Time to widen the coverage of Medisheld

14 March 2012


Editor, Forum Page
Straits Times


Time to widen the coverage of Medishield 

Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong wishes to consult the public on his 

proposal to extend Medishield to cover birth defects. He said that premium 

rates will go up. This is likely to be a futile exercise, as some people who do 

not face this risk will be against any change that will add to their cost of living.

As a national insurance scheme, Medishield should be extended to cover

most types of conditions that are outside the control of the individuals. Having

a child with birth defects is clearly an uncontrollable risk that should be covered.

The Minister should also look at other flaws in this system, such as 

the large number of people who did not join this scheme for various reasons at

the time of its implementation and who now wish to be insured. 

Most of these people are older, and may have some chronic illnesses, which prevent them from being accepted under CPF's current underwriting rules. But they do pay a higher premium that is based on their age, and may be willing to pay a loading or surcharge. It is better to allow them to join Medishield and enjoy the benefit from the risk pooling, rather than

to let them remain outside the system. 

Those who are provided with medical benefits by their employers should be allowed

to stay outside of Medishield, if they wish to, and join Medishield at a later date

when they are not employed or not covered. This will avoid the wastage of double

coverage, which add to the cost of living.

As a national scheme, Medishield should adopt an underwriting approach that is

different from profit-making private insurers. The aim should be to provide coverage

for nearly everyone, rather than to select only the healthy lives to make a profit.

If the Minister is worried about increasing the premium, there are other ways of dealing

with this challenge, instead of restricting coverage. Some of the cost can be borne

by the Government and more importantly, the medical charges should be regulated and 

not allowed to escalate due to market failures.

Tan Kin Lian