Medical Repricing

We periodically review our medical plans to examine if we can continue to provide you with medical insurance in the environment of rising medical cost. Medical plans will be subjected to repricing when its actual loss ratio has exceeded the acceptable threshold of the company’s sustainability to consistently meet your medical protection needs under existing operating environment.

Your premium or insurance charges are being revised to reflect the higher cost in the provision of medical insurance.

As the healthcare industry evolves, illnesses can be detected earlier and people can heal faster with new treatments. These advancements in the healthcare industry has led to rising medical expenses which may come in the form of a higher frequency of people seeking advanced healthcare treatments that are at a higher cost.

Your medical insurance is underwritten based on the principle of risk pooling. In other words, your premium or insurance charges are pooled together with other policy owners’ premium or insurance charges to pay for all medical claims incurred. Risk pooling ensures that each and every one of you is equally protected from the risk of higher medical cost. Therefore, the increased medical cost is also fairly shared across the group of policy owners.

The General Conditions clause of our policy/supplementary contract states that the premium or insurance charges are not guaranteed and can be revised by notifying the policy owner at least thirty (30) days in advance for any revisions prior to the effective date for the new premium or insurance charges. Should there be any revisions in the future, you will be notified accordingly.

If you chose to maintain your current plan, all existing benefits will remain unchanged.

With the revision of the insurance charges, it means that more units will be taken from your policy’s account value to pay for the higher insurance charges. If you continue to pay the same amount of premium after the revision, it is possible that the account value of your policy may not be sufficient to pay for your insurance charges and other fees and charges (if applicable). Your policy may lapse earlier than expected and may result in the disruption of your coverage.

For Non Investment-Linked Plan

If any premium remains unpaid at the end of grace period, your policy will lapse except for policy that has the non-forfeiture option provisions. Under the non-forfeiture option provisions and provided there is sufficient guaranteed surrender value, you will automatically be provided with a loan to keep your policy active. We will notify you if this facility is put in place and the rate of interest to be charged on this loan will be determined by AmMetLife. Your policy will lapse once the guaranteed surrender value is insufficient to cover your premiums.

For Investment-Linked Plan

If you fail to pay the revised premium, your policy will still continue to be in force as long as your account value is sufficient to pay the insurance charges and other fees and charges. Your policy will lapse when your account value is insufficient to pay the insurance charges and other fees and charges.

Once your policy has lapsed, your existing coverage will discontinue or terminate and will impact your ability to get health services as you lose medical protection.

As your protection needs are our top priority, we wish to propose the following options for your consideration:

i.   Maintain your current plan.

ii.   Choose a lower plan with reduced coverage and lower revised premium or insurance charges. However, please consider if the lower plan will continue to meet your medical protection needs.

iii.   Convert your current plan to the other medical plan available. However, you will be subject to underwriting when you convert your plan and please consider if the new medical plan will continue to meet your medical protection needs.

You have option to choose a lower plan with reduced coverage and lower revised premium or insurance charges. It is advisable that you assess if the lower plan continues to meet your medical protection needs. You may consult our Customer Care Centre at 1300 88 8800 or your servicing agent/ bank sales representative to find out the lower premium or insurance charges for the lower plan that may suit you.

However, we strongly encourage you to maintain your current plan to reduce the risk of having inadequate medical protection.

If you decide to maintain your current plan, no notification to AmMetLife is required. However, you are advised to do the necessary payment arrangements to ensure that your revised premium are paid in full. (Note: If you are using the auto-debit facility or banker’s order, kindly make the necessary arrangement in advance with your respective bank to remit the revised premium for your policy before the next policy anniversary. For further information on available payment methods, please refer to our website.)

If you decide to opt for other options, you may contact our Customer Care Centre at 1300 88 8800 or email us at customercare@ammetlife.com. Alternatively, you may also contact your servicing agent/ bank sales representative for further assistance.