Eight in 10 Singaporeans without CI experience fret over medical bills: survey

Almost 30% of CI patients incur more than S$250,000 in medical and hospital bills.

There exists a critical illness (CI) protection gap amongst Singaporeans, with 81% of those who haven’t had a CI experience worried about paying their medical bills, and nearly three-quarters of them concerned about losing their income whilst caring for parents or relatives who were ill, according to a Great Eastern report.

Over 50% of CI patients and their caregivers (experiencers) depend on insurance payouts to manage their financial expenses. Almost 30% of them incur more than S$250,000 in medical and hospitalisation bills for their entire recovery duration with nearly 40% having no income for at least 12 months.

Almost three in four (73%) of the experiencers are willing to pay higher premiums for more protection against various CIs or relapses in the future, and over 80% regretted not getting more coverage. Over 50% of them believe that they will have multiple occurrences of CIs.

On the other hand, almost 40% of the surveyed non-CI patients and those who have not cared for a CI patient before are unwilling to pay more for a new insurance plan to get higher protection.

Not being aware of the benefits of a CI plan is also a key barrier to them getting one, the insurer said.

For the non-experiencers who own CI plans, nearly half of them think they have sufficient coverage. Close to half (45%) who have no CI plans are not worried about their lack of coverage as they assume that their existing medical plans (MediSave/MediShield/Integrated Shield plans) are sufficient.