WHO: MISS KOH YUEN LIN, 27,
A MAGAZINE EDITOR WHO IS SINGLE
Her parents are both retired teachers covered under the pension scheme. Her elder brother, also a single working adult, has his own insurance.
She does not smoke.

WHAT SHE HAS:
Miss Koh upgraded to a Shield plan - equivalent to MediShield Plus B - two years ago, before the plans were revamped.

The amount she can claim for a hospital stay will be restricted by sub-limits for ward charges and surgery.

She also has a rider to cover the deductible and co-payment portions.

She has two life insurance plans that come with riders that cover critical illness. The first plan insures her for $50,000 while the second will yield a $200,000 payout should she become critically ill.

She now pays close to $5,000 every year, mostly out-of-pocket, for her insurance.

Recommendations:
HOSPITALISATION
Miss Koh should upgrade her old Shield plan to an 'as-charged' one, which has no sub-limits, and get a rider to go with that, said financial consultant Eddy Cheong.

Unlike the old plans, the new ones are pegged to ward classes, so when charges go up because of inflation, they will still cover accordingly, he said.

CRITICAL ILLNESS
The coverage she has for critical illness is within two to five years' annual income, so she could stay with it, he said.

But she is paying rather hefty premiums, he noted. If she wants to reduce the amount of premiums she's paying without reducing the amount of coverage for critical illness, she can restructure her plans.

Her premiums are high now because they cover her lifetime risk not just for critical illness, but also death, and total and permanent disability.

Generally, after retirement, she'll need less critical illness coverage than before, as she will no longer need to compensate for the loss of a monthly income.

So he recommends that she should halve the amount of coverage on one of her existing plans, from $200,000 to $100,000. This should lower her yearly premium of about $2,400.

To make up for the shortfall in coverage, she should then buy a term plan.

A term plan covers the policyholder up to a certain age, say 60 years, at much lower premiums than a life plan. It generally does not offer cash returns, and some cover just critical illness.

For example, a term plan for just critical illness that offers cover of $100,000 for someone aged 32, up till age 60, costs only $360 each year.

DISABILITY
What she saves by restructuring her plans should cover the premiums of disability insurance, which MissKoh doesn't have now and should get, Mr Cheong said.

For example, at an annual premium of $643, one such policy will pay her $2,500 a month if she should suffer from total disability before age 60.