Singapore’s medical cost inflation is projected to reach nearly 17% this year, significantly higher than general inflation which is under 2%.
I recognise and agree that there is a need for cost containment and management of insurance premiums. On cancer specifically, MOH has made significant moves. For instance, the Cancer Drug List now has about 394 drugs listed that are eligible for subsidies and claims under Medishield Life and Integrated Plans.
Three months ago, MOH announced a key policy change in hospitalisation insurance. With effect from April this year, new riders on Integrated Plans can no longer cover the minimum deductibles set by MOH while the co-payment of bills, at 5% of the total bill, would be capped at $6,000 per year instead of $3,000. With these changes, the premiums for the new riders are expected to be about 30% lower than for the existing riders.
The Minister for Health has put out various videos on TikTok to explain the change. In one of them, he appeared to suggest that the only use of the existing rider was to reduce the deductible and co-insurance, and the public should consider whether they need a rider at all. However, my understanding is that riders may be essential especially to cancer patients for other reasons. First, riders help pay for costly cancer drugs that are not on the Cancer Drug List, which could be critical for the patient’s treatment. Second, there is the issue of loss limits – without a rider, the patient would need to pay 10% of a hospitalisation bill without any cap.
The second more general issue relates to preventive medical interventions which may not be covered by insurance. A young breast cancer patient wrote about her plight to the Straits Times Forum Page on 28 January. She followed her doctor’s advice to remove both breasts even though only one was cancerous. Her hospitalisation insurance covered surgery for the cancerous breast but only partially for the non-cancerous one.
In April last year, MOH recognised that the line between preventive and diagnostic care was increasingly nuanced, particularly in cases involving genetic predisposition to serious conditions like breast cancer. MOH mentioned that it would issue claim rules to guide practitioners on breast-related surgical claims later that year. What is the present status of this review?
