Which Malaysian Insurance provides the Best Protection for your Child?

One of the most important insurance that every Malaysian should have is a medical insurance card. Insurance is especially important for a young child or baby because the right treatment when you are young will help avoid complications when the child gets older. In this article, we look at medical insurance specifically for young children. A medical insurance or medical card helps to pay for severe injuries and illnesses that require you to stay in a hospital. In this article, we will look at medical plans and cards that are the best for children or babies.

Many employers provide not enough protection for your family

If you are working, then your employer will provide you with some form of medical protection. But many employers only offer very little medical protection for your family. The protection that your employer gives might not be enough to protect your child during an accident. You need to read your contract carefully to check how well your family is protected when they are sick.  The common benefits that most Malaysian employer will provide to their staff are outpatient, dental or optical and hospitalisation benefit. We will take a close look at each below.

Some provide Outpatient benefit for the family

This benefit pays for the doctor visit and the medication that you receive at an external clinic. Typically, there is a maximum amount that you can spend per year. If your treatment cost is higher, then you have to pay the rest on your own. Companies will have a different amount for staff and family. Most often, the family amount is tiny compared to the staff benefit. Double check your contract to find out if your family benefit is as high as your own.

No Dental & Optical Benefits for the family

Dental and Optical Benefits is the money you pay for visits to the dentist or when buying new glasses or contact lenses. Again, many times, this amount is only for employees and not family members. Especially children need to have frequent visits to the dentist to check the excellent health of teeth. Nowadays, it is also not uncommon to provide children with dentures to give them a perfect smile. Full dentures can easily cost RM 1,000 or more.

No Hospitalization Benefits for the family

Hospitalisation benefit is the most important protection that you need to provide for your child or baby. This benefit pays for illnesses or injuries that require a visit or stay at the hospital. Most Malaysian’s buy a medical card to provide this protection to their family members because often employers do not include family members in the company plan. Employees need to buy separate insurance to provide this protection.

A medical card or medical insurance has a maximum limit per year and a limit for the type of room you can get. Check your employment contract if your spouse or children are covered under the hospitalisation scheme or plan. Your contract will tell you if your family is protected. In case they are not, it is time for you to consider and act to get additional protection for your spouse and children.

So what insurance plan is the best?

You have two choices when you buy insurance or takaful for your children.

1. You can buy a full life insurance or family takaful
2. You can buy a standalone medical card

The main difference between life insurance and a standalone medical card is that life insurance is bigger and costs more. Most often the life insurance will start above RM 1,200 per year. Below is an extract from our comparison between standalone medical insurance and life insurance.

You can check out the complete infographics here: https://ibanding.com.my/medical-insurance-rider-or-standalone-infographic/

Medical Insurance vs. Life Insurance

Life Insurance = Life + Medical + Savings

Most life insurance consists of three parts. The first module is the protection against death or permanent disability. The second module is the medical protection that also provides hospital benefits. The last module is the savings part. The life insurance will help you save money over time, so that after a couple of years, you will receive money back.

Because life insurance and family takaful is more complicated, we recommend talking to an insurance professional who can find the best solution for you. You can find the best agent near you with review and ratings from actual customers on our agent directory.

Standalone Medical Insurance = Medical only

The main difference between life insurance and medical insurance is that medical insurance does not have a life and a saving module. This is why we also called it a standalone medical insurance, because it comes alone. Medical insurance or card is much cheaper and can be bought on a monthly plan. It only provides you with medical insurance benefit like the hospitalisation benefit as described above.  Here are two reasons why a standalone medical insurance/card can be better for your child than a life insurance.

Why is medical insurance better than life insurance for children?

Children do not need life benefits for death

For most children, a standalone medical plan or card is the best. Your child does not need to have life insurance, because your child does not have the responsibility of paying house loans, car loans or other things. It is best that parents buy life insurance for themselves so that in case one of the parent dies, the financial future of your spouse and children are taken care of.

Full Tax Refund

One additional benefit when you buy medical insurance for your children is that it is tax deductible. You get tax back for the money you paid for medical insurance. This in addition to any Life Insurance or EPF payments you have made. In 2019, a maximum of RM 3,000 can be claimed under “Insurance premium for education or medical benefit including not through salary deduction”. So do not forget to request money back, when you submit your taxes.

Which insurance companies offer medical cards online?

Currently, 7 insurance and takaful companies are offering standalone medical insurance / card online. Here are the companies

1. AXA eMedic
2. ManuLife Manu EZ-Med
3. Takaful Malaysia myClick MediCare
4. Etiqa Medical Pass
5. Prudential PRUdirect med
6. Great Eastern Great Health Direct
7. AIA Med Basic

What is important in medical insurance for children?

When you search for the right medical insurance for your child, check out some of the criteria that we believe are most important:

Cashless Admission

A medical card that offers cashless admission at the hospital is very important because it allows you to go to any panel hospital without paying money upfront. Medical insurance cards from Prudential: PRUdirect med and Great Eastern’s Great Health Direct require you to pay cash for the medical treatment first and then only claim from the insurance company. All other companies offer cashless admission.

Room cost of RM 250 or more per day

Having a great medical card or insurance will give you a feeling of luxury when your child gets sick. Three insurance companies, AXA eMedic, ManuLife: Manu EZ-Med and Etiqa Medical Pass, offer room and board for RM 250 per day or more. This room budget will give a single room in almost all hospitals so that you have maximum privacy and comfort while your child is sick and recovering.

Protection as early as 15 days old

Having medical insurance as early as possible is important because getting the right and best treatment, helps prevent future health problems. AXA eMedic insurance is the only insurance that offers protection for children from 15 days onwards. Only two medical cards provide insurance for babies and children below one-year-old: AXA’s eMedic and Takaful Malaysia’s myClick Medicare.

Conclusion

We have looked at 7 Malaysian medical insurance & takaful more carefully. Out of the seven companies, many offered cashless admission and some provided a high limit of RM 250/day for Room & Board at the hospital. But only two companies offered protection for children below one year.

Overview of Malaysian Medical Cards for Children

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