Successful Insurance Claims

I helped my uncle on an Insurance Claims with NTUC Income for his Lung Cancer last week.

I'm pleasantly surprised on how fast and hassle-free the process can be. I submitted the claims form together with the Doctor's statement which cost $50. They told me that they will ask for the medical report from the hospital directly.

The claims dept called me today, 6 working days after I submitted the forms. They informed me that the cheque is ready and asked me to fax the $50 receipt for the Doctor's Statement for claiming as well. (Very surprised that the $50 also can claim)

Well Done. NTUC Income. This experience reinforces my earlier posting on 15th May with regards to another person's insurance claims with 5 Insurance Companies. I'm truly Impressed. Simply cannot understand why there are still people bad-mouthing the company, saying that claims is hard with them.

千人宴 - Thousand People Banquet

I attended an interesting Wedding Banquet in Batu Pahat (Malaysia) last Sunday. Batu Pahat was around 2 hours drive from JB.

The hall was filled with 108 tables which means that there are over 1000 people. This is so far the largest wedding banquet I had attended. The food was marvelous despite the large number of people present.

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The couple invited few young talented singers to sing during the banquet and one of them is the cousin of the groom. I was truly impressed by their singing and feel they are easily eligible for the Campus Superstars.

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The father of the Groom made used of this chance to donate varying amount of money to many charitable organisations and schools. The couple then present momentos and cheques to the representative of the Charities. The event was graced by several Datuks.

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Its one of the most interesting wedding banquet I had attended. An event, which to me, seemingly to have some traces of political and commercial motivation. Notewithstanding these, the couple certainly looks great and obviously the main casts for the day.

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I wish the couple a blissful and happy marriage.

Protection against Fire at Home

I remembered an incident while I was handling insurance enquiries in my company last year. A middle aged lady walked in, begging to buy a Home Insurance. We asked why, she said that she wants to buy now because her house was burnt down last week and hope we can pay.

Of course, we told her that it is not possible to buy now to claim what was burnt last week. She was devastated and we told her to seek help from her MP. There was nothing that we can do. SAD...

From that incident, I realised that it is paramount we protect our most important asset, which is our house. Home Sweet Home...

2 things we need in the house.

1) Fire Extinguisher
* If Fire is small. Fight with your might with the Extinguisher.

2) Home Insurance
* If fire too big, Run for your Life. Let the Insurance pay what you will lose.
* Make sure the insurance plan covers the a) Building, b) Renovation and your c) Content.
* If your house is under HDB Loan, you will most probably have the AIG insurance that covers the building only. Then you better get an additional one that covers the renovation and content.

=> Fire extinguisher can buy from Hardware shops and places like Singapore Post. Cost ard $25-$30.
=> Home Insurance? Can buy online too from Insurance Companies too. Quite hasslefree.

So. Don't play play. Buy before its too late.

Quit Smoking - Part 2

People keep smoking because they can find all the reason to smoke and cannot find strong reason to quit. They know the health risk, they know its no good, but most do not care.

To release the mental addiction, the smoker must

1) Really decide to quit

2) Know the reason for quitting

3) Get rid of temptations

4) Set a dateline

5) Stay positive, withstand the withdrawal symptoms and manage future temptations

For more structured method, you may look out below useful site:

http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?pg_id=2566

To Release the Physical addiction, the smoker can make use of some products to help:

They are basically Nicotine patches, Chewing Gums and pills that contain Nicotine. All these products can help relieve some physical addiction for Nicotine from smoking.

They can be purchased in Singhealth Pharmacies and some Guardian Pharmacies.

I hope these info can help those who have intention to quit smoking. The most important thing is, you must make the decision to quit first.

Quit Smoking - Part 1

Why is it so hard to quit smoking?

I wrote this because my uncle was diagnosed with Lung Cancer recently. I accompanied him to hospital over 10 times during a short span of 1.5months. I had seen how his health get worse and suffers during each visit. He smokes 30 sticks of cigarettes daily perviously. He is only 45 yrs old with 3 young girls to take care. He is still fighting the cancer. I hope I can help some smokers quit.

Physical Addiction:
Common withdrawal symptoms: Feeling irritable, anxious, depressed and difficulty concentrating.
The body craves for the nicotine it normally receives from cigarettes.

Mental Addiction:
It is the behavioural aspect of breaking the smoking habit. Eg, the habit of smoking after meal, the habit of smoking with a group of friends, the feeling of holding and puff the cigarettes

It is both the physical and behavioural aspects to smoking which make you want to reach for the next cigarette.
For those who have not pick up this habit. Remember the below phase:

"It is the first stick of cigarette that may kills you one day, not the last stick!"

Deal or No Deal

Came across a website on this game. Found it quite interesting. Its a no brainer game compared to "Who wants to be a Millionaire", but its certainly exciting and fun.

Try it:
http://www.dealornodeal.com.sg/game.htm

A True Insurance Claims Story

Below is a true story extracted from regarding his insurance Claims for his brother.
http://patlim.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-real-life-claims-experience.html
(So now you can see who give problem when it comes to claims)

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I would like to share my very recent real life experiences on a death claim with 5 insurance companies which includes the big 4 insurers (in random order):

AIA
Sum Assured: $20,000 Endowment Policy
Taken up in the late 80s. very unpleasant customer service encounter with the female customer service officer which necessistated the customer service manager (at my request) to be involved. no empathy factor. claim procedure required signing of clinical abstact form which begs the question as to why? because the policy DOES NOT COVER CRITICAL ILLNESSES and already 20 years has past since the policy was incepted. need to produce original certificates, ids and even the will as well as original policy document which was retained.status: claim still not paid.

Great Eastern Life
Sum asured: third party policy with waiver of premium (total to be waived <$15,000)policy on life of proposer's child taken in the 90s. relatively simple claim procedure with only the original death certificate required to be produced.status: claim admitted.

Manulife
Sum Assured: >$100,000
Needed 3 visits to settle claim procedures. but overall, satisfactory experience with this insurer. original certificates, ids, will and policy document needed. original policy document was retained.status: claim admitted. cheque of settlement still not received today.

NTUC-Income
Sum Assured: <$100,000 (2 policies)customer service officer who attended to me did not insist on need to produce original certificates, ids and policies. extremely easy and painless claim procedure without the need to sign clinical abstract forms or procure attending physician's statement. status: very impressive! first policy claim paid after 3 working days with the second just 2 days later. cheques banked in. two thumbs up to ntuc-income.

Prudential
Sum Assured: <$30,000
Alas, 3 visits required because the first 2 customer service officers who attended to me omitted sounding out certain requirements which were subsequently complied with. original certificates, ids, will and original policy document must be produced but i can't help but noticed very rigid adherence to company's rules which not only necessistated obtaining signing 3 copies of clinical abstract forms but also the need to procure the attending physician's statement. this is highly unusual because the policy is firstly a quarter of a century old (what is there to uncover here?) and more significantly, DOES NOT COVER CRITICAL ILLNESSES. and but of course, the original policy document was retained.status: claim still not paid.

Introducing my "Lovely" Pet

The picture above is my Lovely Pet. Coincidently, her name is "Lovely" too. She was named Lovely because we want our house to be lovely place to stay in always. She is a local breed rabbit, borned in Aug06. Given by a friend.

Rabbits are very intelligent animals and make wonderful pets. They listen to commands just like Cats and Dogs. They know where their toliet is. They will come and lick your feet when they want someone to pet them. They play with you by hopping around you. They are very clean and smell-less. They have an average lifespan of 8 yrs.

Sad to say. There are many people who abused Rabbits.

1) They buy because they are cute, but when novelty wears off, they throw them in the park.

2) They do not sterilise their rabbit and they multiply real fast.

3) They neglect their rabbits. Many die through stavation or diseases.

I have to say that Lovely brought a lot of joy into my family. If you are ready to adopt a pet, Rabbit is a good choice. I'm currently looking for a friend for her. If possible, don't buy, "ADOPT"...

Some things about Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer is the most common woman cancer which strike every 1 in 20 woman. More younger woman
are also succumbing to Breast Cancer than before.

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Who has higher Risk for Breast Cancer? Those who
* Start menstruation before 12 rather than after 14 yrs old
* Reach menopause after the age of 54 rather than 45
* Have a mother, grandmother, sister or aunt with breast Cancer. The risk will be around 2.5 times higher
* Have first child after 30 yrs old or have no children at all. (Biggest factor for recent rise of breast cancer)

Symptoms of Breast Cancer
* In the early stage, there are usually no pain and no symptoms at all. As the cancer grow, the follow symptoms appears:
a) Persistent lump or thickening in the breast or armpit area
b) Change in skin or skin colour around breast, areola or nipple
c) Newly retracted(pulled in) nipple
d) Blood or discharge from the nipple
e) Change in breast size

Some truth of Breast Cancer
1) Breast Cancer is not a death sentence. It can be cured if detected early.
2) Most breast lump are not cancerous. So do not panic if detected to have lump. Stay cool and consult your doctor.
3) Up to 10% of Breast Cancer may be missed by mammograms.
4) The amount of radiation from mammography equipment is very low. Do not fear on radiation exposure or pain and keep you away from checkups
5) Breast Cancer lump tend to be painless, hard, fixed in position. They may grow very fast or very slowly.
6) Mastectomy(removal of breast) is not required for all breast cancer thanks to new technologies.

Protect yourself
* Do a monthly self-examination
* Go for Mammogram every yr or onces in 2 yrs (esp for those above 40 yrs old)
- A Mammogram cost around $50 if done at X-ray centres in Polyclinics
* Exercise regularly, have a balanced diet and breast-feed your babies can reduce your risk.

Necessity of another costly MRT line?

Government approves $12billion MRT downtown line to be built by 2018.
I do not support this decision.

1) The viability of the Circles Line is still unknown. It seems too hasty to approve another costly MRT Line.
2) The current lines are already very dense. There are unlikely much time savings for commuters using the new line.
3) New MRT Lines likely will result in removal of many existing bus services. May affect convenience.
4) Existing Lines are not run to maximum capacity yet. Moreover Circles line are in the pipeline.

Probably
1) Regardless the lines are making profit or loss, our Million Dollar Ministers will be able to justify anyway.
2) When the lines are making a loss, our fares will just rise. Who cares anyway.
3) The projects will be given to all our Temasek Linked Companies anyway. Its the government earning back the money.
4) Our ministers don't use the MRT anyway, they don't know the frustration of changing the MRT lines and having to walk long distances up and down the stations.

Why Medishield pays so little???

Someone wrote with obvious frustration to the Straits Times Forum page few months ago, complaining that Medishield only pays $1,438 for a $50,000 Hospital Bill, a mere 3% of the total bill.

Many people still don't realise the danger of relying on Medishield to cover their Hospital Bill. Let me share this danger with you.
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1) Medishield have very low Benefit Limits
a) Max $250/day for Daily Room and Boards (Bed charges, Medication, and all other medical related services)
b) Max $1,100 claimable for the most complicating surgery (Operation Cost)

2) Co-insurance Component
a) Deductible - $1,000 for C ward, $1,500 for B2 and above (Initial amount to pay in the hospital bill)
b) Co-insurance - 10-20% (percentage of balance amount to pay after the settling deductible)

3) Low Outpatient treatment limits
Claimable as low as $150/7days for Chemotheraphy, $80/day for Radiotheraphy, etc...

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Give you an example:
Mr Tan stays in Hospital A ward for 10 days for a Heart Transplant(Table 7 ops).
He is covered under Medishield.

Room and Board Charges - $7,000
Operation Charges - $18,000
Total Bill - $25,000

Claimable
Room and Board - $250 x 10 = $2,500
Operation Charges - $1,100
Total Claimable - $3,300
Less Deductible - $1,500
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$1,800 (after deductible)
Less Co-ins $180
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$1,620 (to claim from Medishield)

(Mere 6.5% of total bill claimable)
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Medishield is for stays in C or B2 wards. You never know when you may need to stay in higher wards. Don't take chance. Don't be Penny wise pound fool. Upgrade yourself to a better plan...