Martin Lee @ Sg
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Of Medishield Changes and Public Consultation

I read with mixed feelings about the proposed changes to Medishield that were announced by MOH a couple of weeks ago.

While some of the changes are positive, there will be a hefty increase in premiums. Coupled with an increase in deductibles, it means that while you will be paying more in premiums, you will actually need to pay more of the initial bill size yourself.

Broadly, the changes are:

a) Increase the coverage age from 85 to 90 years to ensure that our elderly remain insured as they live longer.

b) Extend coverage to inpatient psychiatric treatment to encourage timely and appropriate treatment of mental illnesses.

c) Extend coverage to short-stay wards in Emergency Departments.

d) Increase the policy year and lifetime limit from $50,000 to $70,000 and from $200,000 to $300,000 respectively to better cover members who face exceptionally large bills.

e) To maintain the scheme’s focus on large bills, increase the Class B2/C deductibles moderately for those aged 80 and below

f) Increase in premiums. Premiums will change as shown below:

Age Group / Current Annual Premium / Indicative Revised Premium

1 – 20 / 33 / 50
21 – 30 / 33 / 66
31 – 40 / 54 / 105
41 – 50 / 114 / 225
51 – 60 / 225 / 345
61 – 65 / 332 / 455
66 – 70 / 372 / 540
71 – 73 / 390 / 560
74 – 75 / 462 / 646
76 – 78 / 524 / 775
79 – 80 / 615 / 865
81 – 83 / 1,087 / 1,123
84 – 85 / 1,123 / 1,150
86 – 90 (new category) / – / 1,190

If you look at the changes, the increase can be as high as 100% in a certain age group. As what our government usually likes to do, they will be providing one-off Medisave topups to help people cope with the increase in premiums.

For those who are on private integrated shield plans, you can probably expect your premiums to be increased as the basic Medishield component is actually embedded within your plan.

In addition, MOH announced that they are doing a public consultation on whether we should include coverage for congenital defects. From the wording, it is not quite clear whether the above proposed changes are part of the consultation or the changes are already cast in stone. Nevertheless, you can provide your feedback here:

Public Consultation on MediShield Changes (ends 15th August 2012)

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