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The Best Critical Illness Insurance In Singapore

With dozens of critical illness insurance plans in Singapore, including those by Cigna, MSIG, and AIG, what’s considered the best plan depends entirely on your unique needs and budget. One plan may work wonders for one person, but be the wrong fit for the other. 

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This is why any list of best critical illness insurance in Singapore is obsolete if it doesn’t delve into the factors like covered benefit, payout amounts, and more. Understanding the factors that the ranking is based on can help you decide which plan is best for you. 

Fortunately, this isn’t one of those lists. In this guide, we’ll first elaborate on the different elements of a critical illness insurance plan, and then provide some tips on comparing plans. 

Further reading: Looking for other types of expat insurance in Singapore? Our guide on the best medical insurance and best hospitalization insurance plans in Singapore might be worth checking out. 

What Is A Critical Illness Insurance Plan In Singapore?

In Singapore, a critical illness insurance plan offers a lump sum payout if the policyholder is diagnosed with a critical illness. Typically, only a set number of illnesses are covered and this varies from insurer to insurer. Common critical illnesses are cancer, heart disease, and stroke. 

Being diagnosed with a critical illness can be a huge shock and one that takes a toll on your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Too often, the exorbitant costs of medical care also make the diagnosis a financial burden. 

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Having a critical illness insurance plan in place will take your money worries away, and make sure you don’t have to rely on high-interest loans to pay off your medical bills. You can focus on what truly matters: getting the best care and recovering. 

But, of course, not all critical illness insurance plans were created equally. Let’s take a look at what you need to consider when comparing plans:

Critical Illnesses Covered

Critical illnesses covered differ from insurer to insurer. As the Life Insurance Association Singapore (LIA) has come up with a full list of 37 critical illnesses, you should use this list when comparing the critical illnesses covered by the insurer and/or plan in question. 

Here are some of the critical illnesses identified by the LIA:

  • Major Cancer
  • Heart Attack of Specified Severity
  • Stroke with Permanent Neurological Deficit
  • Coronary Artery By-pass Surgery 
  • End Stage Kidney Failure 
  • Irreversible Aplastic Anaemia
  • End Stage Lung Disease
  • End Stage Liver Failure 
  • Coma 
  • Deafness (Irreversible Loss of Hearing)

Stage Of Illness Covered

Sometimes a critical illness insurance plan will cover you even if you’re diagnosed in the early stages of an illness. Other plans might only cover intermediate or late-stage diagnosis, which is a scenario that’s far less common.

Those that cover early stages tend to be more expensive, but it might be worth getting if you think your chances of getting the illness are high. For example, if you have a family history of a condition. 

Amount Of Payout

Critical illness insurance plans will also vary based on the payout or amount of money they provide upon diagnosis of a critical illness. In insurance lingo, this is known as the ‘sum assured’. 

While the LIA recommends you to get a plan with a sum assured of around SGD $316,000, which amounts to 3.9 times the average annual pay of a Singaporean, you’re free to work out a figure that’s more suited to your own situation. 

Payout Options 

Single payouts are when the insurer will pay only once upon initial diagnosis of the critical illnesses. Multiple payouts, on the other hand, will allow you to make more than one claim if you suffer from a relapse of a critical illness. 

It’s no wonder that single payout plans are more common and that multiple-payout plans are more expensive. Which one you choose will depend on your budget, and whether or not you want to play it safe. 

How To Compare Best Critical Insurance Plans In Singapore

After you’ve familiarized yourself with what a critical insurance plan is and what elements go into one, you can look at and compare some critical illness insurance plan options in Singapore. From Cigna and AIG to MSIG and HSBC Life, you’ll find no shortage of plans to compare and choose from. 

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So, where do you begin? Here are some tips:

  • Evaluate your current health: Are you in good health? Do you have any pre-existing health conditions? Knowing your health status will give you a better idea of what to look for in terms of coverage.
  • Make sure you understand insurance jargon: Oftentimes, insurance lingo can be confusing. Don’t get thrown off by it and make sure nothing gets lost in translation by familiarizing yourself with key insurance terms.
  • Use an online insurance quotation tool: Rather than look up each insurer and plan individually, you can quickly compare multiple insurers and plans with a click of a button. Why not give our easy-to-use, online insurance quotation tool a try?
  • Short list plans based on a few key factors: You’ll want to consider a few key factors like insurer reputation, premium, and benefits (see the above section for guidance) when shortlisting insurers and plans.
  • Read the terms and conditions: Before deciding whether the plan is right for you, make sure you thoroughly read the insurance policy to make sure you’re aware of all the finer details, including any exclusions. Look up any jargon you don’t understand.
  • Enlist the help of a broker: If you’re not sure which plan best meets your needs, consider speaking to an experienced and impartial broker. They can help take the stress and hassle out of comparing plans, and ensure you find the best one. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What critical illnesses are most prevalent in Singapore?

The most prevalent critical illnesses in Singapore include cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, respiratory disease, and liver disease. With an aging population and unhealthy lifestyle, the number of critical illnesses is only set to rise. 

Is critical illness insurance coverage advantageous?

It can be very advantageous to have critical illness insurance coverage. This will ensure that you don’t have to rely on your savings or go without access to good care in the event that you do fall sick with a critical illness. 

Are there any downsides to critical illness insurance?

One main downside of critical illness insurance is that the payout is only made when a critical illness is diagnosed and a doctor confirms that the illness is in line with your policy’s definition of critical illness.

Do most critical illness insurance plans cover pre-existing conditions?

Most critical illness insurance plans don’t cover pre-existing conditions because insurers deem those with these conditions as higher risk for developing critical illnesses. With that said, it may be possible to get a critical illness insurance plan as long as the condition is excluded. 

Conclusion

Given that it’s not possible to rank critical illness insurance plans objectively, it’s very important that you consider your needs and compare them to what the plan offers when shopping around for critical illness insurance. 

As mentioned previously, don’t discount using a broker like us. With over two decades of experience, Pacific Prime offers impartial advice and tailored plan comparison. What’s more, we also provide heaps of support and assistance throughout your insurance journey. 

Contact us today!

Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime
Suphanida is a Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime, an award-winning global health insurance and employee benefits specialist.

With over 5 years of experience in the field, Suphanida spends the majority of her day synthesizing complex pieces of insurance-related information and translating this into easy-to-understand, engaging, and effective content across a variety of media such as articles, infographics, whitepapers, videos, and more.

Suphanida is also responsible for planning and publishing three whitepapers released annually by Pacific Prime: The State of Health Insurance Report, The Cost of Health Insurance Report, and The Global Employee Benefits Trends Report. Additionally, she handles the LinkedIn profiles of Pacific Prime’s Founder and CEO, as well as Global HR Lead.

Suphanida’s strengths lie in her strong research and analytical skills, which she has gained from her BA in Politics from the University of Warwick and Erasmus Mundus Joint MA in Journalism from Aarhus University and City, University of London.

Being of Thai-Indian origin and having lived, studied, and worked in Thailand, the UK, and Denmark, Suphanida also has a unique, multicultural perspective that helps her understand the struggles of expats and globetrotters.

Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to new places and immersing herself in different cultures.
Suphanida Thakral