SINGAPORE – The benefits offered by MediShield Life are set to be widened from next year, to cover more and larger hospital bills, with proposed yearly claim limits raised from $100,000 to $150,000.
To pay for these additional benefits and rising healthcare costs, premiums are expected to go up next year by as much as 35 per cent.
This will be the first increase in premiums for the compulsory health insurance since its launch five years ago. At the upper end, the proposed hike will exceed $500 a year.
But given the difficult times Singaporeans are facing now, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said the Government will soften the impact of the premium increase with a special Covid-19 subsidy for the first two years.
In the first year, all Singaporeans will get a 70 per cent subsidy on the increase. This goes down to 30 per cent in the second year. This will cost the Government $360 million.
This is on top of the existing subsidies of 15 to 50 per cent given to middle- and lower-income groups, and 40 to 60 per cent for Pioneers. The Merdeka Generation receives additional subsidies of 5 to 10 per cent.
