome is worse than your current plan (most likely the case), then I would advise you to stick to your existing one.

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Hariz Arthur Maloy

23 Oct 2019

Independent Financial Advisor at Promiseland Independent

Yes, there may be exclusions on a new application. You can get your advisor to apply for a prelimina...

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