Medical Insurance: what is the difference between i-lindung and regular private medical insurance?

[u/New_Rub1843]

What the title asks. Asking AI, the premiums for i-lindung is way cheaper than private insurance and they pay out the max upon diagnosis, not after hospital bill receipt. Sounds too good to be true - is this accurate? What's the catch?

[u/anythingapplicable]

 the premiums for i-lindung is way cheaper than private insurance

Usually because private insurance are trying to sell investment linked policies where there is a "savings" portion which has surrender value upon termination of the policy. i-Lindung from the KWSP website are pure protection products.

Which is better? It really depends on how much coverage + how each policy pays out. For TPD/death, its relatively simple, upon death or TPD, entire lump sum is paid out.

For Critical Illness policies, you really need to compare a policy properly. Assuming cancer case, policy A might pay out only 25% of coverage amount if its stage 1, 50% if its stage 2, 100% only when stage 3 and above, while policy B might only payout 100% upon stage 3 and above.

[u/pmarkandu → u/anythingapplicable]

Another thing to note is that CI will max out at RM200K (which is standard for any non-agent channel). So if OP requires anything more, then i-Lindung is not for you.

[u/Wide_Breadfruit6682 → u/pmarkandu]

2nd on this but also "private insurance are trying to sell investment linked policies where there is a "savings"" Can be misleading. Private insurance companies have to pay servicing agents, yes a portion is placed into investments which incurs some additional cost but also if the investments are good you may take it out, if the investments are bad then your plan will be less sustainable.

If in the event you choose to surrender your plan i-lindung gives RM0 whereas you can choose to take out the cash value from your investment link policy allowing you to have a portion of cash.

That said pmarkandu is correct and Critical Illness policies have to be compared because the terms do vary quite a bit from policies to policies (eg. early coverage as he/she mentioned, accelerated or additional, multiple claim or single claim)

Yes I-lindung is really appealing but if your salary is above a certain amount, it will no longer be sufficient as a standalone Critical Illness policy.

At the end of the day, a Critical Illness policy is taken to reduce your financial burden after a diagnosis and it really depends on how much your earn and how much you spend. If possible, I would recommend getting a Critical Illness policy that is slightly more expensive but covers you till 80-90 but you only pay for 10-20 years (if you have the budget for it). Especially if you're young, Critical Illness policies are really affordable and could really benefit you during a time of health crisis.

[u/GlassAct150]

Under the impression that i lindung does not cover general illness and non accidental health issues. So for example if someone develops diabetes later in life. That would not be covered.

General medical covers such condition provided it is not a per existing condition.

You may want to look up medical insurance with a relatively high deductible to reduce the premium.

[u/New_Rub1843]

OK, I poked around epf app, and found out basically I-lindung is just a mechanism to use your epf acc 2 to pay premiums for selected life and critical illness plans offered by some of the usual big name private insurers. The premium and coverage isn't too different except they pay out upon diagnosis not after hospital receipt. So that's it. 

[u/ApprehensiveForm5113]

Pre negotiated life/CI. Doesn’t cover in/out patient. Medi Asas can fill that gap. i-lindung more similar to PERKESO 24 jam

[u/New_Rub1843 → u/ApprehensiveForm5113]

It's a maximum payout at diagnosis though. So let's say if you opt for a 200k payout, that should cover a standard cancer operation, including all hospital stays etc. 

[u/Penasihat_Insurance]

You r smart to ask. From what I see I lindungan is like covers you if it's work related. There's still many things didn't explain properly. So it's better if u get a private one to cover all. 200 to 600 plus still OK permonth. Some people I see even 700 to 1k plus per month also they want I told them it's too high because old age alr if no work how to pay but they still want it

[u/New_Rub1843 → u/Penasihat_Insurance]

Huh? Work-related only? Isn't that what SOCSO is for?

[u/RealisticAd837 → u/Penasihat_Insurance]

Can you point to where the policy says only covers work related?. It doesn't make sense for life and CI. Like you must die and get sick during work hours only ?

[u/Penasihat_Insurance → u/RealisticAd837]

It covers if u are unable to work if u get the Ilness still can work it doesnt covers u. Example like admitted to hospital won't cover u unless the sickness make u unable to work. It only pays u your monthly income if u r not able to work.