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From 1 December 2007, all newborn
Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) will be offered MediShield
coverage on an opt-out basis. From mid-2008, the Ministry of Health will
also facilitate coverage for Singaporean and PR youths. |
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Today, MediShield auto-coverage is already
offered at the point of a person's first working contribution to CPF,
and at the point of marriage registration. |
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In addition, parents today can voluntarily
purchase MediShield for their children through the CPFB, or through
Medisave-Approved Private Integrated Plans offered by private insurers. |
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At present, MediShield covers nearly 3 out
of every 4 Singaporeans and PRs. However, about half of youths below 20
years old are not yet covered by MediShield. |
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Early coverage will benefit youths and their
parents, helping them to meet medical expenses in the event of major or
prolonged illnesses. Early MediShield coverage is also beneficial as it
would be difficult to obtain subsequent coverage if a person develops an
illness in his youth. |
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As an added step to emphasize the importance
of having catastrophic illness insurance, the Ministry of Health will
systematically facilitate MediShield coverage for the following groups: |
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Newborn Children |
• MediShield coverage will be offered to all Singaporean children whose
births are registered on or after 1 December 2007.
• This will be extended to all children of Permanent Residents, where
the child is born in Singapore and the parents register their newborn
child’s permanent residency in Singapore on or after 1 December 2007.
• Mailers with more information will be sent to parents of newborns
beginning December 2007. |
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Children Aged 0 to 6 |
• Singaporean and Permanent Resident children attending Primary One in
mainstream schools in the coming year will be provided with opt-out
coverage, between May and June 2008.
• This exercise will be repeated for each batch of Primary One pupils
over the next 6 years from 2009 to 2014. |
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Children and Youths Aged 7
to 20 |
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• An exercise will be
conducted between July 2008 and April 2009 to cover those currently
studying in mainstream schools (primary and secondary schools, junior
colleges and pre-universities) as at 1 May 2008.
• Those studying in non-mainstream institutions will be sent
invitational mailers in 2009 to opt-in for MediShield coverage. |
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While the above coverage is being
systematically put in place, we encourage parents who wish to more
pro-actively insure their children under MediShield to submit an
application online now, instead of waiting for the respective mailers.
Parents can access the CPF website at
http://www.cpf.gov.sg and go to 'my CPF Online Services -> My
Request -> Healthcare Matters -> Apply for MediShield Cover'. To submit
an application online, NRIC/CPF Account Numbers and SingPass logins are
required. |
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Basic coverage for newborns and youths is
affordable at $30 per year. The annual premium will be automatically
deducted from the Medisave account of the father. If there are
insufficient funds in the father’s account, the premium will be deducted
from the mother's Medisave account. |
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The CPF Board administers MediShield on
behalf of MOH. More information on MediShield can be found on MOH’s
website at
http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/hcfinancing.aspx?id=306
and on CPFB's webpage at
http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/FAQ/HealthCare/MSH.htm
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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg Press Release 28 Oct
2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Fri 2 November 2007
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