According to Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, the Medishield insurance scheme currently pays only about 55 per cent of big bills in the subsidised B2 and C class wards. As he wants the patient’s share to be lower at about 20 per cent, therefore he is increasing some of the payouts under the scheme.
However, this also means that the premiums for everyone under the Medishield scheme will have to go up.
The people under the age group of 81-85 are the worst hit as their deductible amount will also rise to $3000 for B2 wards and $2000 for C wards. Those under 80 have a deductible of $1500 for B2 and $1000 for C.
(The deductible is the amount of money which you have to pay yourself before the Medishield insurance comes in. You will not be able to claim anything for bills that are below below the deductible amount.)
The reason given for the massive increase in Medishield premiums for the 81-85 group is that there is only a small pool of people (less than 6000) in that group, so it is difficult to keep costs down. With life expectency of Singaporeans increasing, perhaps there will be more people in that group in the future. 😛
For myself, I have already upgraded my Medishield plan long ago to take up a private integrated shield plan.
More details : Enhancing Medishield Payouts