Malaysians with medical insurance coverage normally are covered by local insurance companies. In JB, many people like to go to Singapore to seek medical treatment because of their advance medical industry.
Seeking medical treatment isn't cheap in Singapore, now adds to the pain is the extreme high currency exchange rate. Malaysia ringgit has depreciated against Singapore dollar by about 20% during the past two to three months.
Another problem with treatment in Singapore is the local insurer will not pay the medical bill in full. Insured will be reimbursed on a reasonable and customary rate basis. Meaning the insured can only claim the amount similar to seeking treatment in Malaysia. Current exchange rate is not considered, travelling cost in between two countries is not considered, the high medical cost there is not considered.
Another scenario can be an expatriate who is sent to oversea to work for more than 90 days. Any medical treatment after the 90th days won't be entertained by local insurer as well. The insured must come back to Malaysia after that.
Apparently, International medical insurance is needed by certain groups of people here. International medical insurance takes away he above two limitations. Imagine a businessman who travels to countries every now and then would be better protected when medical needs arise during his trip.
We may be familiar with hospitals and procedures in Malaysia or Singapore, but I think we will all be panic if we are in India, Brazil or France. We know nothing about their medical system. That's why international medical insurance comes into handy.
UltraCare, this International medical card, comes in four plans and quoted in USD. The lowest plan has annual limit of USD1.5mil (approx RM6.45mil). Local medical cards now has annual limits of RM1.5mil, highest.
Right now, the premium is quite high to general public. My own experience is middle class income earner can barely keep up with rising insurance premium. So, this international medical insurance is place more to high net worth individuals.
The good news is the insurer will come come out a new insurance that will be priced between the two.
The good news is the insurer will come come out a new insurance that will be priced between the two.
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