Question: “Dear Wilfred, For the past 20 years I paid my medical insurance product called Z faithfully without any claims. Recently I was admitted to hospital at a private hospital. The bill came up to be $X,XXX.. I was dismayed that I could only claim a shocking $XXX (10 times less than the original bill). The insurer cited technicalities as an excuse. I want to complain to CASE. I am writing this so the public is made aware of such pitfalls in their medical insurance. Regards – J”
Dear J,
Your insurance product Z has many limits. It is a plan with many sub-limits. These days, people do not go for such product any more. Private-intergrated “as-charged” shield plan will avoid such problems although you still need to be careful with the plan selection. Here are some things to note of:
1) It is important to review one’s insurance policies and all financial matters. This is something many people do not do. There is no such thing as an insurance policy remaining relevant forever. Regulations, market forces and one’s need changes over time. Therefore a review is a must. You having held on to that policy for 20 years without review is a big mistake.
2) While it appears the insurer did use technicalities as an excuse, you also did not read the policy documents. You can’t blame the car manufacturer after you crash the car just because you did not read the “instruction” manual.
3) Blaming everybody else except yourself is your greatest biggest. It is OK to make mistake and learn from it so that you can move on and not to repeat it again in other matters. Not learning from it is your greatest mistake.
Many people take things for granted and assume things will turn out right. When bad things happen, they blame it on everyone else. No one owns anyone a living. To be financial independent it is important to take charge and plan ahead. There is no need to become an expert in financial matter but assuming the government or authority will do something about it is being naïve as it will only increases taxes due to social welfare. In many developed countries, the government take charge of a person’s entire medical bills and retirement needs. This resulted in ridiculously high taxes forcing the young working force to migrate for greener pasture.
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Firstly, the whole medical scheme should not be done by private insurers.
Insurers are profit making businesses so a national scheme concocted by like-minded doctors is bound to be a disaster. It has been found that doctors are one the most corrupt.