SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong
said MediShield premiums are due for an increase soon.
Mr Gan told Parliament on Wednesday that the premiums need to be
adequate to sustain MediShield members’ claims and fund future
liabilities.
He said a 45-year-old may see a premium increase of S$7 per
month, with younger age groups seeing a smaller increase.
While a 75-year-old could see an increase of S$25 per month.
Those above 65 will also receive direct and long-term assistance
via Medisave top-ups under the GST Voucher
scheme of up to $450 a year, which can offset the premium increase
in full.
To offset these increases, a one-time Medisave top-up of up to
S$33 per month, was announced in the recent Budget for all
Singaporean policy holders to help cushion the impact of the
increase.
Mr Gan said: “As part of the MediShield changes, we will have to
update our premiums in line with claims experience to keep the
scheme solvent. As Medishield premiums are set to be sustainable
for a five-year period and the last increase was in 2008, we are
due for the next update soon.
“The premiums need to be adequate to sustain MediShield members’
claims and to fund future liabilities under the scheme. On the
whole, MediShield has paid out 21 per cent more in claims each year
between 2008 and 2011, which benefits policyholders, while the
premiums collected grew by only 10 per cent per annum.”
The insurance scheme will also see its coverage extended from
age 85 to 90.
Mr Gan said given the longer life expectancy today, this will
ensure that Singaporeans will be covered for most of their
lives.
He added the ministry is cautious about extending coverage
beyond 90 as there is a small number of policyholders in this age
group with a high risk of claims which would lead to more expensive
premiums.
Going forward, the Health Ministry is also studying the
feasibility of extending MediShield to cover other vulnerable
groups such as children with congenital and neonatal
conditions.
MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Janil
Puthucheary said: “If part of the current policy for excluding
these children is that these children are not expected to survive,
the policy has not kept up with advances in medical science.”
Mr Gan said: “By covering congenital and neonatal conditions
under MediShield, we would be able to reduce parents’ financial
burden and give them greater peace of mind.
“But doing so will also impact the MediShield premium that they
would have to pay for their children at the younger ages. We hope
to avoid the situation where some parents who expect their children
to be healthy choose to opt out of the scheme and apply for
insurance coverage for them only later to avoid the higher premium,
which could undermine the scheme over time.”
- CNA/ck
