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- Dec 30, 2010
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From
Georgia Tong Jee Cheng
TODAY
My mother has been a homemaker all her life. Seniors like her do not have much savings and, perhaps, could have been better off without putting money in their Medisave account.
She has been topping up her Medisave for over two decades but has been paying only in cash for her healthcare expenses. Her Medisave has now been depleted by her MediShield premiums, which have increased over the years, but she has not made any claim.
In 2000, the Government encouraged the elderly to apply for MediShield by paying the premium for two years. My mother was 69 then and her premium was S$132, which we thought was a reasonable starting amount. But by 2006, her MediShield premium was S$375. It was S$615 last year and S$1,123 this year, an 82.6 per cent increase, with not enough in her Medisave to pay for it after 12 years. She will not receive the Government’s Medisave top-up of S$400 until her MediShield is renewed.
What we did not know, until the Central Provident Fund Board sent a letter, was that the S$400 to offset the premium hike is for two years, or S$200a year, effectively. What is S$200 when her premium has shot up by S$508?
If the elderly are unable to keep topping up their Medisave, they would have no MediShield coverage in their critical years, and the current web of policies is too complicated for them to understand.
- http://www.todayonline.com/voices/rising-medishield-premiums-depleting-seniors-medisave-accounts
Georgia Tong Jee Cheng
TODAY
My mother has been a homemaker all her life. Seniors like her do not have much savings and, perhaps, could have been better off without putting money in their Medisave account.
She has been topping up her Medisave for over two decades but has been paying only in cash for her healthcare expenses. Her Medisave has now been depleted by her MediShield premiums, which have increased over the years, but she has not made any claim.
In 2000, the Government encouraged the elderly to apply for MediShield by paying the premium for two years. My mother was 69 then and her premium was S$132, which we thought was a reasonable starting amount. But by 2006, her MediShield premium was S$375. It was S$615 last year and S$1,123 this year, an 82.6 per cent increase, with not enough in her Medisave to pay for it after 12 years. She will not receive the Government’s Medisave top-up of S$400 until her MediShield is renewed.
What we did not know, until the Central Provident Fund Board sent a letter, was that the S$400 to offset the premium hike is for two years, or S$200a year, effectively. What is S$200 when her premium has shot up by S$508?
If the elderly are unable to keep topping up their Medisave, they would have no MediShield coverage in their critical years, and the current web of policies is too complicated for them to understand.
- http://www.todayonline.com/voices/rising-medishield-premiums-depleting-seniors-medisave-accounts
They will tell him that, any of the family members can top up the mom's account..so go figure it out. Don't worry it is AFFORDABLE & NO ONE WILL BE Denied medical attention...
