subject: Remember This When Buying Medical Card in Malaysia - Part 1 [print this page] Nowadays, everybody needs a medical cardNowadays, everybody needs a medical card. With the rising medical cost, it is totally insane if somebody believes that medical card is unnecessary. Almost all the insurance company in Malaysia offers medical plan for you to choose, and they havepackaged their medicalinsurance plan in its own unique way. It is up to you to choose suitable package for yourself and family. Some people like to think that as long they have a medical card; then it should be fine, and I can tell you these people will definitely regret later. Plan your needs before deciding on the medical plan.
Here are few things that I want to share with you about medical cards in Malaysia, which you could use it when deciding your medical card package:
Compare between few companies and packages. Don't fall for agents promises. When you need to use the card, the agents won't be standing next to you to prepare the claims.
Check whether the package that you're choosing is the directclaim type or the traditional pay-and-claim type. Some companies offer a veryattractive premium for the medical insurance plans with overall limit of up to RM400,000, but it is a pay-and-claim type. That means, when you're hospitalized for whatever reason, you have to pay the bills and then submit the bills to insurance company for reimbursement. If your billsaccumulates tofew hundred each visit, then it is still fine. How if your bills add up to thousands of dollars? Think about this carefully, when choosing you medical card package.
Also check the co-insurance charges that comes with your medical card. This chargeswasintroduced sometime back in Malaysia to avoid misuse of the medical card. The common co-insurance rate at the moment is 10%, with some capping on minimum and maximum. This is where, you have to be careful. Here is an example of Mr.A and Mr.B having medical card from Company A and Company B respectively.
Example: Company A: co-insurance 10% (maximum RM500)
Company B: co-insurance 10% (minimum RM300 & maximum RM1000)
Now, Mr.A and Mr.B were at the same hospital, and was billed RM250 each for their treatment. How, much do you think they have to pay on their co-insurance?
Mr. A will have to pay RM25 (because Company A only sets 10% co-insurance charge)
Mr. B will have to pay RM250 (because Company B set minimum co-insurance of RM300)
Can you see what a big difference does it make? If this is one-off treatment, then it doesn't soundso bad. Imagine you have to go for follow-up checkup and you're charged RM250 for every visit. I did this mistake with my medical card and stillregretting with it. However, I did this mistake because no one there to explain this to me. But you should not make this mistake after reading this article. Check and double check with your agent, and cross check with other companies and agents.
I don't want to overload you with all these tips. I will share more information related to medical cards in Malaysia in Part 2 of this series.
Remember This When Buying Medical Card in Malaysia - Part 1
