WHO: MR WEE CHEOK SIM, 73, RETIRED DRIVER
Mr Wee has a 66-year-old wife, who is a homemaker. They have five daughters aged 39 to 47. Two are married with children. The other three live with them.

Mr Wee had two operations to remove cataracts in his eyes about 10years ago. Neither he nor his wife has been hospitalised.

But both have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and are on medication. Mr Wee is also a smoker.

WHAT HE HAS:
MrWee has a Central Provident Fund (CPF) account with Medisave, MediShield and the original ElderShield.

Both his plans are basic. If he goes to a class C or B2 ward, MediShield will pay about 60per cent of a large bill.

Should he become severely disabled, ElderShield will give him a monthly payout of $300 for five years.

He pays more than $700 in premiums every year for both insurance schemes from his Medisave.

His wife does not have CPF and is not covered by insurance.

Recommendations:
HOSPITALISATION
Mr Wee's MediShield is adequate, given his needs and his current financial status, said financial consultant Eddy Cheong.

He could upgrade to an 'as-charged' Shield plan with a rider to cover the deductible and co-payment. But he is quite happy to stay in a class C ward, and doesn't want to upgrade. He is also loath to shell out cash for the rider.

He said in Mandarin: 'I don't have any income now, so I have to save where I can.'

CRITICAL ILLNESS
Mr Wee doesn't have any critical illness coverage, but he is now too old to get it, Mr Cheong said. Most critical illness plans don't accept new policyholders older than 60 years.

In any case, retirees do not require as much critical illness cover as working adults as they no longer have any monthly income to compensate for, and they should already have substantial savings, Mr Cheong said.

DISABILITY
But he thinks Mr Wee should upgrade his ElderShield to the new version which will come into effect on Sept 30.

A higher premium will buy better coverage so that if he becomes severely disabled, he will get a monthly payout of $400 for six years.

Mr Wee should also try to buy MediShield for his wife, who is not insured at all.

But she may not be accepted as she has high blood pressure and high cholesterol, or any coverage would exclude those conditions and related illnesses.

Still, said Mr Cheong, some coverage is better than none at all.'

Mr Wee is considering the ElderShield upgrade and MediShield for his wife. There is enough money in his Medisave to pay for both of these and his MediShield for more than 10 years.