Medical insurance exclude "pre-existing conditions"

Dear Mr. Tan,

I work in a small company. Recently, my company engaged a broker to place our employee insurance. The group medical insurance arranged by the new broker excludes "pre-existing illness". Many employees had their existing medical conditions excluded, when they were covered by the previous medical insurance scheme. How can we get covered for these conditions?

REPLY

Under normal circumstance, the "pre-existing condition" should only exclude the serious conditions. It should not exclude the minor conditions. It is the broker's duty to get the best coverage for your company.

If the broker is not able to arrange a better coverage, it is better for the company to give a cash sum to each employee, so that the employee can buy a personal Shield plan. This Shield plan will continue even after the employee leaves the company or retires from work. This is the concept of "portable" medical insurance.