Health Minister Gan on MediShield enhancements

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong has stressed the importance of insurance in a country's healthcare financing.

He said the government wants to encourage lower-income families to be covered by its insurance scheme, MediShield.

Mr Gan said this in response to questions from reporters, on his ministry's plan to provide wider coverage from the first quarter of next year.

He said it has to calibrate MediShield enhancements very carefully, including extending coverage for congenital and neo-natal conditions.

"We also are concerned that, whether by introducing this additional insurance, we will actually increase the cost of treatment. Because once it is covered by insurance, parents and doctors may pursue more expensive treatment and overall, this may raise the cost of healthcare for children in Singapore," said Mr Gan.

"We need to calibrate it so that there is a balance between benefits covered by the insurance, as well as the cost of the insurance premium, to ensure that the benefits remain relevant and effective and at the same time, the premium remains affordable," he added.

Mr Gan was speaking to the media at the end of his Ministerial walkabout to the Bukit Timah division of the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

With the enhancements, patients will be able to claim more - up to S$70,000 for their hospital bills annually, compared with the current S$50,000.

The lifetime limit will be increased from S$200,000 to S$300,000 to help policyholders who face exceptionally large bills, such as undergoing multiple surgeries after an accident.

The Health Ministry said MediShield deductibles will also be adjusted accordingly, as medical bills have become more expensive over the years.

With the extended coverage and payouts, MediShield premiums will have to be raised.

But the Health Ministry said for the vast majority of policyholders, the increase in premiums will be less than S$10 a month.

And with the additional government support given at this year's Budget, Singaporeans aged 65 and below will have to fork out no more than S$5 per month in the next two years.

For the elderly, their premiums will be largely offset by the annual and one-time Medisave top-ups.

They will, in fact, see a decrease in premiums payable.

Government cuts healthcare subsidies for PRs

SINGAPORE - The Government announced today through a press release that the healthcare subsidies for Permanent Residents are to be reduced, starting from the third quarter of this year.

The Ministry of Health said that the changes mean that most PRs will soon enjoy only about half the subsidies citizens enjoy.

This is to draw a further distinction in the privileges offered to citizens as compared to PRs.

The adjustments will apply to inpatient services of Class B2 and C wards, day surgery and specialist outpatient clinics in restructured hospitals, and intermediate and long-term care services.

For example, a patient of an average monthly income of $3,200 and below staying in a Class C ward can currently receive a subsidy rate of 60 per cent.

Under the changes, the subsidy rate will be reduced to 55 per cent. The subsidy rate for citizens is 80 per cent.

PRs in the same income band staying under a Class B2 ward will see decrease of subsidy rates from 45 per cent to 40 per cent.

For day surgery, the subsidy rate for PRs is to be lowered to 40 per cent, down from 45 per cent.

For specialised outpatient clinics, the subsidy rate for PRs will be lowered to 25 per cent, down from 30 per cent.

The ministry said that the subsidy adjustments are different for lower income PRs, as it is mindful of the impact of the changes.

The changes in restructured hospitals will be implemented in two phases, one in October this year and the next in April 2013, while that for the intermediate and long-term care sector will see the changes implemented in the third quarter of 2012.

Other changes include the lowering of subsidies for PRs for Community Hospitals and Residential Services and the fixing of subsidy rates of citizens for these services at 75 per cent.

This fixed subsidy rate will kick in from the third quarter of the year.

Which nationalities live the longest?

SINGAPORE - According to an internationally renowned source of global statistics, Singapore ranks fourth in longevity, with citizens living an average of 83.75 years.

The latest 2011 figures were part of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s latest update to its Word Factbook - an official reference resource updated weekly for the use of US government officials.

According to the resource, Singaporean men live an average of 81.47 years, while women top that at 86.2 years of age.

Far ahead of the average global life expectancy of 67.59 years of age, the new ranking is a significantly jump from its 2011 ranking of seventh place. In August last year, the Factbook listed Singapore's average life expectancy to be 82.14 years of age.

The island state narrowly beat out countries like San Marino, which ranked fifth place at 83.07 years, and Andorra, ranking sixth place at 82.50 years.

Both countries ranked above Singapore last year.

However, it lost out to the Mediterranean country of Monaco, which took top spot as the country with the best conditions to live to a ripe old age with an average lifespan of 89.73.

It was followed closely by Macau and Japan, with average lifespans of 89.68 years and 84.43 respectively.

Other notable entries include Hong Kong, ranked eighth (82.12 years), and Australia, ranked ninth (81.90 years).

The information is compiled through CIA combing through death certificates, recording race, gender, cause of death and other factors to estimate the life expectancy of a nation's entire population, reported Huffington Post.

These relatively low profile countries beat healthcare advancement heavyweights such as the US, who came in at a dismal 50th position out of the 221 countries censused.

The Republic of Chad, a landlocked country in Central Africa, came in last in life expectancy, with its people living just 48.69 years.

Singapore's ranking comes in the footsteps of the Government pledging to up its healthcare spending from $4 billion to $8 billion over the next five years.

Among the plans announced during Budget this year were moves to double the capacity of long-term care services, raise healthcare subsidy amounts and ease subsidy eligibly requirements to allow more Singaporeans to get healthcare help.

Just last week, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong promised to keep healthcare affordable, and said that nobody will be denied access to help regarding their health in a dialogue session with the public.