By SALMA KHALIKSENIOR HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

PEOPLE who need serious or frequent hospitaltreatment will find that the money in their Medi-save accounts will go much further under Medi-Shield Life than it does today, Health Minister GanKim Yong said.

Singaporeans will pay higher premiums underthe proposed lifelong insurance scheme. However,their share of big subsidised hospital bills will bemuch lower.

The MediShield Life Review Committee recom-mended that co-payment of bills be reduced from10 per cent to 20 per cent today to 3 per cent to 10per cent.

Mr Gan said: “The idea is that MediShield Lifeprovides a larger coverage, so the amount you needto pay as co-payment comes down.

“All in all, because of the pooling effect of insur-ance, a patient’s cost in total will be less.”

He added that the Medisave Minimum Sum is“enough for premiums and co-payment of bills in

subsidised classes”,from the time of retire-ment until death formost people.

The Medisave Mini-mum Sum for peoplewho turn 55 from nextmonth will be $43,500– up from $40,500now. Although this min-imum amount has beenraised annually, theCentral Provident FundBoard said that aboutsix out of 10 activemembers consistentlymeet the sum whenthey turn 55.

In an exclusive inter-view with The StraitsTimes, Mr Gan said the

increased MediShield Life premiums will be afforda-ble for most people thanks to the various govern-ment help schemes.

These include the Pioneer Generation Packageunder which people aged 65 and older this year willhave between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of theirpremiums subsidised permanently.

Singaporeans born in or before 1959 will get$100 or $200 in Medisave top-ups for five years.

Those who are working will get an additional 1per cent Medisave contribution from their employ-ers from next year. On top of that, two in three peo-ple will get a permanent subsidy to help them fi-nance the new insurance plan.

There will also be four years of transitional subsi-dies – starting at 80 per cent of the increase in pre-miums in year one and tapering to 20 per cent inthe fourth year – to cushion the impact of premiumincreases.

The entire premium can be paid for with Medi-save money, so no cash top-ups will be needed.

Mr Gan added that the current cap of $800 to$1,400 on the amount of Medisave that can be usedto pay for insurance premiums might have to betweaked for some age bands.

salma@sph.com.sgwww.facebook.com/ST.Salma

Twitter: @STHealth

HEAVY traffic is expected in Little India tomorrowas the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple holds a conse-cration ceremony to mark its reopening after a$7 million makeover.

The temple, founded in 1835, had undergone atwo-year-long renovation to make room for alarger congregation.

Nearly 50,000 devotees are expected to attendthe ceremony, which will start at 9.11am.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for FinanceTharman Shanmugaratnam will be the guest ofhonour.

To manage traffic, several roads in the area willbe closed to vehicles from 10pm tonight.

These will include parts of Serangoon Road,Veerasamy Road and Rowell Road.

Traffic delays are also expected along BukitTimah Road, Rochor Canal Road, Selegie Road,Prinsep Street, Bras Basah Road and Orchard Road.

Motorists are advised to plan their routes earlyand avoid these areas, said the police in a statementon Wednesday.

The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple’s new fea-tures include a six-storey building to cater to thegrowing number of devotees, many of whom are for-eign workers.

Restoration works involved a dozen craftsmenfrom Tamil Nadu.LINETTE LAI

MediShield Life helps trimco-payment sums: Minister

Example 1: Patient who had aheart bypass after a heart attack(hospitalised for eight days in B2 ward)

Example 2: Patient who had a cataractoperation (day surgery)

Madam Lee60 years old

Mr Tan70 years old

Class B2

$5,705

$5,705

$16,300

$5,705(bill adjustedto 35% of$16,300**)

$2,000

$335

N/A

$2,335(41%)

$12,930(79%)

$3,370(59%)

$3,370(21%)

Class A

$16,300

Type of bill

Bill beforegovernmentsubsidy

Bill aftergovernmentsubsidy

Maximumcoveragebased onhospitalisationand surgicalclaim limits

Deductible*

Co-insurance

MediShieldLife pays

Private insurerpays

Patient pays(Medisave/cash)

$3,500

$1,280

$8,150 (50%)

$4,780 (29%)

$3,370 (21%)

$16,300

Class A

Integrated Shield Plan (Class A as-charged coverage) – Class A premiums are up to five times of MediShield premiums

Integrated Shield Plan (Class A as-charged coverage) – Class A premiums are up to five times of MediShield premiums

MediShield LifeType of insurance coverage

Subsidised

$945

$945

$2,700

$945(bill adjustedto 35% of$2,700*)

$0***

N/A

$945(100%)

$2,700 (100%)

$945

Non-subsidised

$0****

$0 (0%)

$2,700

$2,700

Non-subsidised

$0 (0%)

$2,700

Type of bill

MediShield LifeType of insurance coverage

Source: MINISTRY OF HEALTH

ST FILE PHOTO ST GRAPHICS

**To ensure a similar payout across all MediShield insured members for the same treatment received, bills incurred in non-subsidised wards are adjusted to their equivalent full-subsidy Class B2/C bill size, before the MediShield payout is calculated.

*Deductibles are cumulative annually. Patients need to pay the deductible only once in a policy year.

***Claimable amount is lower than deductible of $1,500

****Claimable amount is lower than deductible of $3,000

Bill beforegovernmentsubsidy

Bill aftergovernmentsubsidy

Maximumcoveragebased onhospitalisationand surgicalclaim limitsDeductible*

Co-insurance

MediShieldLife pays(Claimableamount<deductible)Private insurerpaysPatient pays(Medisave/cash)

Temple event:Expect delaysin Little India

Mr Gan said the increasedMediShield Life premiumswill be affordable for mostpeople thanks to the variousgovernment help schemes.

Medisavesum ‘goesfurther innew plan’

S A T U R D A Y , J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 HHOOMMEE B13