MediShield Life can be made more effective. Its review holds the key

Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced earlier in 2024 that the MediShield Life Council would undertake

a comprehensive review of the scheme

. It would look at expanding the coverage of this basic, mandatory health insurance plan, including funding for innovative treatments such as cell, tissue and gene therapy products (CTGTP). A review is most timely as the last review was in 2020 and so much has changed in these intervening years.

Healthier SG is one such major change. In 2022, Mr Ong described the need for a “fundamental reorientation and reform of our healthcare system, to focus on preventive care instead of curative care, emphasise health instead of sickness, shift the centre of gravity of care away from hospitals into the community”.