Here is a
story about how the medical bill to remove a simple kidney stone can amount to USD 12,000 in a private hospital in the USA. We may be facing a similar situation of over-charging in the private medical practice in Singapore. For elderly people who are not wealthy, it is better to go for a subsidized ward.
This is the clear & present danger in private As-Charged Shield plans, which nobody wants to talk about and nobody wants to reveal.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the govt's push in Singapore becoming a medical hub and attracting rich foreigners for medical tourism, as well as having an attitude of cost-plus for even govt hospitals, our medical inflation is running at 6% annually.
Worse still, PAP in the past 5 years have been pushing the cost and responsibility to cover medical costs to the ordinary people themselves, by asking them to buy private Shield plans. Many people and even the opposition MPs are not making enough noise and brining the PAP to task for reducing the MOH budget. Yes, Singapore's health budget has been reduced from last year despite the record multi-billion dollar surplus.
What all this translate to is that the premiums for private as-charged Shield plans will also be having 6% inflation rate. Even the so-called social enterprise Ntuc has internal review policy to increase Shield premiums by average 5% per year.
NTUC has already increased their Shield premiums twice since 2005. Each time the increase is by 10%-15% i.e. average of 5% to 7% increase per year.
So if you are now 40 yrs old and you see the premium of your Shield plan for 60 yrs old is only $1000/yr --- can still afford lah. Don't be shocked that when *you* turn 60, the premium will be at least $2,650 or more.