Most countries have a universal health insurance system that is provided by the state or through the private sector on conditions that are regulated by the state. It allows the population to have the basic level of health care at an affordable cost. Most developed countries, with the exception of America, have this kind of arrangement.
America has a private health care system. It produced high cost and leaves a significant portion of the population to be uninsured.
Singapore used to have a good and affordable health care system. In recent years, we are adopting some of the bad practices of America. There are now complaints that parents cannot buy insurance through Medisheld or the private alternatives for children with some congenital conditions.
Our problem is caused by the misconception that the private sector is more efficient in the use of resources. This is only partly true, but it has to be balanced with the negative aspects of the pursuit of profit at the expense of other consideration, and the high cost of marketing and administration.
Some services, such as health care and education, are better handled under a social insurance scheme, rather than by the private sector. See the explanation in this article.
Tan Kin Lian
Friday, December 17, 2010
GPS Navigation System
I wish to look for a GPS navigation system in my car. I have a Packard Bell system, but it has been giving trouble lately. So, I am looking for a different system. Any recommendation of a good system that is easy to use and give good directions?
Tourist attractions
I have added some tourist attractions in Learning Tips. It can be viewed through the internet or on a Windows Phone. http://easyapps.sg/learn/
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Renovating an industrial premise [2]
I had a difficult time to find a contractor to renovate my industrial premise. Most of them quoted over $70,000 to renovate and furnish a premise of 1,600 s.f, of which only 1,300 sf need to be furnished.
I finally decided to scale down the work and managed to appoint a contractor at a more affordable cost. It still cost a lot of money, including the fee of $3,500 payable for "fire safety". I sent my feedback to the Pro-Enterprise Panel, but they have still not acknowledged it after a few days.
Over the past few days, I have to signed many forms to different agencies. It seems to be quite complicated and time consuming to fill up these forms.
It is a hassle to apply to open an account for utilities. The form asked me to state the KVA of the power supply. I am not an engineer, so I do not know how to provide this information. My staff called the hotline of Power Supply and was told to get the KVA from the developer. The call to the developer's office was answered by someone who does not know the KVA. They will get someone to call back. I bet they will forget about calling back, which is quite typical of the standard of customer service in Singapore.
The form also asked for the date of incorporation of my company. I do not understand why this information is needed by Power Supply. So, I have to call my company secretary to find out this information.
Singapore has bred many people who are insensitive to the hassle and expenses cause to other people through their requirements. Some of these cost are imposed directly (through the fees that have to be paid), and some are borne indirectly (through the wasted time and work).
I shall write to the Pro-Enterprise Panel again. I do not expect them to acknowledge my feedback, but I will still write.
Tan Kin Lian
I finally decided to scale down the work and managed to appoint a contractor at a more affordable cost. It still cost a lot of money, including the fee of $3,500 payable for "fire safety". I sent my feedback to the Pro-Enterprise Panel, but they have still not acknowledged it after a few days.
Over the past few days, I have to signed many forms to different agencies. It seems to be quite complicated and time consuming to fill up these forms.
It is a hassle to apply to open an account for utilities. The form asked me to state the KVA of the power supply. I am not an engineer, so I do not know how to provide this information. My staff called the hotline of Power Supply and was told to get the KVA from the developer. The call to the developer's office was answered by someone who does not know the KVA. They will get someone to call back. I bet they will forget about calling back, which is quite typical of the standard of customer service in Singapore.
The form also asked for the date of incorporation of my company. I do not understand why this information is needed by Power Supply. So, I have to call my company secretary to find out this information.
Singapore has bred many people who are insensitive to the hassle and expenses cause to other people through their requirements. Some of these cost are imposed directly (through the fees that have to be paid), and some are borne indirectly (through the wasted time and work).
I shall write to the Pro-Enterprise Panel again. I do not expect them to acknowledge my feedback, but I will still write.
Tan Kin Lian
Who pays for the cost of medical report?
I wish to advice consumers who have to get a medical report to support an insurance application or claim. You can ask the insurance company to pay for the medical report in the case of an application.
For an insurance claim, you can add the cost of the medical report as part of the claim and get the insurance company to pay for it, i.e. to reimburse you. This is a legitimate claim expense and should be borne by the insurance company.
If the insurance company expect you to bear this expense, you can lodge a complaint with FIDREC as a dispute. If it is stated in the insurance policy as a contract term, you can lodge a complaint to CASE (Consumer Association of Singapore) that this is an unfair contract term. If I am not mistaken, CASE has a role in the administration of this Act. Alternatively, you can send your policy wordings to me, and I will try to help you to file the complaint.
Tan Kin Lian
For an insurance claim, you can add the cost of the medical report as part of the claim and get the insurance company to pay for it, i.e. to reimburse you. This is a legitimate claim expense and should be borne by the insurance company.
If the insurance company expect you to bear this expense, you can lodge a complaint with FIDREC as a dispute. If it is stated in the insurance policy as a contract term, you can lodge a complaint to CASE (Consumer Association of Singapore) that this is an unfair contract term. If I am not mistaken, CASE has a role in the administration of this Act. Alternatively, you can send your policy wordings to me, and I will try to help you to file the complaint.
Tan Kin Lian
Financial planning for a child
Many parents think that they should buy life insurance as a financial plan for a child. This is a bad idea. It is an idea that is planted to them by an insurance agent who wants to earn commission to sell any insurance policy. So, buying insurance for a child, e.g. to fund for university education, is one of these ideas.
It is better for the parent to invest the savings in one pool, to be used for a variety of purposes (one of which is education expenses). It is important that the savings should be invested in a flexible form and should produce a fairly attractive yield. Most life insurance policies in the market fail on both scores - i.e. they are inflexible and provide a poor yield.
Read this FAQ about financial planning for a child.
Read this FAQ about personal risk management for young people.It is more important that they have adequate savings for emergencies and their retirement. If they have more than enough savings, they can use some of this pool of savings for the tertiary education of a child, but it should not be at the expense of the other needs.
Tan Kin Lian
It is better for the parent to invest the savings in one pool, to be used for a variety of purposes (one of which is education expenses). It is important that the savings should be invested in a flexible form and should produce a fairly attractive yield. Most life insurance policies in the market fail on both scores - i.e. they are inflexible and provide a poor yield.
Read this FAQ about financial planning for a child.
Read this FAQ about personal risk management for young people.It is more important that they have adequate savings for emergencies and their retirement. If they have more than enough savings, they can use some of this pool of savings for the tertiary education of a child, but it should not be at the expense of the other needs.
Tan Kin Lian
Financial planning for retirees
Many retirees have a sum of savings and are need advice on how to manage these savings. They can buy a Life Annuity, but they don't like the idea of losing their capital on early death. They think that they need life insurance, which is not suitable for retirees, except to pay for the funeral expenses. They cannot get proper advice from insurance agents (or financial advisers) as they only keen to sell unsuitable life insurance policies to earn a commission.
The best way for a retiree to manage the savings is to invest in an indexed fund and to draw down the amount that is required each month. This is explained in this FAQ. The retiree can get more information from my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning or by attending the educational talks conducted by FISCA.
By spending some time and money to be educated, the retiree can save a lot of money by avoiding the wrong financial products that give them a poor yield or can cause them to lose their capital (remember the Lehman saga)?
There are several articles about investments and financial planning that you can read in www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx. Just type some keyword and you can get the articles that cover the topic. All articles are quite short, and contain the useful information for the lay person. They are quite easy to understand.
Tan Kin Lian
The best way for a retiree to manage the savings is to invest in an indexed fund and to draw down the amount that is required each month. This is explained in this FAQ. The retiree can get more information from my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning or by attending the educational talks conducted by FISCA.
By spending some time and money to be educated, the retiree can save a lot of money by avoiding the wrong financial products that give them a poor yield or can cause them to lose their capital (remember the Lehman saga)?
There are several articles about investments and financial planning that you can read in www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx. Just type some keyword and you can get the articles that cover the topic. All articles are quite short, and contain the useful information for the lay person. They are quite easy to understand.
Tan Kin Lian
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