Health x Wellness
Know More About MediShield Life
All Singaporean residents to enjoy universal coverage under medishield life, with no exclusions, with less than 1% needing to pay additional premiums.
Come 1st November 2015, MediShield Life will be implemented in Singapore and will cover all Singapore Citizens (SCs) and Permanent Residents (PRs) for life, including those with pre-existing conditions that are not covered under MediShield today. Those with exclusions will have their exclusions lifted and benefit from full coverage under MediShield Life.
In addition, the Singapore government will support most of the cost of extending MediShield Life coverage to those with serious pre-existing conditions, while these individuals will only need to pay 30% Additional Premiums for 10 years. About 25,000 (or less than 1% of Singapore Residents) have been identified with serious pre-existing conditions and will need to pay Additional Premiums:
I. Of the currently uninsured, about 23,000 will need to pay Additional Premiums.
II. Of those currently insured under MediShield or Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) but with exclusions, about 2,000 will need to pay Additional Premiums.
Serious Pre-existing Conditions Requiring Additional Premiums
A more egalitarian approach has been adopted in identifying the Singapore Residents who will be subject to the Additional Premiums due to their serious pre-existing conditions. The broad categories of serious pre-existing conditions that will be subject to Additional Premiums are shown in the table below. Focus was placed on identifying serious conditions that require intensive medical intervention to treat or manage; or have high risk of future complications or recurrence and therefore may require prolonged treatment. Within these broad categories, whether individuals with serious pre-existing conditions will have to pay Additional Premiums depends on factors such as the specific nature and severity of the individual’s medical condition.
The following are examples of individuals who will not need to pay Additional Premiums:
1. Those whose pre-existing conditions are less serious or are well-controlled, such as well-controlled diabetes, or hypertension with no complications, osteoarthritis, pre-cancers, fibroids or cysts.
2. Those who were hospitalised due to a one-off event, such as an accident or dengue.
In addition, medical conditions that develop after the start of the individual’s MediShield (or IP) cover are not considered to be pre-existing conditions and will not be subject to Additional Premiums. The CPF Board will also write to inform individuals of their need to pay Additional Premiums from today until late October. For examples of different groups of individuals or an overview of the notification letters, please refer to the Ministry of Health (MOH) website.
If you are looking for more information, you may visit www.medishieldlife.sg, call the MediShield Life hotline (1800-222-3399) or write to contactus@medishieldlife.gov.sg.
