Enhanced Incomeshield

NTUC Income now offers the Enhanced Incomeshield. It pays for medical expenses in hospital "as charged".

A policyholder asked me, "Why is NTUC Income covering 'as charged', when I indicated earlier that this may lead to escalation in medical expenses?"

Here are three reasons.

1. Some policyholders indicate that they are willing to pay a higher premium for the "as charged" plan. We wish to meet the wishes of these policyholders.

2. Our "as charged" plan requires prior approval, except for emergency. This is to allow our medical adviser to give a second opinion of the proposed treatment and to avoid unnecessary treatment. In most cases, approval will be given within one day.

3. We will continue to offer the basic Incomeshield, which is subject to limits for each category of treatment. Our basic plan will continue to be the most affordable in the market.

Initially, the enhanced Incomeshield cost about 15% higher than the similar basic plan, but this difference may widen in the future, based on the claim experience. We will try our best to keep the premium rates at an affordable level for the enhanced plan. It depends on our ability to prevent escalation in medical expenses.

If the gap widens, some policyholders may wish to opt back into the similar basic plan (which will continue to be avaialable) to enjoy the lower premium rates.

Our strategy is to offer a choice for consumers.