I was disappointed that instead of the root cause of rising healthcare costs being tackled, it has been proposed that MediShield Life premiums be increased to pay for wider benefits and rising healthcare costs (MediShield Life coverage set to widen next year, Sept 30).

There was already a huge increment in our premiums with the switch from MediShield to MediShield Life in 2015.

If we need to keep doing this every five years just to keep up with rising healthcare costs, it won't be sustainable for most Singaporeans, especially with the ageing population, as premiums are going to increase with age as well.

Not to mention that those on private Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) that come with riders or add-ons offering 100 per cent coverage will be at a disadvantage, as they could end up paying even more without additional coverage.

The private IP insurers are not going to reduce their premiums for the riders even if there is any overlap of coverage from MediShield Life.

I hope the Ministry of Health (MOH) will put in more effort to investigate and address the root cause of rising healthcare costs, instead of raising premiums ad infinitum. Some areas to look at are:

• Doctors who practise defensive medicine out of fear of getting sued for missing out any diagnosis of sickness, leading to over-consumption of healthcare treatments.
• Abuse of hospitalisation by patients who don't need treatment in hospital, but are given the option to do so in order to qualify for insurance claims.
• Markup of medical bills to the claim limits to maximise profit.

If MOH is able to effectively deal with such abuse and fraudulent practices, this should bring healthcare costs under control and premiums won't have to be increased every few years.

Wong Boon Hong