Healthcare Providers

[endacotta]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone can help. My husband 3.5 year old and 3 month baby are moving to Singapore in August. Can anyone recommend a healthcare provider and rough costs involved. Any advice on healthcare in general other than it being excellent would also be appreciated.

Thanks
Anita

[Skinny-n-Starsie]

Hi there Enda... We have been trying to get info on Health Care Providers in Singapore as well befoe we make the final decision to move.

We still have to keep up our Australian Health Insurance while we live away. But it doesnt cover Overseas treatments.

PLEASE can someone help the both of us regarding different web addresses for health insurers.. Also are there ones who cover Cosmetic surgury.. weight loss surgeries ect??

[yanchai]

Dear Skinny-n-Starsie and Endacotta,

I hope I could provide some informations for both of you. Basically, there are 2 groups of providers, namely the private medical group and public medical group. Both groups have their pros and cons such as bills size, service level, waiting periods, doctors' professionalism, facilities and etc.

Different people have different expectation on the level of medical service and hence it really depends on each individual which providers they are most comfortable with.

Singapore’s well-established healthcare system comprises a total of 13 private hospitals, 10 public (government) hospitals and several specialist clinics, each specializing in and catering to different patient needs, at varying costs.

Patients are free to choose the providers within the government or private healthcare delivery system and can walk in for a consultation at any private clinic or any government polyclinic. For emergency services, patients can go at any time to the 24-hour Accident & Emergency Departments located in the government hospitals.

However, I would recommend taking up a good health insurance to offset the potential risk of incurring huge medical bill.

If you need more help and information regarding this issue, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Thank you and have a good day!

Warmest Regards,

Yanchai
Consultant

[Forks]

Whatever you choose make your you have good coverage as health care in Singapore costs and arm and a leg (no pun intended)

Hospitals will want $$$ upfront unless you have a letter from your insurance in lieu of $$$, also beware of the bedside manner of some of the local doctors, my doc at the HDB is great and a nice guy but some of the "specialists" I have seen seem to lack empathy.

Another thing is the cost of going to the Doc in general, a local one can cost you only $20 but going to another doc with a nice shiny foyer and a marble arch can cost 10 times as much, no joke, local doctors are just as competent and will not push as much stuff as they are simply there to make you better not pay off the shiny foyer, marble arch etc, if its just a sniffle save some $$$, I have been to a local doctor for the entire time I have been here and he has never let me down, a hard working guy.

Also beware of being given the "full package" no matter what you do, everything will be charged to you (down to the cotton balls and the bottled water used to wash stuff away), and even if you dont need it they will tack on as many procedures as they can, so be specific and know what they are doing.

Often your employer/company has a provider and you and your family can get coverage through them so it can be pretty painless but you can make it cheaper by not having international coverage if your not planning to travel much or are just going home etc.

[Skinny-n-Starsie]

Hey there Forks..

Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering though.. a few diff threads about the place on health insurance for expats ect,. have said that it takes 12 months to cover you for anything even if your company insures you.

Is this true? Or is corporate bought insurance an AUTOMATIC cover?
Lord knows with a family, we would need a doc ect at least a few times in 12 months......

I do ask the wriggly questions..lol

[sundaymorningstaple]

Most corporate group medical policies are automatic if you are under 60 years of age. If you are over 60 then you will have to fill out a medical history report which will then severely crimp your coverage depending on past medical history or existing medical conditions. This will probably not cover things like pregnancies, depending when the birth takes place. If within the first 10 months of coverage it doubt if it would be covered as it was obviously a pre-existing condition.

[durain]

does anyone know of a good medical insurance if i want to take it out myself? (eg. not a company medical insurance but more like a personal medical insurance)

[Skinny-n-Starsie]

G'day and thanks as well for the info Sundaymorning....

Hubby and I also want to say thanks for the great links. SOOOOOOO much info.

All of it useful as well.

Have a great weekend.

Skinny and Starsie.

[Forks]

Hey there Forks..

Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering though.. a few diff threads about the place on health insurance for expats ect,. have said that it takes 12 months to cover you for anything even if your company insures you.

Is this true? Or is corporate bought insurance an AUTOMATIC cover?
Lord knows with a family, we would need a doc ect at least a few times in 12 months......

I do ask the wriggly questions..lol

I have never herd of it taking 12 months to get coverage, seems almost a waste of time.

anyway it is usually just a case of filling in some forms and Viola if your get it through your company, getting it for yourself is also pretty easy, I have AiA and its pretty good.

Its worth checking that your whole family is on the policy, if not they can usually be added by paying some extra and yes, not having insurance is suicidal in Singapore coz if you go into hospital it will cost a lot and an operation will cost even more. i had some simple surgery a few years back and I ended up paying $4500 for it and it was day surgery, I walked out with my problem fixed but poorer after less than 12 hours in the hospital for an operation that took less than 30 minutes. Im not bemoaning the cost per se but it is high here and without insurance I shudder to think what someone would do.

[cks]

Looks like there are alot of "myths" here on health insurance in Singapore.

Let me correct all these in a simple manner since I am a specialist in this field.

If you are not a PR here, basically you can just purchase your own private medical insurance from a General Insurance company, like AIG , LIBERTY or QBE , AXA, these are the bigger names. If not ,you should check with your company's HR whether they cover you for medical. And important thing is , company do not AUTOMATICALLY insure you, that depends on your boss / hirer whether they budget in a medical insurance for everyone. In fact it is also true that company medical insurance do not renew everyone automatically, insurer have the right not to renew if there is a high claim experience.

If you are a PR, you can simply purchase a comprehensive private medical insurance through your CPF mainly, topping up a little using cash.


And all medical insurance in Singapore do not cover for pre-existing illnesses. Cosmetic surgeries are also not possible to be covered. So forget about weight-loss related surgeries.

Hope these helps to solve some "myths" floating in this thread.

My few cents of advice,
cheers

[cks]

Hey there Forks..

Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering though.. a few diff threads about the place on health insurance for expats ect,. have said that it takes 12 months to cover you for anything even if your company insures you.

Is this true? Or is corporate bought insurance an AUTOMATIC cover?
Lord knows with a family, we would need a doc ect at least a few times in 12 months......

I do ask the wriggly questions..lol

I have never herd of it taking 12 months to get coverage, seems almost a waste of time.

anyway it is usually just a case of filling in some forms and Viola if your get it through your company, getting it for yourself is also pretty easy, I have AiA and its pretty good.

Its worth checking that your whole family is on the policy, if not they can usually be added by paying some extra and yes, not having insurance is suicidal in Singapore coz if you go into hospital it will cost a lot and an operation will cost even more. i had some simple surgery a few years back and I ended up paying $4500 for it and it was day surgery, I walked out with my problem fixed but poorer after less than 12 hours in the hospital for an operation that took less than 30 minutes. Im not bemoaning the cost per se but it is high here and without insurance I shudder to think what someone would do.

What you said is right, not having insurance is suicidal in Singapore. But still alot of Singaporeans still do not have one at the moment , some are even not aware of that importance.

[Skinny-n-Starsie]

Thanks for the info folks..

Have a GREAT weekend!!