Don’t leave it too late to get your Healthcare Insurance!

In life, we are fond of saying “it’s never too late”. But when it comes to health insurance, if you leave it too late you may find it difficult to get coverage for all medical conditions. As we get older we may begin to show signs or symptoms of a medical condition. And, whether you have previously made a claim for this condition or not, your claim could be rejected in some circumstances. This happens quite often, as the following example illustrates.

Mr. Chan and Mr. Lee have been close friends since their university days. They are both age 55 now. Mr. Chan was diagnosed with a heart condition and underwent surgery to have stents fitted to improve blood flow to his heart. His medical bill including pre and post-hospitalization tests, surgery and room & board expense was reimbursed in full under his medical insurance plan.

Alarmed by this turn of events, Mr. Lee decided to take out medical insurance for himself around the same time that Mr. Chan was hospitalized. Mr. Lee suffered serious chest pains, and upon examination, he needed to undergo a similar procedure to fit stents. However, his claim for medical reimbursement was rejected by the insurer.

It turns out that Mr. Lee had been to the doctor several times over the past 3 years in connection with chest pains and shortness of breath. Although he had not been diagnosed with heart disease at that time, his doctor had warned him that he needed to make lifestyle changes to avoid such a diagnosis in the future. 

Accordingly, his claim was rejected as insurer determined that he had a pre-existing condition.

Importantly, Mr. Chan had signed up for his medical insurance plan when he was 25 without any signs or symptoms of heart disease, while Mr. Lee had waited until he was 53 with chest pains and shortness of breath before purchasing his insurance.

A ‘Pre-existing condition’ could relate to any injury, illness, condition or symptoms for which treatment, or medication, or advice, or diagnosis that have been received before the medical insurance policy is activated. 

Sometimes a patient may be unaware that they have a medical condition. But if there are substantial indications that a medical condition exists (regardless of whether treatment, medication, advice or diagnosis has been sought or was foreseeable), then this could also be treated as a pre-existing condition under the policy terms.

Under Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (“VHIS”), however, if the applicant is reasonably unaware of any signs and symptoms of a pre-existing condition, partial coverage is offered during an initial three-year waiting period from policy inception and you can enjoy full coverage from the fourth year onwards.

Apply healthcare insurance while you are young and healthy and disclose your full medical history to the insurer. It becomes more difficult to get accepted into a medical insurance scheme as you get older. And even if insurer accepted in older age, other exclusions or premium loadings may be applied. Once you have insurance, you can generally renew it each year without further medical underwriting.

If you have any queries regarding different health insurance plans, please feel free to contact us or find out more about our insurance plans:

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