Why Might You Need a Top-up Health Plan in Singapore?
Top-up health insurance plans are vital for addressing gaps in coverage from employer-provided insurance. They provide a comprehensive solution for those seeking additional coverage in Singapore, allowing you to enhance your protection without needing to purchase an entirely new plan.
In this article, we will talk about what top-up health plans are, why they are important, how you can get a top-up plan, and why you might need a top-up health plan in Singapore.
What is a Top-up Health Plan?
Top-up health plans are designed to supplement your employer-provided health insurance with additional benefits or levels, or add coverage options such as maternity or dental care that isn’t included with your company plan.
A top-up health plan can be from the same insurer or a different one, and can make getting the full and comprehensive coverage you need cheaper than buying a completely new plan.
If you require day surgery, most employee benefits plans cover a significant portion of the costs; however, some may impose a claim limit. If the surgery exceeds this limit, you’ll be responsible for the remaining fees.
While paying out of pocket is one option, a top-up health plan can cover the excess costs for you. This ensures that your individual needs are met, even when relying on a group health plan.
What Other Situations Can a Top-up Health Plan Help Me With?
There is a wide range of different and flexible options when it comes to top-up plans, and these will also vary by insurer and the benefits you desire. Here are a few common circumstances where our clients and customers have found a top-up health plan to be valuable.
When You Have Pre-existing Conditions
There are top-up plans that can offer assistance in these situations, providing coverage where your group plan won’t. These plans can include a range of extended benefits related to the management of pre-existing conditions, making them a valuable option for those with significant medical needs.
Employer-provided health insurance usually covers pre-existing conditions to some extent, while private plans often have stricter restrictions. However, not all group plans offer this coverage. If you have a pre-existing condition that isn’t covered, you may still face significant out-of-pocket medical expenses.
When You Prefer Private Care
When insurers set their benefits and coverage, they’ll often look at which facilities and specialists they’ll accept claims from, and which they will not. This is mainly for cost control reasons; insurers may exclude a specialist or clinic they believe charges more than the market rate for consultations or treatment, or suggest group plan members use a specific hospital that offers the insurer cheaper rates to drive patients their way. This doesn’t just benefit insurers, as we also see better and cheaper care from these arrangements.
That said, some plans may only offer coverage at public clinics that may often see higher waiting times as they serve the government-subsidized public as well. For many expats, seeing an international doctor who speaks their language can also be a priority, so a top-up health plan can offer access to private clinics and specialists that group plans may not.
When you’re a frequent traveller who’s based in Singapore
A group health plan can also be restricted by an area of coverage. That is, the boundaries or territory in which you can receive care for which the insurer will accept claims. A top-up health plan can provide you with extended coverage areas, from Asia-region-based cover to worldwide benefits.
Many expats in Singapore will often serve their business interests around the great Asia and Southeast Asian region, and organizing multiple and consecutive travel insurance plans can be a hassle if you travel quite frequently. A top-up plan with worldwide coverage will allow you to seek healthcare wherever you are, through the same insurer as the one you use in Singapore.
When you need other medical benefits
Coverages such as maternity, dental, and vision aren’t often included in a company health plan. They’re expensive, especially when such benefits must be covered for every employee-yes, that means even male employees will see premium additions for an employer-provided health plan that covers maternity. Other benefits, such as physiotherapy or alternative medicine (Traditional Chinese Medicine, for example), can also be absent from group plans.
Securing these benefits, if you need them, can be done through a top-up health plan. You can still use your employer-provided insurance to cover things like inpatient and outpatient care; however, dental care, optometrist visits, or booking pregnancy scans can all be taken care of by a top-up plan.
What do I need to know about top-up health plans in Singapore?
There’s not much to top up health insurance; however, buying medical coverage isn’t something you want to do without some information. At Pacific Prime Singapore, we’ve created a really handy guide about top-up plans in Singapore, and we’ve made it completely free to download. If you need more information about top-up products in the Lion City, visit our Health Guides page to download your free copy, or view our other guides on a range of insurance topics.
If you’re ready to talk about how a top-up health plan can supplement your company-provided health insurance, then call the experts at Pacific Prime Singapore today.
With over 5 years of experience in the field, Suphanida spends the majority of her day synthesizing complex pieces of insurance-related information and translating this into easy-to-understand, engaging, and effective content across a variety of media such as articles, infographics, whitepapers, videos, and more.
Suphanida is also responsible for planning and publishing three whitepapers released annually by Pacific Prime: The State of Health Insurance Report, The Cost of Health Insurance Report, and The Global Employee Benefits Trends Report. Additionally, she handles the LinkedIn profiles of Pacific Prime’s Founder and CEO, as well as Global HR Lead.
Suphanida’s strengths lie in her strong research and analytical skills, which she has gained from her BA in Politics from the University of Warwick and Erasmus Mundus Joint MA in Journalism from Aarhus University and City, University of London.
Being of Thai-Indian origin and having lived, studied, and worked in Thailand, the UK, and Denmark, Suphanida also has a unique, multicultural perspective that helps her understand the struggles of expats and globetrotters.
Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to new places and immersing herself in different cultures.
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