Lack of understanding on Medishield Life among Singaporeans

I came across the article by fellow blogger, Andrew Loh, on his recent medical bill. Andrew is a blogger whom I respected a lot because of his various quality articles in Yahoo Singapore website. Arising from his recent medical ordeal, I realized that there is a lack of understanding on Medishield Life among Singaporeans.

In his article, Andrew was very clear on the mechanism of Medishield Life. But several readers were puzzled as to why the Medishield Life payout was only $720 when the bill is $3959.19 after government subsidies of $6767.90.

Without verifying, many Singaporean readers took this opportunity to slam government policies and made baseless toxic remarks.

Firstly, Medishield Life has deductible and co-insurance portions that can be paid using Medisave or cash. Many Singaporeans thought that Medishield Life cover 100% of medical bill, which is untrue. The policy intent of the deductible is to keep MediShield Life targeted at large bills, and is only payable once in a policy year. Co-insurance ensures that policyholders are responsible for their medical bill.

Secondly, if you do not wish to pay the deductible and co-insurance fees, you can always opt for Integrated Shield Plans (ISP). Many of the ISP in the market have options for riders to waive off deductible and co-insurance fees. Of course the premiums will be higher for ISP, as compared to Medishield Life.

Our health is our best asset. So we must always strive to keep healthy. Having a comprehensive medical insurance may not enhance your health but it can certainly offers protection against large hospital bills. Nobody likes to be distressed with large medical expenses when they are down with illness. So start taking actions to protect your asset.

Since the middle of this year, I have upgraded my medical insurances to “Private” ward for all my family members. Our shield plans also include riders against deductible and co-insurance. The premiums are expensive but worthwhile because my family is my everything. To the best of my abilities, I will ensure that they well taken care of.

Obviously, Medishield Life and Medisave are not flawless and there are still room for improvements. But in my opinion, both have served their intents of paying for large hospital bills and selected costly outpatient treatments. Perhaps Singapore government may consider relaxing the rules for Medisave withdrawal for those critically or terminally ill people.

I am not writing this article to promote government policies or whatsoever. But I thought where there are policies that really benefit and improve the lives of Singaporeans, we should give due credit. Instead of bashing the government policies online, readers should educate themselves on how Medishield Life works.

One day, we will all grow old and fall sick. Don’t wait until that happens and then start to find out about Medishield Life. Take charge of your personal finance and start protecting your best asset now.

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Magically yours,