Insured your Health

[jeybon]

Although it's crucial to get ourself protected from income loss through the sicky days, more effort should be put on our health 1st.

'Prevention is better than cure' has been the old saying that we should take into account that it's better to practice healthy lifestyle.

Our body is a unique machine that is subjected to wear and tear.  At younger age, the machine's performance is better but got worse as we age.  This aging factor directly affected the ability of our body to fight diseases.  That is where medicine and alternative treatment came in.

In fact,  there are not many professionals who enjoy a balanced life.  The pursuit for material gains somehow compromise their health in the early 30s.  By 40, more time are spend suffering the consequences of the 'active' years than enjoying the spoilt.

With right diet and proper exercise, one can actually planned to retire healthily with the wealth. 

The insurance that we bought just insured us materially.  We still need to take good care of this machine by feeding on healthier food and get it to rest when overworked.

It's sad to imagine how a sick man would enjoy his wealth.

[venven81]

that is a very sound reminder from jeybon.
yes modern working people tend to work overtime and neglect their health.
i personally is one of them oppss... had suffered from one week of time resting at home due to sick.
one thing for sure is we have to consume as much liquid as possible, say 2-3 litres a day, to keep ourselves hydrated or we can fall sick pretty easily. when we are busy at work, people will tend to forget about this simple yet important thing to do, which is to drink more water.
so people, start taking care of your health immediately to enjoy the wealth that you've created

[jeybon]

Wish for your fast recovery, VenVen.

As a highlight to the forum members, buying insurance is crucial to protect against income loss when we eventually succumbed to hospitalisation or accident.  Or even in our demise, our immediate family is at least temporary taken care of their finances (Life).

The most important is to insured yourself against sickness by practicing healthier life style by:

1.  Having ample rest to boost immunity.  Immunity is the best healing potion that our body can produce.  To get extra protection, take vaccine jabs against germs like Hepetitis A,B or flu.

2.  Drinking enough H2O to cool down our massive machine.  In fact, a physician had once told me that the best cough medicine is still some occasional cups of 'warm water'.

3.  Think positively by surrounding yourself with optimistic friends.  Imagine meeting a nice person who would greet you every morning with a wide smile and say 'Good morning'.  How would you feel?  However, I suggest the practice should be started from you, yourself to build that kind of optimism surrounding us.

4.  Take your setback as a challenge rather than a permanent obstacles.  For me, every setbacks have lessons to be learn.  It's up to us to look up to the solution or to the frustration.  It's rather a choice than a sentence that is passed to us by situations.

5.  Always pray.  There's always some blessing in disguise.  No matter what religion, culture or beliefs that you are in, it will offer you shelter during the setbacks so that you could rebounce back to attain greater heights when the time comes.

There are many that can be added in to this list.  The challenge now is the practising part.  A lot of rest time would eventually be spend on the World Cup match.  Let's take care of our health before the insurance policy take care of us.

[DenLee]

Maybe, a half yearly medical check up could help identifying the early sign of terminal disease.  There's much concern on the diet of a typical Malaysian.  We took too much salt (Chinese), sugar (Malay) and tuak (Indian).  Cholesterol and diabetis had become one of the major killer of MAlaysian over the last 10 years. 

Improvement in standard of living bring in bad eating habits to Malaysian.  Overeating is a problem here.  Like what Rich Dad says, more people face the problem of too much money than those who suffer from not enough money.

Same here, too many Malaysian suffer from eating to much.  In fact, overnourish could bring more medical complications than under nourishment.

[kahpin]

Maybe, a half yearly medical check up could help identifying the early sign of terminal disease. 

regular medical check-up is only required for certain disease that is important and accurate to be pick up at an early stages ie breast cancer, cervical cancer etc etc. a good gp should be able to tell u a decent list appropriate to your age. some medical check-up over the private medical center is unwarranted, a waste of resources, and if without any symptoms, will lead to unnecessary medicine-taking (medicine do have side effects, no matter how remedial it is) and worse to surgery. And private of course would hope you do it for the $$, we would hope it be done due to anxiety and hopefully we won't have to be regretful of the 'just in case'. But some disease, the test is unnecessary, seriously, and minority of them actually lead them to other 'diseases' due to the anxiety or the medical intervention done.

There's much concern on the diet of a typical Malaysian.  We took too much salt (Chinese), sugar (Malay) and tuak (Indian).  Cholesterol and diabetis had become one of the major killer of MAlaysian over the last 10 years. 

major killer is car accidents, actually motorcycle accident more, because one is the iron around the flesh, and the latter, the other way round. anyway, eating sugar wont lead u to diabetes, because you actually can't eat too much of sugar. ever tried drinking 6 bowl of sugar. i think you'll stop at 1 and 1/2 bowl, or less. But one bowl of rice if converted to sugar in our little tummy will become around 5bowl of sugar, and some actually ate 2 bowl of rice, because it does not have much of the extreme flavor of sweetness.
actually denlee missed out on one of the major diet killer - alcohol. we sad - drink alcohol, we happy - drink alcohol, wedding - alcohol, can't sleep - alcohol, football - alcohol, just for fun - alcohol, died of alcohol.

overnourish could bring more medical complications than under nourishment.

the middle path will be best, not under or over. but msia is a developing country, undernourishment is less likely.

[Calvin Wong]

we sad - drink alcohol, we happy - drink alcohol, wedding - alcohol, can't sleep - alcohol, football - alcohol, just for fun - alcohol, died of alcohol.

hahaha... i like this

now we know why guiness and calrsberg are reknowned for giving out good dividends.

excellent advice from an excellent doctor!

[julez.lim]

What they can do is to sell insurance whenever you buy a beer Hehe...
Just like AirAsia, selling insurance (not sure what type) when you travel on their plane...
Hmm.. does this hint something?
Anyways, it seems to be a great idea and they are generating profits from the insurance idea

[DenLee]

A very concise highlight.  There's lots of point to pick up on the medical check up part.  As we aged, there's a need to have regular check ups with family doctor.  Private hospital seemed to be very financially driven.  That's why the hospitalisation cost kept going up.   

Btw, could it be due to a hefty corporate tax of 28% that these hospitals are so expensive?

[penang_lim]

A very concise highlight.  There's lots of point to pick up on the medical check up part.  As we aged, there's a need to have regular check ups with family doctor.  Private hospital seemed to be very financially driven.  That's why the hospitalisation cost kept going up.   

Btw, could it be due to a hefty corporate tax of 28% that these hospitals are so expensive?

The high private hospital charges partly are due to the tax but the specialists are the ones that determined the consultation charges.  There is an alternative in Penang. 

Of course the cheapest alternative will be Penang General Hospital.  If you needed better service, then pay for Lam Wah Ee.  Unless you have a Medical Card from your hospitalisation policy, Island Hospital & Gleaneagles seemed to be very lucrative ones to enter.

However, Adventist Hospital and Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital are regarded as charity driven and are not required to pay the 28% corporate tax.

[jeybon]

Perhaps the government should look into insuring the nation.  This would definitely benefit the lower incomes.  What do you all think?

[Maxforce]

SOCSO lah tu

[DenLee]

Do you think SOCSO is enough?  Moreover, the scheme is only available to those who are employed.  At present, not all employers (private sector) insured their employees.  So, there are still a big % of our nation left uninsured.

[jeybon]

Looks like Denlee is suggesting the type of social insurance by the Australian and the English.  Well, that would only work when our government monetary status are really ample and transparent.  Or else, it would be the usual waste of public $$$.  What do you think?

[Salahdin]

Maybe, most of our population can be insured when EPF allowed the withrawing of $$$ from account 3 effective Jan 07 to buy the critical illness insurance.  I think this is a smart move.

[venven81]

i don't know how true it is but can we actually utilise our EPF account to get insurance coverage from next year onwards?
i heard of that but any affirmation?

[jeybon]

Yes, it's true.  The product would be standardise across all companies.  The EPF contributors can only buy in an interval of 5years.  In fact, it's beneficial because the protection offerred by Acct 3 will multiple.  Anyway, that account's existence is for medical benefits which accounted for 10% of the whole fund. 

[DenLee]

The latest date of EPF allowing it's Account 2 withdrawal will be decided by Parliment in June, according to an personal financial planner of mine.  Is that true?

[Salahdin]

I saw some Personal Accident plans that included some hospitalisation protections like RM4500 per hospitalisation.  It costs around RM280 for a RM200 000 protection plan.  Is it worth buying?

[venven81]

well most personal accident plans would cost around that amount for RM200,000 cover. those that include hospitalisation would normally coz slightly more. the one you mentioned sounds reasonable but again have to check whether or not the insurance company is a good paymaster or else no point getting that cover if the company doesn't pay in the event of a claim.

[jeybon]

Salahdin,
            The PA policy that you mentioned is offered by which company?  It sounds interesting to me too.

[Salahdin]

That is the 'Gladiator Plan' offered by Multi Purpose General Insurance.  I agree with Venven concerned regarding the claim policy of other claim companies.  Not sure Multi purpose could be trusted?  anyone had any experienced?

[venven81]

i haven't had any experience or know much about multi purpose insurance. if you would like to proceed with this plan, just have to read the black and white carefully for any fineprints and you'd be safe.

[DenLee]

Btw, what criteria should we look for in choosing Personal accident policy?  Thanks.

[Nanzhan]

Err...hospitalisation plan in PA policy?  Is all PA offering hospitalisation?  I notice mine don't have...

[howe928]

to make information more complete,
taken from http://www.mpib.com.my/content.php?pid=65
taken from http://www.mpib.com.my/mpib_images/product/The_Gladiator.jpg

The_Gladiator
Multi Medi Plus

Life can be unpredictable. No one knows when an accident can happen. Nasty events can cause serious changes in your life. The lifestyle and comfort you and your family are now enjoying may suddenly disrupted by an accident. Overnight, things could look very different. That is why a comprehensive accident policy is essential for you to fall back on.
But now, you can be assured of a reliable help in time of need with The Gladiator at minimal cost.

This policy's unique features include:
   Financial Obligation Benefit
   In the event of an accidental death or permanent disability, we would settle your outstanding financial obligation on your housing loan and or motor loan up to six months repayment sum and or the outstanding balance on your credit card(s) at the time of the accident. The amount payable depends on the plan selected.
   Cashless Hospital Admission
   In the event of an accident which resulting in hospitalisation, our partner, Asia Asistance Network (M) Sdn Bhd, whom can be contacted through their 24-hour Alarm Centre at hotline number (603-7954 4717), will facilitate admission into or discharge from the participating hospital by providing a guarantee to the hospital concerned up to a maximum limit of medical expenses benefit of the policy.
   Bereavement Allowance for Dengue Fever, Malaria, JE and SARS
   10% of the capital sum insured will be payable in the event of death due to dengue, malaria, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
   Kidnap Benefit
   A lump sum of RM5,000 for necessary expenses incurred by the Insured’s family and will also offer a reward of RM25,000.00 for information leading to the recovery of the insured. In addition, the capital sum insured will be paid in full if the kidnapped insured is not recovered after a period of one (1) year from the day of the kidnap.
   Coverage for Impotency & Infertility
   10% of the capital sum insured will be payable for suffer impotency or infertility due to an accident.
   Express funeral expenses payment
   In the event of accidental death, funeral expenses of RM5,000 will be payable to the nominee upon notification of death.
   Incremental in Sum Insured
   No Claims Bonus The capital sum insured for accidental death and permanent disablement will be increased by 10% on each renewal up to a maximum of 50% if no claims has been lodged under the policy.
   Double Indemnity
   The compensation shall be doubled in the event of an accident resulting in death or permanent total paralysis whilst travelling as a fare-paying passenger on any mode of public transport or whilst travelling overseas.

For detailed information, Please refer to Table of Benefits .



Questions to anyone who knows the answer:
1) would a personal accident protection cover (or medical protection) any of these following cases?
--------fell injury caused by third party criminal act e.g. a motorcyclist snap your handbag and you fell, injured hand required long term physiotherapy
--------fell injury by accident at home while taking shower
--------fell injury by accident at a shopping mall required on-going physiotherapy
--------fell injury caused by medicines' side effects
2) how do you make a claim (if possible) and what evidence/s do you need?

[vistar]

Questions to anyone who knows the answer:
1) would a personal accident protection cover (or medical protection) any of these following cases?
--------fell injury caused by third party criminal act e.g. a motorcyclist snap your handbag and you fell, injured hand required long term physiotherapy
=> covered; long term physio .. normally PA policy limit the policy up to 104 weeks from the date of accident. if the physio is consistent and relevant to the accident, the policy should pay up to 104weeks (max).
--------fell injury by accident at home while taking shower
=> payable unless is proven the fell is intentionally or self inflicted.

--------fell injury by accident at a shopping mall required on-going physiotherapy
=> same with above, plus you can seek remedy against negligent parties at mall, ie. the mall management failure to upkeep their mall and directly cause you to fall.

--------fell injury caused by medicines' side effects
=> some policy pay some dont, pls check your policy on the policy exlusion on drugs and intoxication. most of the insurer pay should the medicine is consumed as prescribed by the doctors. In any event of claim, it will be look into case by case.


2) how do you make a claim (if possible) and what evidence/s do you need?
=> call, write and email ,fax the details to the insurer immediately after the accident. They will advice you what next to be done. Failure to notify the insurer promptly normally 30 days (pls check your policy) may cause nyou breach of policy condition which tentamount to claim repudiation.


[/quote]

[Rich_healthy]

Life is unpredictable.

[KLSE LOSSER]