Re-defining Critical Illnesses

Do you know that Cancer is the leading cause of death in Singapore, at 28.8% of total deaths in 2018? Source

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Everyone would have heard of critical illness (CI) insurance and most likely would have some insurance coverage protecting oneself financially in the event of critical illnesses.

If you have gotten your CI insurance, I do hope you still remember how it works for you.

Allow me to give you a recap: typical CI insurance will provide a lump sum payout to the life insured upon diagnosis of a critical illness, and the policy will terminate when the chosen sum insured is fully paid out.

Which means to say, you no longer have critical illnesses insurance and you may face a high wall in getting yourself insured again for CI!

"What if I have a relapse or secondary cancer?"

You might have heard of stories of people who have battled one type of cancer only to develop another, and these are called secondary cancers.

Unfortunately, you do not get the insurance payout if your critical illness insurance terminate upon on your first claim.

Not to worry, insurers are always thinking ahead and designing policies according to the consumers' needs. Hence, there are CI insurance plans out there now with multiple claims feature that will set your mind at ease. Do feel free to speak to me about the current CI insurance plans available.

"I already have such a plan to cover for my CI needs"

This is sweet music as I am happy that you did your part in protecting yourself & your loved ones from any financial burden in the event of critical illness(es)!

"So what is next?"

This article today is to keep you updated that there will be a change in the definition of critical illnesses by LIA. This change will take effect on and from 26 August 2020.

Here are two examples of the change:

1. Heart Attack of Specified Severity - "Death of heart muscle due to obstruction of blood flow" will be revised to "Death of heart muscle due to ischaemia" to make it clear that both Type 1 and Type 2 Myocardial Infarction are covered.

2. Deafness [Loss of Hearing] - "Deafness [Loss of Hearing]" will be amended to "Deafness [Irreversible Loss of Hearing]" to recognise the possibility of future medical treatments that can restore hearing to some level as medical advances are made.

Of the 37 critical illnesses defined under the LIA framework, there are changes to the headers of 14 of them and changes have been made in 21 of the definitions.

Overview of the headers of critical illness conditions and their respective changes in bold.

An asterisk (*) indicates there are changes to the wording of their definitions. Source

Read more in detail about the changes here.

"How will this impact me?"

The main essence is that the definitions have been made more specific, to be clearer when it comes to making claims. And when claims are kept in rein, it helps to keep the premiums affordable to the general public.

LIA added that existing CI insurance policies will not be impacted by the new definitions.

In case you kancheong, click here to speak to us to understand more first lah!

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