Medishield-life licenses smokers to smoke EVEN MORE than ever before.
As I understand, where critical illness insurance is concerned, smokers have to pay premiums upwards of 50% loading. With the appended website stating:
"At age 20, the percentage difference is 50%, while at age 65, the percentage difference increases to 71%."Premiums for prudential's 'Early Crisis Cover Provider' which can be found @
http://s1123.photobucket.com/user/PR...arges.png.html and seems to follow the same loading trend thereabout.
However, for medishield-life (compulsory health insurance scheme), there is zero loading for smokers. Indeed, there is zero incentive awarded to Singaporeans who strive to keep healthy and fit, suffice to say, those with pre-existing disease not already covered by medishield are charged an extra 30% in premiums for the first 10 years. (30% is only half of the market rate loading for a currently 'healthy' smoker of 50-71% btw).
Oddly, the
MOH seems more intent on punishing those who don't or are late in their medishield-life premiums payments, even jailing them: as if a 17% late payment penalty isn't enoughwithout any concern for the original cause of high hospitalization bills in the first place: preventable lifestyle diseases caused by overeating, smoking, lack of exercise, alcohol over consumption, illicit drugs and the like. Perhaps the Minister of Health is smoked out by the smoke exhaled by smokers. Why else is he putting the cart before the horse (giving smokers a 'discount' but punishing the health conscious): (possibly the Minister of Health is a closet smoker: I wouldn't know).
Whatever the case, the message of medishield-life seems clear: it is
a gahmen policy to BENEFIT smokers at the expense of everyone else. Smokers and the health 'unconscious' can smoke all that they want, eat all the salty, sugary, low nutrition stuff, get drunk n wasted, a sexual orgy or two, laugh at other's exercising and expect to be served first when one needs a heart bypass or two; early retirement plus welfare payments due to needing dialysis 3 times a week: why not?
More people will feel stressed by high medishield-life premiums due to the Minister of Health giving smokers and other health 'unconscious' Singaporeans a better deal than what any private/ international insurer can offer: perhaps this punishing COMPULSORY $ insurance premiums would push more borderline health conscious persons into the dark side of smoking/ drugs/ alcohol as a result.
It will not be long before healthcare costs of Singaporeans balloons way over the moon.
If smokers and other health 'unconscious' folk do not have to pay 50-71% more in premiums at least (or the health conscious + fit be given equivalent discounts), please BAN cigarettes, sugary drinks, people with BMI>30 from any entertainment complex, close down geylang brothels, make STD a crime, limit consumption of alcoholic beverage to one unit per person per day etc like they ban ICE, heroin/ marijuana/ corruption...
Or else, just give the proven health conscious a decent discount (30%): a more do-able option.
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Sunday, 2 August 2015
The Insurance Cost of Being a Smoker
Last week, I blogged about the cost of buying insurance at different ages. This week, we will discuss the insurance cost of being a smoker.
The chart below shows the difference in annual premiums for a level term insurance with critical illness benefits for a male with a sum assured of $1 million covering until 70 years old. Using age 25 as an example, a non-smoker would pay $3,149 in annual premiums for 45 years until age 70, while a smoker would pay $4,936. The difference is $1,787, or 57% more. The total premiums payable over the whole duration of the policy is $80,415 more for the smoker.
 Difference in Insurance Premiums for Non-Smokers and Smokers
The percentage difference in annual premiums between non-smokers and smokers generally increases with age. At age 20, the percentage difference is 50%, while at age 65, the percentage difference increases to 71%. Thus, from an insurance point of view, it pays to quit smoking. If you have friends who are smokers, please share this blog post with them.
The above analysis is carried out based on level term insurance. There are other insurance products such as whole-life, reducing term and endowment insurance available on compareFIRST.sg. You can carry out similar analysis to determine how much you could save in insurance premiums by quitting smoking!
http://boringinvestor.blogspot.sg/20...ng-smoker.html |
