Journeying hand in

For 55 years, Income Insurance has kept pace with Singapore's progress, driven by the enduring question of how to serve people in ways that matter most

- By FENG ZENGKUN

Ms Tay Mui Lan (left), who was diagnosed with a brain tumour five years ago, with her mother. Together, they run the family curry puff business along East Coast Road.

When Ms Tay Mui Lan was diagnosed with a brain tumour five years ago, her first thought was the medical bills.

For the single mother of two daughters, then just five and 18 years old, and the owner of a small curry puff shop, money was tight.

“If I had to pay out of pocket for surgery and treatment, I probably would have had to sell my home or even give up my shop,” says the 44-year-old.

Thankfully, she had taken up a health insurance policy — Income Insurance's Enhanced IncomeShield, which covers hospital and surgical expenses — after learning a hard and expensive lesson years earlier.

When her grandmother was hospitalised for a heart attack and subsequent health complications in 2015, Ms Tay and her extended family had to foot a bill of almost half a million dollars as their grandparents did not have insurance. “After that, we all bought policies,” she adds.