BRANDED CONTENT
More coverage and treatments: How the enhanced MediShield Life will impact you
With the new changes to the national insurance scheme, nine in 10 patients will pay nothing out of pocket for their medical bills
The national health insurance scheme will be enhanced to better protect Singaporeans against large medical bills and cover new, potentially life-saving treatments.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Kareyst Lin, Brand Newsroom
Follow topic:
A patient undergoes surgery in a public hospital that requires two days in the intensive care unit, followed by another five days recovering in a subsidised B2 class ward.
He braces himself for a five-figure bill. Instead, he finds that his out-of-pocket charges amount to $0.
This is possible through government subsidies, payouts from MediShield Life – the national insurance scheme that provides basic protection against large medical bills – and MediSave withdrawals.
MediSave is the national savings scheme that helps Singaporeans set aside part of their income during their working years to cover their healthcare needs.
This scenario is set to become the norm for nine in 10 bills from patients seeking subsidised treatment at public hospitals after recently announced enhancements to MediShield Life take effect. This is up from under eight in 10 patients currently.
Covering more
On Oct 15, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said the Government has accepted the MediShield Life Council’s recommendations for the review of MediShield Life.
The recommendations aim to better protect Singaporeans against large medical bills. They will also enable Singaporeans to afford new, potentially life-saving treatments, such as cell, tissue, and gene therapy products (CTGTPs) which use cells to treat or reverse various health conditions.
The changes will be implemented in phases from April 2025.
What MediShield Life originally covers:
The scheme helps to pay for large hospital bills and some costly outpatient treatments such as dialysis and radiotherapy for cancer. While MediShield Life coverage is sized for subsidised treatment, all ward classes are covered.
How it will be enhanced:
- Increased claim limits
Inpatient and day surgery claim limits are increased to fully cover nine in 10 subsidised bills. Policy-year claim limit is raised from $150,000 to $200,000. The inpatient deductible, which is the amount a policyholder must pay before a MediShield Life claim can be made, will increase by up to $1,500. This higher deductible can be paid using MediSave.
- Outpatient coverage to expand
Outpatient claim limits are refreshed to fully cover nine in 10 subsidised bills. Coverage is extended to new outpatient treatments and home-based medical care. A new outpatient deductible of $500 per year is introduced. Co-insurance, which is a percentage of the claimable amount that a patient has to pay after the deductible, will also be reduced for larger outpatient bills to improve affordability.
- High-cost treatments to be included
MediShield Life will now cover new treatments that are clinically effective and cost-effective. These include CTGTPs that have demonstrated the potential to treat cancers and serious diseases effectively, and high-cost drugs for blood conditions and conditions with childhood onset.
Helping more
Why was a review of MediShield Life necessary? So that it can fully cover the medical bills of more patients, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung in March.
MediShield Life replaced MediShield on Nov 1, 2015, and was reviewed once in 2020. It is designed to “adequately cover” nine out of 10 subsidised bills, Mr Ong said at the MOH’s Committee of Supply debate this year.
“What remains are relatively small and expected co-payments, which can be paid from MediSave.”
But with hospital bills growing by 5 per cent annually in public hospitals, the benchmark was eroded, Mr Ong noted. The proportion of subsidised bills adequately covered by MediShield Life has reduced to around eight out of 10, and “is expected to slip further”.
This led to the MediShield Life Council’s recommendations for higher claims and expanded coverage for Singaporeans.
More on the cost of healthcare
- Unexpected lifeline: This caregiver finds help in paying a $9,200 hospital bill. Here's how Singapore’s healthcare financing schemes work together to keep healthcare costs manageable.
- Prices for IPs: Two people of the same age buying an IP for private hospital treatment can pay a difference of more than $85,000 over their lifetimes, depending on which insurance company they are with.
To support these changes, MediShield Life premiums, which are paid annually, will have to increase “by quite a significant number”, Mr Ong explained at a doorstep interview on Oct 15 when the review was announced. The increase will be introduced in phases over three years, from April 2025 to March 2028.
MediShield Life premiums are age-based, accounting for the health risks and healthcare consumption expected for each age group.
The increase in MediShield Life premiums will be capped at 35 per cent, with an average increase of 22 per cent. Older Singaporeans will see larger increases in their premiums compared to other age groups, MOH says.
This was produced in partnership with the Ministry of Health.
