Important insurance Coverage For Newborns

[DW]

I'm expecting a baby in Nov this year and have been doing some research on what insurance is important for newborns.

It seems that the AIA MUM2BABY is rather popular as the coverage can be transferred over to the baby with no medical underwriting. However, it's a WL insurance which i don't see a need for as I'm not dependent on my kid.

I'm looking into CI/ECI and hospitalisation coverage which are more important at this stage of the kid's life.

Any parent can kindly share what policies you got for your kid during his/her early years?

Thanks!

 

[JuniorLion]

WL plan, 20year pay
Private Hospital Insurance + Rider

 

[reddevil0728]

I'm expecting a baby in Nov this year and have been doing some research on what insurance is important for newborns.

It seems that the AIA MUM2BABY is rather popular as the coverage can be transferred over to the baby with no medical underwriting. However, it's a WL insurance which i don't see a need for as I'm not dependent on my kid.

I'm looking into CI/ECI and hospitalisation coverage which are more important at this stage of the kid's life.

Any parent can kindly share what policies you got for your kid during his/her early years?

Thanks!

medishield life integrated plan?

 

[BBCWatcher]

I'm expecting a baby in Nov this year and have been doing some research on what insurance is important for newborns.

Congratulations!

It seems that the AIA MUM2BABY is rather popular as the coverage can be transferred over to the baby with no medical underwriting. However, it's a WL insurance which i don't see a need for as I'm not dependent on my kid.

Agreed.

I'm looking into CI/ECI and hospitalisation coverage which are more important at this stage of the kid's life.
Any parent can kindly share what policies you got for your kid during his/her early years?

WL plan, 20year pay

Nope. DW already (wisely!) indicated that life insurance isn't a good idea. But if you want to commit to 20 years of payments, great! Pay your kid directly! That is, pick one or a couple low cost index funds (in a low cost Regular Savings Plan for example), and do that for 20+ years.

Private Hospital Insurance + Rider

From age 15 days onward you can purchase an Integrated Shield plan for a healthy newborn. However, it doesn't have to be a private hospital plan. For anything truly serious you're surely going to head straight to KK Hospital, the best pediatric hospital we've got (and most likely the best in Asia). You can buy an affordable public hospital A ward Integrated Shield plan (and rider) that'll provide "run of the house" coverage at KKH, and that'll work great.

Since @DW asked specifically about CI/ECI I assume the concern is about cancer as a notable (the?) example — childhood leukemia, let's suppose. Thus I think it's prudent to compare Integrated Shield plans (and riders) in part on how much cancer coverage they provide. Ideally that's a high annual number with no monthly sublimits. Last I checked Prudential PRUShield Plus ticks a lot of boxes, but YMMV. (One downside with Prudential is they don't offer a B1 "downgrade" plan except the Standard Plan.)

Aside from an Integrated Shield plan (an affordable one), I can't really think of anything. When you have acute medical care well covered I don't think you really need the CI/ECI stuff unless you already don't have emergency reserve savings. (Fix that problem if you have it.) I wish there were a way to buy a long-term disability insurance policy for kids, for example something like an "early" DII policy that has a 2 ADL disability definition. Of all the parental worries I have, long-term care for a disabled child is a genuine worry. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any insurance product like that, and it could be because the private insurance market can't figure out how to make that sort of product work.

Salespeople sometimes argue that kids are prone to accidents, so...buy PA insurance. No thanks. If there's an accident, you take them...to KKH. (Integrated Shield again to handle any big bills.) Then what? A S$10K PA payout (for example) isn't life changing money. And a PA policy doesn't pay anything if there's no claimable event.

 

[reddevil0728]

Congratulations!

Agreed.


Nope. DW already (wisely!) indicated that life insurance isn't a good idea. But if you want to commit to 20 years of payments, great! Pay your kid directly! That is, pick one or a couple low cost index funds (in a low cost Regular Savings Plan for example), and do that for 20+ years.

From age 15 days onward you can purchase an Integrated Shield plan for a healthy newborn. However, it doesn't have to be a private hospital plan. For anything truly serious you're surely going to head straight to KK Hospital, the best pediatric hospital we've got (and most likely the best in Asia). You can buy an affordable public hospital A ward Integrated Shield plan (and rider) that'll provide "run of the house" coverage at KKH, and that'll work great.

Since @DW asked specifically about CI/ECI I assume the concern is about cancer as a notable (the?) example — childhood leukemia, let's suppose. Thus I think it's prudent to compare Integrated Shield plans (and riders) in part on how much cancer coverage they provide. Ideally that's a high annual number with no monthly sublimits. Last I checked Prudential PRUShield Plus ticks a lot of boxes, but YMMV. (One downside with Prudential is they don't offer a B1 "downgrade" plan except the Standard Plan.)

Aside from an Integrated Shield plan (an affordable one), I can't really think of anything. When you have acute medical care well covered I don't think you really need the CI/ECI stuff unless you already don't have emergency reserve savings. (Fix that problem if you have it.) I wish there were a way to buy a long-term disability insurance policy for kids, for example something like an "early" DII policy that has a 2 ADL disability definition. Of all the parental worries I have, long-term care for a disabled child is a genuine worry. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any insurance product like that, and it could be because the private insurance market can't figure out how to make that sort of product work.

Salespeople sometimes argue that kids are prone to accidents, so...buy PA insurance. No thanks. If there's an accident, you take them...to KKH. (Integrated Shield again to handle any big bills.) Then what? A S$10K PA payout (for example) isn't life changing money. And a PA policy doesn't pay anything if there's no claimable event.

why would CI/ECI not be something to consider early also, to avoid future underwriting risk?

As compared to life insurance which it only benefit dependants, CI/ECI cam benefit the life insured no?

 

[lousylah]

WL plan, 20year pay
Private Hospital Insurance + Rider

I will suggest to compress the limited pay even more to 10 or even 5yrs (only 1 or 2 insurer still does WL LP 5)

 

[lousylah]

why would CI/ECI not be something to consider early also, to avoid future underwriting risk?

As compared to life insurance which it only benefit dependants, CI/ECI cam benefit the life insured no?

would you rather
a) only get large death payout (maybe 1mil or more) for your dependents when you go
b) get modest payout (50-150k) payout when you get cancer (or other CI)

for b) you can use the modest payout to resign and focus on recovery (after exhausting MC/HL at work) or at least enjoy what you can of your final months with family?

CI (especially ECI) is expensive (exorbitant) if insured is an adult. But for NB or infant the cost of insurance is reasonable. With limited pay you give your child a (fully paid) base before even they start work or have dependents. It will be their choice whether to surrender or use the potential payout as they deem fit.

 

[reddevil0728]

would you rather
a) only get large death payout (maybe 1mil or more) for your dependents when you go
b) get modest payout (50-150k) payout when you get cancer (or other CI)

for b) you can use the modest payout to resign and focus on recovery (after exhausting MC/HL at work) or at least enjoy what you can of your final months with family?

CI (especially ECI) is expensive (exorbitant) if insured is an adult. But for NB or infant the cost of insurance is reasonable. With limited pay you give your child a (fully paid) base before even they start work or have dependents. It will be their choice whether to surrender or use the potential payout as they deem fit.

sorry i don't quite get your point.

I am suggesting Life is not necessary for an infant, but CI/ECI is something more meaningful, given that it will be ideal to avoid underwriting risk in future for the child. in a way future proofing a little for them and when they grow up into a working adult, they can decide whether they want to top up their CI/ECI and hopefully they don't have underwriting issues then. if not at least they have something

 

[lousylah]

sorry i don't quite get your point.

I am suggesting Life is not necessary for an infant, but CI/ECI is something more meaningful, given that it will be ideal to avoid underwriting risk in future for the child. in a way future proofing a little for them and when they grow up into a working adult, they can decide whether they want to top up their CI/ECI and hopefully they don't have underwriting issues then. if not at least they have something

My bad. I should have read more carefully your post before responding. Hands up on that.

so we are on same page however i will say as a technicality, insurers will fix a minimum death benefit to enjoy various levels of CI/ECI benefit. So the death coverage is unavoidable even if it may seem “unnecessary or excessive”.

 

[reddevil0728]

My bad. I should have read more carefully your post before responding. Hands up on that.

so we are on same page however i will say as a technicality, insurers will fix a minimum death benefit to enjoy various levels of CI/ECI benefit. So the death coverage is unavoidable even if it may seem “unnecessary or excessive”.

yea. i mean i am looking more from the primary purpose perspective. where there's a need to also add in death, that's more of incidental rather than primary

 

[JuniorLion]

I really like how some joker who has not encountered situations where the illness is critical and still made to wait a few weeks to a month for hospitalization at a public hospital. Some of the advice dished at absolutely awful.

 

[reddevil0728]

I really like how some joker who has not encountered situations where the illness is critical and still made to wait a few weeks to a month for hospitalization at a public hospital. Some of the advice dished at absolutely awful.

Who’s that joker?

 

[BBCWatcher]

I don't know who's joking. According to Newsweek and Statista, here are Southeast Asia's top pediatric hospitals (from the top 30 in Asia-Pacific):

1. KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore (#9 in Asia-Pacific)
2. National University Hospital, Singapore (#11 in AP)
3. Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore (#25 in AP)
4. Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok (#28 in AP)
5. Thomson Medical Centre, Singapore (#29 in AP)
6. Sunway Medical Centre, Malaysia (#30 in AP)

If your kid has anything medically serious, you're going to take your kid to KKH (or NUH), aren't you? KKH is the best pediatric hospital we've got! NUH is a close second. If you need to go to KKH, and if you're concerned about queuing, OK, fine, solve that potential problem: get "run of the house" coverage. That's a public hospital A ward Integrated Shield plan: see any available doctor (by name if you want), stay in any available room. There are still some potential advantages if you enter as a subsidized patient, but your A ward Integrated Shield plan won't require it.

For women, KKH is outstanding again. (It's in their name.) For adults generally, SGH routinely ranks #1 among Singapore's hospitals. If you want the very best medicine, these hospitals are superb. They happen to be public restructured hospitals.

To be clear, I think your child will get good, competent care if you take him/her to Mount Elizabeth Hospital or Thomson Medical Centre, as examples. But I haven't found any hospital rankings that place them higher than the top public hospitals in Singapore in terms of medical care.

 

[reddevil0728]

I don't know who's joking. According to Newsweek and Statista, here are Southeast Asia's top pediatric hospitals (from the top 30 in Asia-Pacific):

1. KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore (#9 in Asia-Pacific)
2. National University Hospital, Singapore (#11 in AP)
3. Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore (#25 in AP)
4. Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok (#28 in AP)
5. Thomson Medical Centre, Singapore (#29 in AP)
6. Sunway Medical Centre, Malaysia (#30 in AP)

If your kid has anything medically serious, you're going to take your kid to KKH (or NUH), aren't you? KKH is the best pediatric hospital we've got! NUH is a close second. If you need to go to KKH, and if you're concerned about queuing, OK, fine, solve that potential problem: get "run of the house" coverage. That's a public hospital A ward Integrated Shield plan: see any available doctor (by name if you want), stay in any available room. There are still some potential advantages if you enter as a subsidized patient, but your A ward Integrated Shield plan won't require it.

For women, KKH is outstanding again. (It's in their name.) For adults generally, SGH routinely ranks #1 among Singapore's hospitals. If you want the very best medicine, these hospitals are superb. They happen to be public restructured hospitals.

To be clear, I think your child will get good, competent care if you take him/her to Mount Elizabeth Hospital or Thomson Medical Centre, as examples. But I haven't found any hospital rankings that place them higher than the top public hospitals in Singapore in terms of medical care.

i do know that if a private hospital cannot handle certain case, they will always ship them off to govt hosp

 

[JuniorLion]

This guy certainly did not experience for himself the difference. All theory and no experience.

 

[reddevil0728]

This guy certainly did not experience for himself the difference. All theory and no experience.

which guy?

 

[BBCWatcher]

i do know that if a private hospital cannot handle certain case, they will always ship them off to govt hosp

Everyone can make their own decisions, but I'll just say anecdotally that we were quite happy with KKH when our family grew. As it happens we could've chosen any hospital, public or private, free of charge for all prenatal and maternity care. Top tier group insurance is nice that way as long as you don't have to pay for it. We chose KKH. One important reason is that they have a superb neonatal ICU. If anything went wrong, that's exactly where we wanted to be. Not sweating an ambulance ride with a tiny incubator hoping we can make it over and get admitted.

We had an urgent pediatric medical issue (complete with an ambulance ride) a couple years later, and we went straight to KKH. They provided excellent care again. Fortunately our child fully recovered.

 

[reddevil0728]

Everyone can make their own decisions, but I'll just say anecdotally that we were quite happy with KKH when our family grew. As it happens we could've chosen any hospital, public or private, free of charge for all prenatal and maternity care. Top tier group insurance is nice that way as long as you don't have to pay for it. We chose KKH. One important reason is that they have a superb neonatal ICU. If anything went wrong, that's exactly where we wanted to be. Not sweating an ambulance ride with a tiny incubator hoping we can make it over and get admitted.

We had an urgent pediatric medical issue (complete with an ambulance ride) a couple years later, and we went straight to KKH. They provided excellent care again. Fortunately our child fully recovered.

i think you quoted the wrong post to reply to?

 

[BBCWatcher]

i think you quoted the wrong post to reply to?

Nope. I started replying before he started. He only happened to click/tap Post very shortly before I did. But sure, consider my post a reply to @JuniorLion's (also).

 

[DW]

Everyone can make their own decisions, but I'll just say anecdotally that we were quite happy with KKH when our family grew. As it happens we could've chosen any hospital, public or private, free of charge for all prenatal and maternity care. Top tier group insurance is nice that way as long as you don't have to pay for it. We chose KKH. One important reason is that they have a superb neonatal ICU. If anything went wrong, that's exactly where we wanted to be. Not sweating an ambulance ride with a tiny incubator hoping we can make it over and get admitted.

We had an urgent pediatric medical issue (complete with an ambulance ride) a couple years later, and we went straight to KKH. They provided excellent care again. Fortunately our child fully recovered.

Thanks for chipping in.

But I've heard some parents say that the wait at KKH can be really long (4-6hrs). Hence they had no choice but to bring their kid to a private hospital.