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With the increase in claim limits, premiums will need to increase, starting from April 2025 upon policy renewal.
The Government of Singapore has accepted the MediShield Life Council’s recommendations for the MediShield Life 2024 review, which will be implemented progressively from April 2025.
The recommendations were aimed at enhancing the MediShield Life scheme, to better protect Singaporeans against major health episodes that result in large medical bills. The changes will also enable Singaporeans to afford new types of care.
In line with the enhancements, premiums will need to increase, starting April 2025 upon policy renewal. As the Ministry of Health clarified, the total premium increases will amount to S$1.8bn over the next review cycle of three years.
To support Singaporeans in managing the premium increases, the Government will provide an additional $4.1bn in support measures, comprising $3.4bn in MediSave top-ups and S$0.7bn in premium subsidies for the next three years.
Having considered both the need for better coverage and the impact on premiums, the MediShield Life Council has recommended the following changes to the scheme:
All amounts reflected are in SGD.
Increase claim limits and refresh scheme parameters
This comprises:
- Increasing existing inpatient and day surgery claim limits to fully cover nine in 10 subsidised bills.
- Increasing the policy year claim limit from $150,000 to $200,000, to provide greater assurance for patients with exceptionally large bills.
- Increasing the inpatient deductible by up to $1,500, to keep coverage focused on larger bills and moderate the extent to which premiums need to increase.
- Revising the pro-ration factors for private unsubsidised bills, to prevent cross-subsidisation of private bills by subsidised bills.
Enhance outpatient coverage significantly
This comprises:
- Refreshing the outpatient claim limits to fully cover nine in 10 subsidised bills.
- Expanding coverage to new outpatient treatments and home-based medical care, to enable access to more convenient care options beyond the traditional hospital setting.
- Introducing a new outpatient deductible of $500 per year, to keep coverage focused on larger bills and moderate premium impact.
- Decreasing co-insurance for outpatient treatments – from a flat 10% to a tiered structure ranging from 3% to 10% – to be consistent with how co-insurance is computed for inpatient bills and make larger outpatient bills more affordable.
Expand coverage to high-cost treatments that are clinically effective and cost-effective, to improve affordability and access
This covers two areas:
- Cell, Tissue, and Gene Therapy Products (CTGTPs) that have demonstrated the potential to treat cancers and serious diseases effectively.
- High-cost drugs for blood conditions and conditions with childhood onset.
To ensure the scheme will still remain sustainable, the Council also recommended several measures to cushion the premium increases, including capping the total premium increase at 35%, and phasing in the increases evenly over three years, from April 2025 to March 2028.
With this, premiums will increase by an average of 22% per policyholder by the end of the third year. This can be funded through a one-off release of capital from the MediShield Life Fund.
The following considerations were also proposed:
- Enhancing existing premium subsidies to provide more assistance to the lower- and middle-income groups.
- Providing MediSave top-ups to support Singaporeans through the Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation and Majulah Packages.
- Providing premium discounts to policyholders who lead healthy lifestyles, such as exercising regularly and going for recommended health screenings.
The Government has reviewed the Council’s recommendations on the MediShield Life scheme and agrees that these will ensure that MediShield Life continues to provide adequate and meaningful protection to Singaporeans.
Government accepts the recommendations
Having considered the recommendations, the Singapore Government has agreed that it will ensure that MediShield Life continues to provide adequate and meaningful protection to Singaporeans. The Government will also adjust the MediSave withdrawal limits to allow patients to use MediSave to cover the co-insurance and the revised deductibles.
The revised MediShield Life benefits and MediSave limits will be implemented progressively from 1 April 2025, in tandem with the first phase of the increase in inpatient deductible.
Meanwhile, the outpatient deductible will be introduced on 1 January 2026, followed by the second phase of the increase in inpatient deductible on 1 April 2027. All other changes will be made progressively from 1 April 2025 onwards.
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