Expatriate Medical Cover

It is pretty much accepted that, with the absence of a state funded National Health Service as you might find in the UK, where most expatriates are not PR (so don’t have access to Medisave) and assuming cover isn’t provided through one’s employment, then putting in place private medical insurance is a must in Singapore.

But, where policies differ greatly in terms of what is/isn’t covered (eg: some policies automatically cover pregnancy whereas others include it as an optional extra), how do you go about deciding what is the right policy for you? The following considerations are those that I think you ought to give priority to.

Out-patient cover – the best policies will fully reimburse you for visits to the family doctor. Although, individually, these bills usually aren’t very much, they can mount up.

Non-restrictive cover – This means that you can use any doctor or specialist of your choice. Some policies will seek to restrict you to a specific list of doctors with a view to keeping a lid on costs.

Cover outside of Singapore – will the policy cover you during overseas visits?

Medical evacuation – on a related theme, does the policy cover medical evacuation costs?

Guaranteed payment – with large bills, it is much more convenient for the insurance company to settle direct with the hospital/doctor concerned. Checking whether that provision is included is important.

Deductible – The deductible is like the “excess” that you pay when claiming on car insurance. It is the amount you pay before being allowed to make a claim through the policy. Sometimes, an insurance quotation will appear to be very low but only because of a very high deductible.

Maternity cover – As noted above, this is sometimes automatically included or available as an optional extra. Depending on your priorities, this can be a major factor. Also, companies will tend to exclude any claims made within the first 9 months of a new policy (for obvious reasons).

New born cover – If there are complications at birth, what cover is available to the new born?

Portability – it might be beneficial to have a policy which is portable if a move away from Singapore occurs.