Review the underwriting requirements for Medishield

NOT PUBLISHED BY TODAY PAPER

14 November 2012

Editor, Voices

Today Paper

I support that approach by the Ministry of Health in 

encouraging the uninsured people, especially the elderly, to apply

for coverage under Medishield (Today, 14 November).

The main obstacles faced by these uninsured people is passing the

underwriting requirements for acceptance under the Medishield scheme.

Many of the elderly people do have some chronic conditions or

other ailments that bar them from getting the cover. We cannot expect them 

to be in the same state of good health as young people.

I suggest that the Ministry of Health should have a moratorium on 

their current underwriting requirements for a period of six months 

to allow the uninsured to join the scheme. During this moratorium, they 

can be accepted without any medical examination or health

declaration.

It would be acceptable to exclude any claims for a period of three or six months 

from the date of joining. After the "waiting period", they should be allowed

to get the full benefit of the insurance.

As the elderly people are already paying a higher premium, compared to 

young people, the higher incidence of claims should not have any 

significant adverse impact on the insurance pool. 

I hope that the Ministry of Health can consult the insurance practitioners, 

especially those that do not have any vested interest, to find out the right 

approach to this challenge.

Tan Kin Lian