It’s not uncommon to have multiple insurance plans. For example, if you are a Singaporean or Permanent Resident, you'd have health insurance coverage under an Integrated Shield Plan; and if you're employed in Singapore, it’s likely that you also have health insurance coverage under your company’s group insurance plan.  

Which policy to make a claim on

So, what’s the best way to make a claim if you have more than one health policy? And what should you do if each policy has different claim limits?

While you may think that you have to go with the policy that adequately covers your claim amount, this is not necessarily true. If the claim limit on one plan is insufficient to cover your hospital claim amount, you can claim the remaining amount from your other insurance plan.

The only thing that you should remember as the policyholder is that you have the right to settle your claim with any one of your insurers.

And as a general rule of thumb, always go with your company’s group hospital insurance first.

Why you should leverage your company’s group hospital insurance cover first

In order to get the most out of your different policies and protect your finances (after all, isn’t that what insurance is all about?), it’s always wise to tap on your company’s group hospital insurance first, leaving your personal Shield plan as the last option for a claim.

Benefits of claiming from your company’s group hospital insurance first

1) Reduce your out-of-pocket expenses

• For example, deductible and co-insurance, which aren’t covered by your Shield plan may potentially be covered by your company group hospital insurance.
  

2) Maintain the claim limit on your personal health insurance

• If you need hospitalisation again in the same policy year, your hospitalisation bill can still be covered as you maintain the claim limit on your personal health insurance.
  
• If you've already made a claim on your personal Shield policy, you could still maintain the claim limit on your personal insurance. For instance, if you're a Singlife Shield policyholder, Singlife will restore the respective claim limit for the rest of your policy year by the amount recovered from your company group insurance.

How to claim from your company’s group hospital insurance

On the day of your admission, simply inform the business office at your selected hospital that you’d like to claim the hospitalisation bill and any out-of-pocket expenses from your company’s group hospital insurance first before tapping into your personal Shield plan.

You’ll need to get a Letter of Guarantee (LOG) from your group insurer and provide it to the hospital on the day of your admission. With the LOG, the hospital will liaise directly with your company’s group insurer on your hospital bill upon your discharge.

If you did not claim from your company’s group insurance first, simply submit a copy of your Inpatient Discharge Summary, Shield Claim Settlement Notice and your hospital bill to your company’s group insurer. Your financial adviser representative can also help you with this. You can also consult your Human Resource department on how to submit medical claims for employees.

Remember, claims recovery should be submitted to your insurer the soonest possible as generally there’s a cut-off period for claims submission, depending on the policy terms.

Now that you know how to make a claim on your company’s group hospital insurance first, you can focus on your recovery without worrying about reduced limits on your personal Shield plan in future.