Allergies & Insurance

Are you well insured in case of Allergies?

Allergies are one of the most common chronic diseases. A chronic disease lasts a long time or occurs often. An allergy occurs when the body's immune system sees a substance as harmful and overreacts to it. How to cover yourself financially in case of such chronic disease that remains difficult to insure?

First you need to differentiate between the cost to cover diagnostic tests and the cost relative to treatment. Once you are experiencing the symptoms of allergy, you should first get tested and the cost can vary from $100 to few thousand dollars. Once the symptoms have been diagnosed, there are treatments that will help you feel better, and there are a number of medications or procedures that can help you alleviate them. All of these are also costly.

For all tests and treatments, it is a good idea to have a comprehensive health insurance plan, especially because it may be consider are a pre-existing condition and therefore easily declined.

We invite you to discuss with your Financial Advisors to check if you have the right coverage in case of Allergies and how to enhance it if necessary.

Different reimbursement according to insurance:

In Singapore, a lot of Group Health Insurance cover tests and treatment as long as:

1. You have been referred by a GP practitioner for investigation, or

2. A procedure or a scope has been done for further investigation.

Private insurance may help you get reimbursed for test but will impose some limits in treatment reimbursement as it may be quickly costly and a life lasting condition. Some health insurance plan will provide coverage for severe allergies (that might end-up with hospitalisation) and its hospitalisation expenses, but normal allergies aren't covered fully by a health insurance plan,

Singapore Government based insurance, such as Medisave or Shield plan, are not as flexible but you can still be reimbursed for tests only as long as a surgical procedure or a scope has been done for further investigation.

The most common procedure is a Nasal endoscopy. A Nasal endoscopy is a procedure to look at the nasal and sinus passages. It’s done with an endoscope. This is a thin, flexible tube with a tiny camera and a light. An ear, nose, and throat doctor (otolaryngologist) will often do this procedure in his or her office. It can be painful.

Should you have to get this painful procedure, Government related insurance will be able to kick in.

Discuss about reimbursement with your Specialist

To know all about this reimbursement matter and full details, you should discuss about it with your doctor prior to any test, treatment, procedures during that first consultation.