Being a new parent comes with plenty of responsibilities. Never-ending diapers change, feeding the little one every three hours, and not having enough sleep are just some of the usual challenges that every parent can expect to face.
Beyond the day-to-day caregiving, one crucial yet often overlooked aspect of parenthood is ensuring your child has the right insurance coverage. In this article, we’ll break down the essential insurance policies new parents should consider to protect their newborn’s health and future.
Why You Should Buy Baby Insurance Policies For Your Newborn As Early As Possible
Your financial adviser might give you several reasons to buy insurance for your newborn as soon as possible, but it all boils down to one key factor—insurability.
If your baby is born healthy, without complications or congenital conditions, they will have a clean bill of health. This means they can qualify for full coverage with no exclusions or additional loading fees on premiums. However, if an illness or medical condition develops later, it may affect their ability to get coverage or result in higher costs.
This works the same way as buying insurance when we’re young—before any health issues arise. The longer you wait to get health insurance for your baby, the greater the risk of an unexpected condition surfacing, which could make securing coverage more difficult.
Even a one-off incident, such as a fit, which is rather common, may lead to an underwriter requiring additional information and details during the application process when you buy a baby insurance policy. The underwriter may even exclude the condition from coverage or reject the application altogether.
Now that we’ve covered why early coverage is important, let’s explore the essential insurance policies you should consider for your newborn.
Private Integrated Shield Plan
All Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) are covered under MediShield Life from birth. This is regardless of any pre-existing conditions that they may have.
However, you may want to consider buying a private integrated shield plan for your newborn as soon as you can. This not only provides them with coverage at higher-class wards in public and private hospitals, but also covers the bulk of the cost arising from medical treatments that are required in the hospital. In our view, it’s the most important baby insurance policy that you need to buy for your newborn, as early as possible.
At a young age, newborns are particularly vulnerable to falling sick as they have yet to build up their immunity system. Also, unlike adults who are able to express their discomfort, babies can’t communicate to us how they are feeling besides crying. So, at this young age, doctors may err on the side of caution when treating a baby and may recommend an overnight stay or two in the hospital for observation.
A private integrated shield plan will cover a large part of the cost that you may incur should the need to be admitted to the hospital arises. Do note that insurers have a requirement for your baby to be 15 days old or has been discharged from the hospital, whichever is later before your baby can be insured. In other words, you can’t insure your child immediately against hospitalisation when they have not yet been discharged for the first time from the hospital.
Today, there are a total of seven insurers in Singapore which provide these private integrated shield plans that you can choose from.
AIA: AIA HealthShield Gold Max
Great Eastern: Supreme Health
HSBC Life: HSBC Life Shield
Income: IncomeShield
Prudential: PruShield
Raffles Health Insurance: Raffles Shield
Singlife: Singlife Shield
Similar to MediShield Life, annual premiums for your private integrated shield plans can be paid for using your Medisave. Any additional rider needs to be paid using cash.
While it’s important to choose a plan that offers comprehensive coverage, policyholders should also consider the long-term affordability of their premiums—not just what they are paying today, but whether they can comfortably sustain the costs in the future.
Read Also: Complete Guide To Buying A Private Integrated Shield Plan
Critical Illness Plan; Term Or Whole Life?
There are two parts to this question, so let’s address them separately. First, why should you consider getting a Critical Illness (CI) plan?
It’s a difficult reality to accept, but the truth is that critical illnesses can affect anyone—including children—at any time.
While a Private Integrated Shield Plan (IP) covers most hospital treatment costs, a Critical Illness Plan provides a lump sum payout that can be used for alternative treatments, medication and home care arrangements.
For example, if a child is diagnosed with a critical illness, one parent may choose to pause their career to become the primary caregiver. A CI plan helps bridge the financial gap, ensuring the family can manage expenses without added financial stress. In essence, it provides much-needed financial relief when families need it most.
Whole Life Or Term? Which Type Of Critical Illness Plan Should You Choose?
When it comes to insuring a child, a whole life insurance plan may be a more affordable and strategic option for parents. This is because most whole life plans have a limited pay period, typically around 20 years, after which coverage continues for life with no further premiums required.
This means your child can carry critical illness coverage into adulthood without needing to pay anything extra.
While a term insurance plan comes with lower annual premiums, it requires ongoing payments each year for as long as the policy remains in effect, either by the parents now or by the child in the future.
Newborns have two key advantages when it comes to whole life insurance.
First, they pay lower premiums compared to adults for the same level of coverage. Since insurers classify adults as higher-risk due to age, premiums increase accordingly. By purchasing a whole life plan early, parents lock in lower rates for their child.
Second, since a newborn has their entire life ahead of them, their whole life policy is likely to provide coverage for a much longer period compared to someone who buys a policy later in life.
In short, a whole life insurance plan not only costs less for a newborn but also provides longer-lasting protection, making it a valuable long-term financial decision.
Personal Accident Plan
Lastly, consider getting a personal accident plan for your baby, as it provides coverage for accidents, illnesses, and injuries.
Personal accident plans are a type of general insurance policy that offers financial protection in the event of an accident. The payout may be in the form of reimbursement for medical expenses or a lump sum, depending on the severity of the injury. This can help offset costs such as medical treatments, pediatrician fees, or even alternative care arrangements when your child is unwell.
Even if you already have a hospitalisation plan, medical expenses may not always be fully covered. For instance, a minor accident that does not require hospitalisation may still involve x-rays, MRI scans, or follow-up treatments. A personal accident plan helps cover some of these out-of-pocket expenses.
Personal accident insurance serves as a useful complement to existing health insurance policies. While coverage tends to be broader but lower in value, premiums are generally affordable.
For young children, it may also be beneficial to choose a plan that includes coverage for highly contagious illnesses like Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (HFMD), which is a common viral infection among toddlers.
Some of the personal accident plans in the market that covers your child for HFMD are as follows.
AIA Star Protector Plus
The AIA Star Protector Plus is a worldwide personal accident and health cover for children between 2 weeks and 16 years of age. It provides protection against accidental injuries and burns, as well as coverage for 16 common diseases, including HFMD, dengue fever and food poisoning.
Great Junior Protector
GREAT Junior Protector is an affordable personal accident plan that provides comprehensive worldwide coverage against accidents, sickness and specified Infectious Diseases including Avian Influenza, Dengue Fever, accidents or other sickness like food poisoning and HFMD
Manulife ReadyProtect
Manulife ReadyProtect is a personal accident insurance plan that also covers for 21 infectious diseases, such as HFMD, Zika, and dengue. The entry age for this policy is between 15 days and 55 years of age.
NTUC PA Assurance
PA Assurance from NTUC Income is a personal accident plan that has an optional infectious disease cover, which enhances coverage against 21 infectious diseases, including HFMD. The entry age for this policy is between 15 days old and 65 years old.
Sompo PA Junior Insurance
With a policy entry age starting from 1 month to below 21 years old, Sompo PA Junior Insurance is a comprehensive child-focused personal accident plan that covers medical expenses and provides a quarantine allowance for 17 infectious diseases, including HFMD, dengue and the Zika virus.
Read Also: Personal Accident Insurance: What Are Some Policies That Cover Your Child For HFMD?
Besides purchasing insurance for your newborn, it’s equally important to review your own personal insurance coverage. Adding a new member to the family increases your financial responsibilities, making it essential to ensure that your loved ones will have the financial protection they need in your absence.
Read Also: Singaporeans Share With Us Their Experience In Public Healthcare
This article was first published on 25 February 2019 and has been updated to provide additional information.
The post Different Types Of Baby Insurance To Buy For Your Newborn Child appeared first on DollarsAndSense.sg.
