Medical insurance?

[katnik]

We are from Australia, lived here 2 years and have been very happy with ACE health insurance for Expats. They are an American company. We send the receipts back to Australia and all reimbursed. The cost is not much more than we would have paid in Australia for health cover. If unable to locate a US contact for them and interested I could contact Aust office for details. Cheers.

[buttercup123]

Hi, I would suggest you call the hotline of some international health insurance providers. They can probably give you the best answer for this.

Try:

www.imc-healthcare.com
www.chi-health.com.sg
www.pacificprime.com
www.aia.com.sg

[cbavasi]

If you want to be insured in the US - you must opt in for US coverage in your plan which is considerably more than getting the Worldwide Coverage excluding USA. When traveling to the US you can buy travelers insurance - just to be covered for emergencies.

Have you checked with NTUC Income - don't they provide local medical insurance?

[ldylilith]

Hi AMRivlin,
Based on the information from the website (http://www.aviva.com.sg/individuals/hea ... health.htm), Aviva does provide the plan as well, as it states that the "plan provides cover anywhere in the world, including the USA if you have chosen to be covered for the USA... Even if the USA is not specifically added to your plan, emergency treatment in the USA is still included..." and that "it provides comprehensive pre-to post hospital coverage, up to US$2 million per year..."

[cbavasi]

Hi AMRivlin,
Based on the information from the website (http://www.aviva.com.sg/individuals/hea ... health.htm), Aviva does provide the plan as well, as it states that the "plan provides cover anywhere in the world, including the USA if you have chosen to be covered for the USA... Even if the USA is not specifically added to your plan, emergency treatment in the USA is still included..." and that "it provides comprehensive pre-to post hospital coverage, up to US$2 million per year..."

That is the thing - check the prices for coverage including the USA - it can be considerably more than opting out provided you are just traveling back to the US once or twice a year (in which case just buy travelers insurance per trip).

Just for reference - I received 10 quotes from different Int'l companies ranging from $1500 - $6500 per calendar year for persons age 1-37. I can send you the info if you want.

[rails]

Check NTUC, it's a local insurance very affordable. I am Aussie and now looking at changing to them as Shenton Insurance have soooooo many clauses as we have just discovered by trying to get back some claims

[patan]

Hi Rails, what kind of claims were you having trouble with Shenton Insurance?

[bostonT2]

my case is slightly similar

i made a mistake and forgot to sign up for clinic services as part of my 09 company sponsored medical benefits. However, i have signed up for hospitalization fees (room & board).

Do anyone of your company have similar 2 dimensional programs?

Now i have to pay out of pocket every time i go to a clinic to get flu meds or other minor checkups. Do you know of any local insurance companies that can insure for clinic visits?

or am i hosed?

[rails]

Hi Rails, what kind of claims were you having trouble with Shenton Insurance?

They were only going to pay some of surgery I had to have, but after many calls to them they are finally paying all but 10%. But after this happen we check what our cover is and they just have so many loop holes which are not in booklet or company files avail to us. Every time we rang they said someone will ring back and after 5days we rang back and told same again, but finally got result.

I had skin cancer removed which left me with 60 stitches and arm in sling with no movement for 3 weeks. But Shenton said it was minor excision which wasn't covered. But it was actually life saving op.

NTUC have alot more cover

[Pauline88]

Hi There,

After reading your entries, I understand there is a need for better understanding of

1) How much is health care cost in Singapore (GP, inpatient, outpatient, surgery, accident, critical illness, etc)

2) What are the various solutions (local, asia, or worldwide)

As such, I invite you and all interested to join us for a seminar on Health care system in Singapore on 17 Oct09.

Please email me for more details.
Thanks
Pauline
censored --moderator

[jpatokal]

Please email me for more details.

No, post the details right here in the open, or we'll simply delete your advertising.

[onlyvictor]

Expats seem to prefer Aviva or AXA health plans as they are cheaper though international cover from companies like BUPA are more comprehensive

[aquariuswinnie]

Not sure if this thread is still active. We currently have the AXA International Exclusive plan, the prices are definitely more competitive and affordable compared to BUPA. The coverage, in our opinion is also very comprehensive. I believe that AXA has more known existence around the world too. edited by moderator

[fxman]

Long Term visit pass. IF you are on the 5 years scheme, you are eligible to get a medical insurance in Singapore. This is official. But of course you must already own a property here and a valid bank account with savings.

[leeste]

I will be living in Singapore with a LTVP under the spousal scheme and have been searching for health insurance just to cover hospitalizations i.e., a shield-type plan, until I find a job and have either a WP/EP, or an employer medical plan of my own.

So far, it looks like Prudential offers the PRUshield plan ($215 annual premium; Foreigner, age 31-40, PRUshield A premier) to LTVP holders. However, their FAQ stipulates that: "We will only accept a Long Term Visit Pass that is valid as well as linked to a current Singapore Citizen, Singapore Permanent Resident, Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) holder, Employment Pass (EP) holder or EntrePass holder." Source: http://www.prudential.com.sg/corp/prude ... hield.html

An alternative is to be insured as a dependant of a Singaporean citizen or PR with AVIVA's MyShield. Apparently, "Non-Singapore citizen/Permanent Resident dependant(s) are allowed but must be residing in Singapore to enjoy the coverage." Source: http://www.avivadirect.sg/whatweoffer/m ... aq.html#01

If anyone knows of other products available, please do share. I'm aware that international medical plans (GlobalHealth, BUPA) are usually recommended and quite comprehensive. But I'm healthy and probably don't need all that coverage at such a high price.