Poor subsidise the rich in Singapore healthcare
costs landscape:
Gahmen
subsidises medishield-life premiums based upon residence type based
on registered IC address, but many rich Singaporeans can circumvent
this categorization by owning a private residence under either a
relative's name or else a corporate registration ownership vehicle
so that the gahmen has the WRONG idea how rich one is, being
deceived by the IC address declared by the
citizen.
The
appended straits Times report (highlighted in bold) states that
super-rich subscribers who can afford insurance riders charge
20-25% higher claims for insurance payouts as opposed to
ordinary-rich those WITHOUT insurance riders which means the
super-rich utilize medishield-life insurance payouts 25% more than
the rich and that the most cunning super-rich people receive the
MOST undeserved benifits by gaming Singapore healthcare subsidy
systems and in fact robbing the poor of healthcare
access.
This
massive loophole needs to be immediately closed.
Those
who can afford any insurance riders or additional add ons like
"integrated plans" should not receive ANY gahmen sponsored
medishield-life insurance subsidies just like only exceptionally
deserving cases get subsidies for private vehicle travel (legally
blind amputee, brittle bones liable to be hurt when travelling by
bus even in wheelchair, quadriplegic and cannot even operate
electric wheelchair etc).
===================
Panel
suggests doing away with medical insurance riders
Premiums
for private hospital plans could soon rise by 9 to 15 per
cent.
An
operating theatre at Farrer Park Hospital. Premiums for private
hospital plans could soon rise by 9 to 15 per cent.ST PHOTO: ONG
WEE JIN
PUBLISHED.
OCT 14, 2016, 5:00 AM SGT
Guidelines
for medical fees also among ideas by task force to tackle rising
cost of insurance
Salma
KhalikSenior Health Correspondent
Lorna
TanInvest Editor/Senior Correspondent
A
task force set up to look at the rising cost of insurance in
Singapore has suggested sweeping measures such as doing away with
riders that enable insured patients to get away with paying nothing
towards their own treatment.
It
has also suggested that insurers have a list of preferred health
providers that charge reasonable fees and offer their services to
customers. Patients can still opt for other doctors, but this could
affect the amount of their bill covered by
insurance.
Medical
insurance claims have been rising, and premiums for integrated
plans, that sit atop MediShield Life, are set to rise. They had
been frozen for a year, but are poised to go up once the moratorium
is lifted next month. The Straits Times understands that premiums
for private hospital plans could then rise by 9 to 15 per
cent.
Recommendations
to keep costs down
More
people making health insurance claims means that premiums have been
rising over the years. Here is what the Health Insurance Task Force
has recommended to keep costs down:
1.
Establish a set of guidelines for medical fees, so that people can
get a better estimate of how much their treatments should
cost.
2.
Make clearer the process through which insurers can raise issues
such as inappropriate or excessive treatment to the relevant
authorities.
3.
Improve insurance procedures and product features. This
includes:
•
Using panels of preferred healthcare providers to manage medical
costs through agreements on fees.
•
Make sure co-insurance and/or deductibles are included in the
product design, so that some co-payment is still necessary. This is
to prevent overconsumption.
• Get
insurers to approve claims for treatment and bills before the
actual procedure is carried out, so that issues of inappropriate
treatment and high charges can be addressed from the
start.
4.
Educate consumers on their available options and the corresponding
costs, so as to reduce information asymmetry.
The
task force, which was set up by the Life Insurance Association
(LIA) of Singapore and included members from the Ministry of Health
(MOH) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), also suggested
medical fee benchmarks or guidelines to reduce overcharging.
Guidelines are currently not allowed here as they are seen as anti-
competition.
The
task force also proposed tweaking current practice to make it
easier for insurers to raise suspected inappropriate or excessive
medical treatments with the Singapore Medical Council, the
professional watchdog.
The issue of riders, which cover the entire medical bill, clearly
bothered the panel which noted that patients with riders run up
bills that are 20 to 25 per cent higher than those who have to bear
a share of the cost.
The
task force suggested the six insurance companies offering IPs tweak
their products so patients pay a share of the bill to prevent the
"buffet syndrome", while ensuring that existing policyholders are
not put at a disadvantage.
The
task force, headed by Ms Mimi Ho of financial consultancy firm
Regulatory Professionals, also urged greater consumer education so
people can "actively manage their health and healthcare
costs".
MOH
called the report "timely and commendable" and agreed with it on
the issue of co-payment.
It
said that co-payment by patients was a key tenet in its healthcare
financing framework and it "helps to guard against over-consumption
and over-treatment".
"The
absence of any co-payment may encourage over-consumption by some
patients and over-servicing or over-charging by some healthcare
providers which will eventually increase healthcare costs and
insurance premiums for all Singaporeans," it said.
On
the issue of medical fee guidelines, it said it would continue to
work with healthcare providers and IP insurers on ways to further
improve fee transparency.
The
ministry has recently started revealing the range of fees charged
by private hospital and specialists for a large number of common
procedures.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/panel-suggests-doing-away-with-medical-insurance-riders