Many people are not aware that Medisave-approved integrated medical insurance (shield) plans have a last payer status.
This means that if a person has other medical insurance, including medical benefits under any employment contract, which makes provision for reimbursement of medical expenses, the shield plan will be the last payer reimbursing the claim.
If a benefit has already been paid out by the integrated medical insurance, they are entitled to recover the money from the other insurance provider.
The problem with this ruling is that most people do not bother to make a claim on their other medical insurance policies (typically coverage provided by their company) once their initial claim has succeeded. The initial claim will usually be made with the integrated medical insurance as it is done seamlessly by the hospital at the point of admission.
The result is that many of these employment medical insurance benefits do not get claimed and the Medisave-approved integrated medical insurance (shield) plans ends up footing the bill. This is not healthy as excessive claims might lead to an overall increase in premiums over time.
NTUC Income has started a recovery promotion to reward their customers. IncomeShield holders who had made a claim with IncomeShield and have another medical insurance plan, can get $30 worth of Robinson vouchers if they file a claim with their other insurer and it is successful.
The notification must be between 1 July 2011 to 31 Dec 2011.
Looks like Income is declaring war. 🙂
Contact your servicing agent for more details of the terms and conditions.
To overcome this problem, hospital staff should be required to advise their respective patients upon admission accordingly, when claim is fresh, urgent & uppermost. Do u not agree ? General public education on such matters could be easily forgotten over time, as our memory is rather short.
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