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Everything You Need To Know About The Proposed Changes To MediShield Life And How To Benefit From It.

2020-09-29 , 8:59 pm

Last Updated on 2020-10-03 , 10:55 pm

If you’ve been online today, you’ll be seeing the word, MediShield Life, premiums and coverage being thrown about a lot.

Been through something major? You probably already know all about MediShield, Medisave and more, so you’re welcome to swipe back to Facebook.

But, if you’re young like me, and the only “M” word you’re familiar with is McDonald’s, here’s everything you need to know, simplified for you.

What Is MediShield Life?

Quick introduction, MediShield Life is a basic health insurance plan, administered by the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board.

It helps to pay for large hospital bills and selected costly outpatient treatments, such as dialysis and chemotherapy for cancer.

It is structured so that patients pay less MediSave/cash for large hospital bills.

In other words, it’s like the health insurance you probably have, except for two differences:

It’s compulsory for all Singaporeans and Residents
The basic component is fully-payable by your MediSave account.

What Are The Proposed Changes?

Better coverage, higher premiums and better systems for all.

This means increased coverage and better plans to suit each individual’s situation and their families.

The scheme offers all Singaporeans and permanent residents automatic lifetime coverage from birth, regardless of age or pre-existing health conditions. Medishield exists mainly to help citizens cover large bills and ease financial burdens.

Higher Yearly Claim Limit (Increased Coverage)

Current updates to the scheme propose an increase in the annual claim limit from $100,000 to $150,000. That will be able to cover longer or more frequent hospital stays or long-term treatment costs.

However, Singaporeans will face an increase in premiums as well.

Singaporeans aged 61 years old and above will face the highest premium at 35%. However, after factoring all the subsidies, both additional and existing ones, the increase will be kept to 10% for the first year.

This includes a 2-year Covid-19 subsidy which will absorb 70% of the increase in premiums for the first year (after taking into account existing subsidies) and 30% for the second.

Middle- and lower-income families, as well as the needy, will get additional help from the government in the form of subsidies to cope with MediShield Life premium payments.

“No one will lose MediShield Life coverage due to financial difficulties,” Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said.

Increased Claim Limits For Sub-Acute Care

This recommendation is to raise treatment-specific claim limits for community hospital care and outpatient radiotherapy.

Rehabilitation and sub-acute care at community hospitals are restricted to $350 claim limit a day. However, sub-acute care is about 20% more costly compared to rehabilitation.

“Introducing separate claim limits for sub-acute care and rehabilitative care will ensure that both groups of patients will enjoy similar levels of coverage under MediShield Life,”. The council expressed their concern for patients with unique and different situations.

The council brought up a case to better explain the proposed policy. A 60-year-old Singaporean was treated with sub-acute care at a community hospital for 25 days due to bone infection and the total bill came up to S$17,300.

Even after receiving government subsidies and a MediShield Life payout, the total bill exceeded the MediShield Life claimable amount. The patient only had to pay the balance of S$2,212, deductable from MediSave.

Decreased Deductible For Day Surgeries

The council, in a bid to encourage older patients to undergo day surgery, recommended lowering the deductible for day surgery patients above age 80 from S$3,000 to S$2,000. This will correspond to the amount for inpatient stays in C class wards.

Higher Claim Limits For Daily Ward Charges

The council proposed implementing higher claim limits for daily ward and treatment charges for the first two days of acute hospital stays.

While the current proposed MediShield Life changes focus on covering larger total bills, the council has proposed changes to better facilitate and provide for shorter hospital stays.

Ward and treatment charges for patients in acute hospitals have a claim limit of S$700 a day for normal wards and S$1,200 a day for intensive care unit wards.

The council maintains that higher claim limits for the first two days of hospitalisation would “better cover short stays” as patients would usually incur extra charges during the earlier part of their stay from tests and investigations to better diagnose their conditions.

Finally, Removing Exclusions And Warming The Cockles Of Our Hearts

“Proper treatment is the appropriate approach towards self-harm”. In 2020? Finally. We love that inclusivity.

The council strongly recommended extension of the MediShield Life coverage to treatments for intentional self-injury, attempted suicide cases, drug addiction and alcoholism.

The council estimated that after removing exclusions, the policy could help 300 more people each year for intentional self-harm and attempted suicide. and 1,000 people for those struggling with alcoholism and drug addictions.

What Is The Difference Between All These Policies?

Yes, we know. All these policies are overwhelming and hard to keep track of as they are ever-changing, updating and upgrading.

All the healthcare policies cover and prepare us, citizens, for potential healthcare concerns and expenses so who cares what the difference is right? As long as it keeps our bodies and wallets feeling and looking healthy.

It may be hard to remember, so these are the main differences between the currently existing policies. This information will come in handy when we handle our bills and medical transactions.

MEDISAVE takes a part of citizens monthly income to pay for and offset future personal or immediate family’s hospitalization, day surgery and for certain outpatient expenses. It is essentially a system to help citizens save and prepare for future medical expenses should they or their family members, unfortunately, fall ill.

MEDISHIELD LIFE‘s main purpose is to create a cushion for patients with existing and future illnesses. Its job is to cover and pay for larger expenses as compared to MediSave and MediFund

MEDIFUND is an endowment fund that acts as a safety net for Singaporeans who are facing difficulties in paying their medical bills even after receiving government subsidies and tapping other means of payment, such as Medisave and MediShield Life. This is a backup plan for citizens who may be vulnerable to more financial troubles after paying medical bills.

Implementation

The new changes are still currently undergoing public consultation and review until 20 October and will most likely be revealed and implemented in early 2021.