A much overdue review to the CPF Medishield plan was made recently and there are several good improvements to it.
One of the best proposed change must be the proposed change to covered congenital diseases. These are illness that are existing from birth and are usually a standard exclusion to most insurance plans. The child may not be insurable in a serious condition and this change (if it is approved) will be a wonderful news. However, from the acturial point of insurance, there is no statistic to show the probability of claims from these incidents. While I do not expect to see a immediate major change in premium, I’m prepared to see a significantly increased in premiums in the long run.
In additional, Medishield will be extending coverage to include short-stay wards in the Emergency Departments as well as inpatient psychiatric treatment.
There are some limits to how much one can claim in a medishield plan such as itemized limits, policy year limit and life time limit. As the name defines, itemized limits set the limit of each item of claim for e.g. Profession fees, Surgery and Room & Board. The maximum amount one can claim in a policy year will be capped by the policy year limit and will increase from $50,000 to $70,000. The maximum amount one can claim in his lifetime will be capped by the life time limit. The policy will be terminate once your accumulated claims over the years reach the life time limit and this amount will increase from $200,000 to $300,000. What this means to you is assuming (you are so lucky or unlucky) you successfully make a claim of $70,000 every year from now, the medishield policy will be terminated in less than 5years!
All are good news up to now and let’s hear the bad news.
The bad news is…YES! The premiums will be increased but not significantly.Nevertheless, the premiums are payable from your medisave account. I must say any change to the premium will be insignificant to the improvements.
Do note these are proposed changes to be made. MOH is seeking public feedback on the proposed change and you can email to moh_info@moh.gov.sg if you have suggestions. The feedback should reach MOH by 15 Aug 2012.
My IFA@Sg 