How an Integrated Shield Plan Saved My Client.

2018 Q4 and 2019 H1 passed in a flash for me. It was the litmus test of my conviction in this Financial Services Industry since I started out in April 2011. My young client, Andy, got admitted into Gleneagles Hospital after experiencing chest pain and giddiness. Like a typical call I received in such situation, I’ll assured the family that the medical expenses are covered if they are required to be admitted. For his case, he was covered under his Integrated Shield Plan + Full Rider (bought before Mar 2018 before the new co-payment guidelines kicked in).

The situation on 19th Nov 2018 was dramatic. First, his BP was so low that it could not be detected. Then we were advised that the doctors suspected a Heart Attack from the ECG done. That came as a surprise because his last few years of Full Medical Check were all normal. So an Angiogram was called to check for blockage, which ironically showed no blockages at all. So we thought this news came as a huge relief. I remembered I gave him a thumbs up before I left visiting him at GEH. Came evening, we received a call that Andy’s heart was failing, and had to be immediately put on life support, the ECMO machine and ventilator. Subsequent checks concluded that he had a Fulminant Heart Attack and he would go on to be on life support for the next 4 weeks. There were complications and further surgeries done during this period of distress. Within 2 weeks the estimated bill was ~$175k excluding Doctors’ fee. And within a month, it ballooned to ~$341k.

During this period, a few family conference was called to discuss possible outcomes. As the Doctors shared, in most situations, family members would have been left with no choice but to give up due to the astronomical medical bill, in the midst of an uncertain outcome. In other cases, if there’s is still hope and monies isn’t the problem, they would ask family members not to give up. So we hanged in there. Day by day, the family would arrange someone to be by Andy’s side for peace of mind. I continue to monitor the daily SMS that GEH updated on the outstanding bills. It was a bit of a hassle, as the Principle Doctor was not under the Insurer’s panel of specialist. But in any case, what was more important was Andy’s miracle recovery. He regained consciousness almost after 1 month on life support and sedation. He was almost reduced to bones at this point, with no food intake throughout since Day 1.

It then took about 3-4 weeks of recover after regaining consciousness, complicated by an incident of a burst artery. At the point which we estimated the total bill to be around $800k to $850k, we then made the decision to transfer him to National Heart Centre to continue his recovery, such that there would be any out-of-pocket expenses within the Policy Year. Andy would eventually be discharged from SGH on 5th Mar 2019, after being hospitalized for 107 days or 3 months & 15 days! The claims took a while to process, with over 200+ pages of itemized bill, and eventually coming up to $867,710. And luckily follow ups were all covered within the next 365 days.

Above: Claims Settlement of $812,578 for the Private Hospitalization

Eventually, the follow up treatments to the Doctors and Physiotherapists would amount to an additional of $18,438 over multiple visits.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that insurance is the foundation of any financial plan. Without proper Protection & Hospitalization planning, our long term financial goals could be derailed and jeopardized. I am glad that I held true to my belief in striving to be the preferred partner in my clients’ “Journey to Financial Clarity”.

NB: Information presented is correct based on Dec 2019

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