What Is FWD Medi First?
FWD Medi First is a medical rider that attaches to an investment-linked insurance (ILP) plan, which means you can't buy it as a standalone medical card. This is different from traditional medical insurance where you pay a fixed premium directly - with Medi First, the medical insurance charges are deducted monthly from the units in your investment-linked policy.
The rider provides comprehensive medical coverage up to age 100. You'll need to already have (or sign up for) an FWD regular premium investment-linked plan to attach this rider. Upon termination of your basic ILP contract, this rider will also be terminated.
Who Should Consider This Plan?
Medi First suits people who already have or want an investment-linked insurance policy and prefer to bundle their medical coverage with it. This structure can work well if you're comfortable with the investment component of ILPs and want the flexibility of choosing your coverage level, room limits, and deductible amounts.
It's also suitable if you want medical coverage that extends beyond the typical retirement age - most standalone medical cards stop at 70 or 75, whilst this rider covers you until 100.
Important consideration: Because this is a unit-deducting rider, your investment units are used to pay for the medical insurance charges. This means your investment growth could be affected, particularly as insurance charges increase with age.
Coverage Details
Plan Options
FWD offers Medi First in four different plan tiers (Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 3, and Plan 4), each with different coverage levels and annual limits. The specific benefits and limits vary by plan, so you'll need to review the Product Disclosure Sheet for the plan that matches your needs and budget.
Deductible Choices
One of the more flexible features is the deductible option - you can choose from RM0, RM500, RM5,000, or RM10,000. Higher deductibles typically mean lower insurance charges, which can be useful if you're healthy and want to reduce costs while still having coverage for major medical events.
There's also a Retirement Option that removes your deductible when you reach age 60, without requiring you to go through medical underwriting again. This is useful because health issues typically increase with age, and removing the deductible later means you pay less out-of-pocket when you're more likely to need treatment.
Annual and Lifetime Limits
According to FWD's marketing materials, the plan offers high annual limits with no lifetime limit, meaning you can make claims every year without worrying about hitting a maximum cap over your entire life. The specific annual limit depends on which plan tier you choose - check the Product Disclosure Sheet for exact figures.
How the Unit-Deducting Structure Works
This is the part that needs careful consideration. Unlike a traditional medical card, where you pay a fixed premium, Medi First's charges are deducted from the investment units in your linked ILP policy.
How it affects your investment:
- Each month, units are sold from your ILP to pay for the medical insurance charges
- The insurance charges increase as you age
- The charges vary depending on your chosen coverage level, age, gender, and FWD's underwriting requirements
- If your investment performs poorly, more units need to be sold to cover the same charges
- If you make claims, there's no direct impact on your units (the claims are paid from the risk pool, not your personal units)
Why this matters: As you get older and medical charges increase, a larger portion of your investment units will be used to pay for the insurance. This can significantly affect your long-term investment growth, particularly in your later years when insurance costs are highest.
What's Covered
Inpatient Benefits
The standard suite of hospitalisation coverage includes room and board, intensive care unit (ICU) charges, surgical fees, hospital supplies, and medical services during admission. Specific benefit amounts depend on which plan tier you've chosen.
Outpatient Benefits
Medi First includes several outpatient benefits that many medical cards don't cover. Check the Product Disclosure Sheet for the complete list of outpatient benefits and their respective limits, which typically include:
- Emergency accidental outpatient treatment
- Emergency accidental dental treatment
- Day surgery and day care procedures
- Outpatient kidney dialysis
- Outpatient cancer treatment (radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and related treatments)
- Selected outpatient physiotherapy and alternative medical treatments
The exact coverage and limits for each benefit vary by plan tier.
Special Cancer-Related Benefits
Genomic testing for cancer: If you're diagnosed with cancer, the plan covers genomic testing to help determine the most suitable treatment options. This is relatively advanced compared to many standard medical cards.
Experimental Drug Benefit: Coverage for experimental cancer drugs used in clinical trials, with a lifetime limit of RM10,000. This benefit is particularly valuable for cancer patients who may benefit from cutting-edge treatments that aren't yet widely available but show promise in clinical research.
Second medical opinion: You can get reimbursement for seeking a second medical opinion before deciding on treatment. This is particularly valuable for serious diagnoses where treatment options might vary significantly.
Eligibility and Application
You can apply for Medi First according to FWD's eligibility requirements. The coverage then continues until age 100.
Because this is a rider, you'll need to attach it to a regular premium investment-linked plan. This means you're committing to both the investment component and the medical coverage together.
For specific eligibility criteria, including minimum and maximum entry ages, contact FWD directly or consult with an FWD financial advisor.
Important Charges Information
The insurance charges are NOT guaranteed. According to FWD's official documentation, they can revise the insurance charges of this rider at the time of renewal by giving you at least ninety (90) days advance notice.
This means your costs could increase beyond just the expected age-related increases, making long-term budgeting difficult. When FWD reprices the cost of insurance for the entire pool of policyholders, your charges may increase even if you haven't made any claims personally.
The insurance charges will vary depending on:
- Your chosen coverage level (plan tier)
- Your age (increases as you get older)
- Your gender
- FWD's underwriting requirements
Details of insurance charges for your specific situation are provided in the Sales Illustration during the application process.
What's Good About It
The coverage to age 100 is rare in the Malaysian market. Most medical insurance stops at 70 or 75, leaving many retirees scrambling for coverage exactly when they need it most.
The flexibility in choosing plan tiers, room limits, and deductibles means you can tailor the coverage to your actual needs and budget rather than being stuck with a one-size-fits-all plan.
The Retirement Option at age 60 provides automatic deductible removal without requiring medical underwriting, which is helpful as medical costs and health issues typically increase with age.
The plan structure allows for periodic increases to help coverage keep up with medical inflation, though this also means your charges will increase accordingly.
Is This Plan Right for You?
Medi First makes sense if you already have or specifically want an investment-linked insurance policy, you understand and accept how ILPs work (including all the fees and charges), you want medical coverage beyond age 70, and you value the flexibility in choosing coverage levels and deductibles.
It doesn't make sense if you prefer straightforward medical insurance without investment complexity, you want predictable, guaranteed premium rates, or you're primarily interested in medical coverage rather than investment products.
Many Malaysians find standalone medical cards easier to understand and manage. The investment-linked structure of Medi First adds complexity that benefits some people but confuses others. Make sure you fully understand both the medical coverage and the investment component before committing.
Important Notes
As with all medical insurance, there are exclusions and waiting periods. Pre-existing conditions typically aren't covered, and specific conditions may have waiting periods before coverage begins. Coverage begins 30 calendar days after the risk commencement date, except for injuries.
During the application process, you must answer all health-related questions fully and accurately. Failure to take reasonable care in answering these questions may result in rejection of your claim or termination of your rider.
Free-look period: You have 15 calendar days after the Supplementary Contract has been delivered to you to cancel the rider and receive a full refund of insurance charges (less any medical examination fees), provided you haven't made any claims.
Tax relief: The premium paid for this plan may qualify for tax relief for life insurance, subject to the final decision of the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (LHDN). The investment-linked component may offer additional tax benefits depending on your individual tax situation.
Advice: This is not a pure investment product such as unit trusts. You must evaluate your options carefully and satisfy yourself that the investment-linked plan chosen meets your risk appetite, and that you can afford the premium throughout the policy duration.
It may not be advantageous to replace an existing life insurance policy with a new one. If you intend to do so, FWD recommends that you consult your present insurer before making a final decision.
For complete details: Always review the full Product Disclosure Sheet, Sales Illustration, and Policy Contract for comprehensive information about benefits, exclusions, charges, and terms and conditions.
No lifetime limit
