All about upgrading your expat health insurance policy

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Our old pal William Shakespeare really had something when he penned those words in his classic play Romeo and Juliet. After all, when something is good, why worry about the inconsequential details and get bogged down by minutia? When it comes to flowers, as well as many other things in life, these words are not only poignant, but also very true. However, there are some things in life where the details are incredibly important; and one of these things is definitely your expat health insurance policy.

People who have moved here should be very aware of the issue of healthcare cost in Singapore, as expatriates living in Singapore do not have access to the publicly subsidized healthcare and hospitals that local Singaporeans depend on. Nor can expats enroll in programs like Medisave or MediShield. For this reason, the specific details of a given expat health insurance policy is incredibly relevant, since it can be the only thing coming between expat families in Singapore and burdensome medical debt.

Unlike roses, medical insurance plans have large differences between them, and sometimes Singapore expats find that the plan they currently have does not meet their needs. In such cases, it’s time that they consider an upgraded health insurance plan. Here, we talk about the options that you have for upgrading your expat health insurance policy in Singapore.

Do you need an upgrade?

Many expats that move to Singapore do so for work reasons. For this reason, a majority of the expats that come to the Lion City initially receive insurance coverage from their employer’s corporate health benefits. The problem is that employee health insurance doesn’t always provide all the coverage that a person wants; prompting expats to look for ways to upgrade their policy.

The first step towards identifying whether or not you need to upgrade your existing medical insurance plan is to identify any coverage gaps or shortfalls within it. There are a number of different factors that can go into this process. These include:

• Benefits included – While in-patient and out-patient health insurance benefits are generally included in employee health insurance plans, companies will also leave out some benefits in an effort to reduce their expat health insurance policy cost. Expats that want a more comprehensive insurance plan can add a variety of benefits, such as maternity insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and more.
• Maximums – Even if it seems like everything you want is included in your employer’s corporate health benefits, they may still fall well short of what you really want. That’s because low maximum annual benefits levels can leave policyholders paying out of pocket. For example, if the maximum annual limit on your total policy benefits is SGD 100,000, and an especially costly ailment leads to SGD 200,000 in medical bills, you will be left to pay the remaining SGD 100,000 left over after the insurance plan’s maximum is met.
  
• Provider networks – Everyone likes being free to make their own choices. Some plans leave the choice of hospital or doctor to be used in the hands of the policyholder, but others limit this choice by limiting patients to a specific list of insurance providers.
• Exclusions and pre-existing conditions – While many group health insurance plans do include coverage for pre-existing conditions, others may try to exclude coverage for certain injuries or diseases that the insured has had previously in life. If this is the case, an existing plan can potentially be upgraded to include coverage for a pre-existing condition, albeit for an additional cost.
  
• Direct billing – If you’ve ever gone through the medical claims process, you may know what a headache it can be to settle a bill with the hospital and them submit a claim with your insurance company in order to be reimbursed. This is what you have to go through if your insurance provider does not have a direct billing agreement with your preferred care providers. However, you can cut yourself out of the middle man position and let your insurer settle your bill with the hospital directly if you upgrade to a plan with direct billing.
  
• Mobility – No matter where you are from, if you have a health insurance plan in Singapore, it most likely is a local plan. This means that you will not have any health insurance coverage if you are outside of Singapore. If you are a person that travels regularly for business or pleasure, fear not. There are international health insurance plans available that will provide you with coverage in virtually any hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office in any country in the world. Now that’s an upgrade!
  
• Portability – People who move to Singapore for work are sometimes called upon by their employer to move elsewhere for work as well, or they know they have a short term contract that will see them moving after few years. In this case, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to keep your health insurance coverage with you after you depart? Upgrade to a plan with portability and you can do just that.

How to upgrade your expat health insurance policy

There are a couple of different ways to approach upgrading your current health insurance coverage:

1. An individual health insurance plan – When the benefits of your current expat health insurance policy simply don’t provide you with peace of mind, you can simply obtain another health insurance plan with the benefits that you want. This option, while potentially simpler, is the more pricey of the two upgrade options, and there is a high chance that there will be some redundancies between plans.
   
2. A top-up insurance plan – A top-up health insurance plan is a great option for upgrading an expat health insurance policy. This is because the specific coverages included in your existing medical insurance plan are taking into consideration, and then a plan is created with benefits tailored to specifically address its shortcomings. These plans can oftentimes have lower premiums than a new plan, and generally feature far fewer redundancies.

Find your plan today

After reading everything above, if you feel that you fall into the category of an expat who needs an upgraded health insurance plan, or you are a local Singaporean that simply needs some private health insurance, get in touch with the insurance experts at Pacific Prime Singapore!

Our advisers can take a look at your existing policy details to see where your benefits may fall short. After that, they can track down appropriate insurance solutions from top Singapore insurance companies, and provide you with a plan comparison and price quote at no cost for your. What’s more, you’ll get the continuing support and excellent customer service that Pacific Prime is known for. Contact us today!

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Martin Lee

Content Creator at Pacific Prime Singapore

Martin is a writer and translator with over 10 years of experience. He writes articles and blog posts, creates infographics and videos, translates between Chinese and English, and more. Skilled at explaining complicated concepts in layman’s terms, Martin believes the gold standard of translation is attained when the translated text is not only accurate, but also reads like an original text. Martin holds a degree in Economics from the University of London, UK.

Since joining Pacific Prime, Martin has become even more aware of the gap between the true value of insurance products and most people’s appreciation of it, and developed a passion for demystifying and simplifying matters, so that more people get the protection they need at a cost they can easily afford.

In his free time, Martin attends concerts of various genres, and plays the violin with piano accompaniment he pre-recorded himself or played live by his niece.

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