My wife received an "opt out letter on Eldershield" from Great Eastern. She is not a customer of Great Eastern. How did Great Eastern get her particulars? Is it fair to apply "opt out", especially to people who are illiterate?
REPLY
The Ministry of Health makes it mandatory for everyone reaching age 40 to be covered under Eldershield. This is provided under the Eldershield legislation. Although it is compulsory, the insured person has the right to opt out. If they do not opt out, they automatically join the scheme and the premium for Eldershield is deducted from Medisave.
The Ministry divided the people reaching age 40 into three groups and passed them to the three participating insurers, namely Great Easter, Income and Aviva. Your wife is probably in the group that is given to Great Eastern by M of Health. This is how Great Eastern got her particulars.
When Eldershield was first introduced, about 35% of the people opted out, as they found the premium to be too high, relative to the benefits. The opt out rate has fallen (but I do not know the current level today). I have not analysed the premium and benefit recently, so I am not able to give an opinion if it is worth joining Eldershield.
The Ministry divided the people reaching age 40 into three groups and passed them to the three participating insurers, namely Great Easter, Income and Aviva. Your wife is probably in the group that is given to Great Eastern by M of Health. This is how Great Eastern got her particulars.
When Eldershield was first introduced, about 35% of the people opted out, as they found the premium to be too high, relative to the benefits. The opt out rate has fallen (but I do not know the current level today). I have not analysed the premium and benefit recently, so I am not able to give an opinion if it is worth joining Eldershield.
When I received it, I felt insulted. 40 years old Ah Pek ??? So, I opted out immediately. Btw, I guessed the policy-maker was too conservative and only pre-occupied with just making sure that the plan is profitable to entice insurance company to manage it, freeing government the burden to take care of old folks....but, calling 40 years old, who are still very active, Ah Pek and Ah Mg will only invite more to opt-out.
ReplyDeleteEverybody will grow old one day. Accept your destiny :)
ReplyDeleteGary,
ReplyDeleteFully agree with you. When they want your money in order to make the scheme workable, they call you elder, try going to the silver club run by NTUC at AMK hub and see whether they let you go in. Even 50 years old also cannot go in since not old enough. On the other hand, when they want you to continue to work to contribute to the economy, 70 years old also can work. The best is don't retire until you are 85 or drop dead. This is our so called caring government! Enough bullshit!!! They engineered their plans according to their own agendas, not necessarily in your interests. Kind of like the financial institutions nowadays right. Wonder who learn from who?