Health insurance cost to rise from March

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The cost of health-care insurance will spike sharply from March when premiums increase on the back of enhancements to MediShield coverage.

Annual premiums for MediShield, the national health insurance scheme, will increase by between $17 and $251 partly as coverage is now being extended to 90 years of age.

A person aged 40 on his next birthday, for example, will have to pay $105 a year, up from $54 previously, a 94 per cent spike. Someone aged 85 on his next birthday will see an increase of about 2.4 per cent from $1,123 to $1,150.

The Government is providing a one-off Medisave top-up of up to $400, for all insured Singapore citizens.

In line with the MediShield premium increases, private insurers have also upped their annual premiums for shield plans. The increases depend on the policy and age. The average increase by each insurer is about 20 per cent to 50 per cent.

The insurers say the premium rises take into account the increased coverage provided, which includes $100-a-day claims for acute psychiatric hospital care for up to 35 days a year and claims for short stays at medical emergency departments.

Coverage has also been extended to inpatient congenital and neonatal treatment for newly diagnosed conditions.

In e-mail responses to The Straits Times, the five insurers offering integrated shield plans cited rising medical costs and the high incidence of claims as main reasons for their premium increases.