As prudent financial planning, this means that you should ideally have stashed away at least $3,000 per year per person in your household in your emergency fund to prepare for any unexpected hospitalisation bills alone....
If you have a private hospitalisation insurance (Integrated Shield plan) with riders, you will now need to pay 5% co-payment in the event that you claim for a bill.
Prior to April 2019, all IP insurers offered full riders that allowed consumers to enjoy zero co-payment regardless of bill size. This, however, has since been phased out by the Ministry of Health, and effective April 2021 (today), all IP policyholders will be subject to the 5% co-payment requirement...yes, even if you had bought a full rider prior to the 2019 change.
How will this affect me?
As consumers, this means that we will no longer be able to claim 100% of our hospitalisation bills. Instead, you will now need to pay 5%, although this amount has been capped at $3,000.
