Rahayu Mahzam on MediShield Life Scheme (Amendment) Bill
The Government wants to ensure that coverage of MediShield Life keeps pace with changes in Singapore’s healthcare. Outlining the proposed changes under the Bill in Parliament on Monday (Nov 11), Minister of State for Health Rahayu Mahzam highlighted three key objectives - support expansion of coverage to new models of care, strengthen provisions to support premium recovery efforts and improve administration of the scheme. On expanding coverage to new models of care, the law will be amended to redefine where treatments or services can be received. It will enable MediShield Life to cover care that is received entirely outside the premises of a medical institution and provide flexibility to cover newer care models that may develop in future. It will also set out a clearer and more robust governance framework that allows scoped approvals, as well as suspensions and revocations of such approvals, of medical institutions. The law will also be amended to strengthen premium recovery efforts, as any owed premiums that cannot be recovered will affect the fund's sustainability and ability to meet its claims. "If left unrecovered, these debts will have to be shouldered by other policyholders in the form of higher premiums,” said Ms Rahayu. A key enabler of this premium recovery process is the demand note, which needs to be served before recovery measures are taken. The law will recognise the different modes through which demand notes and other documents are served on a defaulter. At present, demand notes are only deemed served if sent by registered post to a person’s residential address, or any correspondence address provided by the person. The amendment would include serving them through additional modalities such as digital means, which will improve operational efficiency and streamline premium recovery actions. Ms Rahayu pointed out that the Government will take a calibrated approach based on the means of defaulters. The Bill will broaden the scope for access and use of means information to assess whether premium recovery and enforcement measures should be exercised on premium defaulters with lesser means. Turning to efforts to streamline, clarify and strengthen existing processes of the scheme, Ms Rahayu said MediShield Life premiums will be specified in a manner that is more accessible, such as on the Ministry of Health’s website, instead of legislation. The Bill will also expand the scope of offences arising from false or misleading information to include cases where the information provided may affect the amount of grants, subsidies or benefits to be paid or given to an individual. This will enable the Government to take a stricter stance against such offenders and ensure the proper payment of claims, as well as the disbursement of grants and subsidies, said Ms Rahayu.
The Government wants to ensure that coverage of MediShield Life keeps pace with changes in Singapore’s healthcare. Outlining the proposed changes under the Bill in Parliament on Monday (Nov 11), Minister of State for Health Rahayu Mahzam highlighted three key objectives - support expansion of coverage to new models of care, strengthen provisions to support premium recovery efforts and improve administration of the scheme. On expanding coverage to new models of care, the law will be amended to redefine where treatments or services can be received. It will enable MediShield Life to cover care that is received entirely outside the premises of a medical institution and provide flexibility to cover newer care models that may develop in future. It will also set out a clearer and more robust governance framework that allows scoped approvals, as well as suspensions and revocations of such approvals, of medical institutions. The law will also be amended to strengthen premium recovery efforts, as any owed premiums that cannot be recovered will affect the fund's sustainability and ability to meet its claims. "If left unrecovered, these debts will have to be shouldered by other policyholders in the form of higher premiums,” said Ms Rahayu. A key enabler of this premium recovery process is the demand note, which needs to be served before recovery measures are taken. The law will recognise the different modes through which demand notes and other documents are served on a defaulter. At present, demand notes are only deemed served if sent by registered post to a person’s residential address, or any correspondence address provided by the person. The amendment would include serving them through additional modalities such as digital means, which will improve operational efficiency and streamline premium recovery actions. Ms Rahayu pointed out that the Government will take a calibrated approach based on the means of defaulters. The Bill will broaden the scope for access and use of means information to assess whether premium recovery and enforcement measures should be exercised on premium defaulters with lesser means. Turning to efforts to streamline, clarify and strengthen existing processes of the scheme, Ms Rahayu said MediShield Life premiums will be specified in a manner that is more accessible, such as on the Ministry of Health’s website, instead of legislation. The Bill will also expand the scope of offences arising from false or misleading information to include cases where the information provided may affect the amount of grants, subsidies or benefits to be paid or given to an individual. This will enable the Government to take a stricter stance against such offenders and ensure the proper payment of claims, as well as the disbursement of grants and subsidies, said Ms Rahayu.
