MediShield Life is designed to cover large hospital bills, to keep premiums affordable

MOH's Reply:

Lianhe Zaobao, 29 Sep 2017

MediShield Life is designed to cover large hospital bills, to keep premiums affordable

We refer to Mr Goh’s letter (“终身健保赔偿杯水车薪”, 21 Sep).

MediShield Life is a basic health insurance scheme which helps to pay for large hospital bills and selected costly outpatient treatments. To keep premiums affordable for all Singaporeans, the scheme has both a deductible and co-payment feature. Patients aged 80 and below pay the first $1,500 for C ward type, or the first $2,000 for B2 and above ward types, and this deductible applies only once each policy year. After the deductible, patients will only pay a small co-insurance amount, with the remainder covered by MediShield Life. The deductible and co-insurance amount can be paid using Medisave and/or cash.

To illustrate how MediShield Life protects Singaporeans against large hospital bills, take for example a 60-year old patient hospitalised for a heart attack.  After receiving relevant tests, treatments and care for 10 days in a C ward type, his pre-subsidy bill amounts to $18,000. The Government will subsidise $13,500 of the bill, which results in a post-subsidy bill of $4,500. If this is the patient’s first hospitalisation episode in his policy year, he would receive a MediShield Life payout of $2,700, which covers 60% of his post-subsidy bill. The balance of $1,800, which can be paid using Medisave, includes the deductible amount of $1,500, as well as a co-insurance amount of $300.

In Mr Goh’s case, the MediShield Life payout was not large as his post-subsidy bill was just above the deductible, and he had not accumulated other claims in the policy year.

Patients who face difficulties with medical bills even after Government subsidies, MediShield Life and Medisave may approach the Medical Social Workers at the various healthcare institutions for assistance.

Lee May Lin (Ms)
Director, Communications and Engagement Group
Ministry of Health

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Forum Letter

Lianhe Zaobao, 21 Sep 2017

终身健保赔偿杯水车薪

我今年73岁。自从被纳入终身健保计划（Medishield Life）后，每年支付490元的保费，以为从此医药费有了保障。

不幸，最近因小便不通畅，到医院动手术。在B2病房住了两天，总费用6000多元。终身健保的保险公司只赔了251.28元，政府津贴4443.33元，其余的2000多元由我的保健储蓄户头扣还。

我每年付490元的保费，保险公司的赔偿费却不到总费用的4%，完全不成比例，也太不合理。希望卫生部能审查原因。

吴永耀

Last updated on 29 Sep 2017