Can I claim from medical insurance for asthma?

Last updated on November 4th, 2016 at 12:51 pm

Finally, clean air to breathe now that the haze is over, hooray! To purify the air at home for the little one, we bought a $500+ Sharp Air purifier a few weeks back from IMM. Air purifying models then were selling out fast, especially the more reputable ones! If you have a child at home with asthma (20% of all kids in SG has asthma!!), I hope you grabbed an air purifier for your family too because haze is a trigger for an asthma attack! I will share how your medical insurance works for such a scenario.

Does your child’s medical insurance cover asthma

If your child is sent to A&E from an asthma attack, medical staff will assess and try to stabilise your child’s condition there. I had a friend whose son had to be warded for 2 nights in KKH because the attack was severe. Her bill came up to be $801.95 for a class B2 ward and was filed to her medical insurance.

Do note that unless the asthma condition is deemed “pre-existing” (Means conditions already present before purchase of medical insurance), such bills should be claimable.

If your child is discharged from A&E instead, it is considered an outpatient treatment and largely NOT CLAIMABLE! However, NTUC Incomeshield allows claims from A&E if there is a minimum stay of 8 hours under their “short-stay ward” definition. It will be wise to consult your insurance adviser to know your actual coverage and be prepared.

Asthma attack overseas

If your child has asthma, you may consider “Enhanced PreX plan” by NTUC Income when going for overseas family trips. There are many reasons for an asthma attack such as air pollution, allergies to animals and even dusty hotel rooms. Unlike most travel insurance which will not pay for a pre-existing condition (not many people are aware of that!!), this plan provides your child coverage to overseas medical treatment and a 24hr emergency hotline for advice should an attack occur.

Click here for more information.

Tip: According to NTUC, the Enhanced PreX plan premium for a child travelling to Asia for five days is $9.50 more than the Deluxe Plan. You may choose the Enhanced PreX plan for your child only and purchase the normal deluxe plan for yourself.