【转帖】Review panel recommends significant enhancements for MediShield Life

_用心聆听_

基本情况：
1，取消终身索赔限额，目前为$300,000。
2，增加每日的索赔限额（up to 55%），共同负担额co-insurance减半，还有提高癌症疾病的化疗跟放射疗法的索赔限额
3，目前没有投保的人和有pre-existing疾病的人，会被拉入新的保险计划
4，对于pre-existing疾病带来的多余保费需求，要有这些有pre-existing疾病的人，现有投保人，还有政府三方分担。就是说健康人的保费也会提高，用来负担一部分有现有疾病的人的保费。至于具体怎么分担，目前不知道。
5，MediShield的保费，可能会增长20%到30%，目前数据还不确定。

疑虑：
1，公民的保障会增加，但是不知道PR的保障会怎么样，可能跟公民的差距进一步拉大。
2，对于私人保险公司的保险来说，如果MediShield赔付的多了，相当于私人保险公司需要赔付的就少了。虽然MediShield保费应该会增加，但是私人保险公司的保费还不一定怎么变化。
3，如果Co-insurance部分减半，那么私人保险公司的Cash Rider需要赔付的就少了，可能保费也会减少呢。

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                  The MediShield Life Review Committee has made preliminary recommendations to enhance the MediShield Life benefit parameters.                    

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              The MediShield Life Review Committee has made preliminary recommendations to enhance the MediShield Life benefit parameters.

      
   
  



SINGAPORE: The MediShield Life Review Committee (MLRC) has called on the government to take on most of the costs of covering those currently uninsured.
It also recommended that the proposed universal health insurance scheme, MediShield Life, remove the current lifetime claim limit.

These are some of the preliminary recommendations which the committee shared on Saturday.

The panel said that it agrees that MediShield Life's focus should remain on large subsidised hospital bills as these are the bills that most concern Singaporeans.
It added that smaller and more predictable bills can be covered by Medisave and other savings.

So the committee has proposed raising the maximum claimable limit and lowering co-insurance rates.

It said these considerations reflect the views from participants at the focus group discussions that it has had so far.
To date, it has held 23 focus group discussions with close to 800 participants.

One key recommendation is the removal of the current lifetime limit of S$300,000 so that Singaporeans who accumulate large bills remain covered for life.
Other recommendations include increasing the daily claim limits for normal wards and ICU wards by up to 55 per cent, halving co-insurance rates and increasing the claim limits for outpatient cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.
The proposed enhancements will mean that more hospital bills will be covered.
For example, they will enable 10,000 more subsidised patients in Class B2 and C wards to pay less than S$3,000 for their inpatient bills every year.

In addition, the enhancements will see 1,500 more subsidised patients undergoing chemotherapy pay less than S$1,000 in a year, after MediShield Life payouts.

The committee also recommended that the uninsured be brought into the common MediShield Life risk-pool to maximise the effect of risk-pooling, instead of setting up a separate fund for those with pre-existing conditions.

To address the issue of the additional costs arising from the expected higher claims from those with pre-existing conditions, the committee's preliminary view is that the cost of universal coverage should be shared across those with pre-existing conditions, the existing insured policyholders and the government.

Through its consultations, the committee found that views were mixed.

Bobby Chin, head of the MediShield Life Review Committee, said: "There are people who said that 'why should they be paying for the uninsured or people with pre-existing conditions?'.
"But on the other hand, there... (are also) Singaporeans who have shown compassion and care for their fellow Singaporeans.

"How much additional premium should we place on the (uninsured) individual coming into group?... A range has been suggested, perhaps 20 to 30 percent of additional premiums, but we have not been able to come to a decision at this stage."

Mr Chin said the amount of cost that the government should pay will depend on how much Singaporeans are willing to fork out.

The Health Ministry has welcomed the committee's suggestions, adding that the proposals will involve greater payouts, which in turn require higher premiums.

In a statement, the ministry said it is supportive of the MLRC's recommendation to lower co-insurance rates in order to reduce co-payment from members after deductibles. This will help to keep healthcare costs affordable for Singaporeans.

It said the committee's proposals to raise claim limits and to remove lifetime limits are also in line with the government's emphases on providing lifetime coverage to all Singaporeans and to help them better manage large hospital bills.

The government has said it will help the middle- and lower-income as well as the Pioneer Generation with their MediShield premiums.

For the Pioneer Generation, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in his Budget Speech 2014, MediShield Life premium subsidies will start from 40 per cent for those aged 65, rising to 60 per cent for seniors aged 90.

The committee has requested that the Health Ministry and its actuarists provide premium estimates to help it in its further deliberations on how to balance affordability.

Going forward, the committee will continue to study issues raised by members of the public and experts, such as deductibles, pre-funding and Integrated Shield Plans.

The Health Ministry said it will study the committee's preliminary recommendations carefully and looks forward to more views from the committee as it continues with its review and gather public feedback.

The ministry will also provide premium pricing advice and support to the committee, based on its recommendations.  


        

- CNA/fa/al