Nobody audits their own insurance. Premiums are paid by standing instruction, the policies sit in a drawer, and the cover ages with you. A review at 60 usually frees up several hundred ringgit a month with no real loss of protection — but the order matters.

Review first, cancel second

Never cancel a medical card policy before you have confirmed that another one has accepted you. Re-underwriting at 60 with a diabetes or hypertension diagnosis usually means exclusions or a decline, and once you are out of a policy you cannot buy your way back in.

Critical illness policies bought in your thirties often pay a fixed sum that inflation has halved. If the premium is high and the sum assured is small, the money may serve you better as a care fund. But check the surrender value and any paid-up option first — surrendering an older policy can be worse than keeping it.

The policy that must never lapse is the one that pays the hospital. Everything else is a calculation, and calculations go both ways.

Questions readers ask

Can I switch medical cards at 60?
You can apply, but a new insurer will underwrite you from scratch and any existing diagnosis — hypertension, diabetes, a previous cardiac event — will usually be excluded or priced in. Never cancel the current card until a replacement is issued and you have read the exclusion list. A declined application you discover after cancelling is the worst outcome in this whole process.
What happens if I stop paying a life policy?
It depends on whether the policy has a paid-up or reduced cover option, and on how many years of premium you have already paid. Older policies built cash value, and surrendering can lose you more than the premium saves. Ask for the surrender value, the paid-up value and the reduced sum assured in writing, and compare all three before deciding.
Is travel insurance worth it after 70?
Yes, and more so, because a medical evacuation from overseas is the one bill that can reach five figures. Declare pre-existing conditions fully — an undeclared condition voids the cover exactly when you need it. Compare the evacuation limit rather than the premium, since that is the number that matters.

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Where to check this yourself