Forum: Exempt those living overseas from CareShield Life contributions
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Singaporeans residing abroad can apply for exemption from MediShield Life contributions.
This makes sense given that they would be making such healthcare contributions in their country of residence, and dual contributions would be redundant as well as a financial burden.
Also, they don’t make salary contributions to the Central Provident Fund, so it becomes an ongoing expense to keep making voluntary contributions each year into the MediSave account. Furthermore, many such Singaporeans may not even maintain a bank account in Singapore, making these annual transactions more inconvenient.
And if they do relocate back to Singapore, there is a well-defined process to top up premiums with interest, to reinstate the MediShield Life cover.
However, the same has not been applied to CareShield Life contributions, which is surprising.
It would make sense to provide the same exemption for CareShield Life contributions by Singaporeans residing abroad as for MediShield Life. And to have the same procedure for reinstating the cover in case of relocation home, by paying accumulated premiums with interest.
The principle of uniformity in policy formulation needs to apply here.
Rahul Patwardhan
