FROM December, all babies in Singapore will automatically be covered by medical insurance within two to three months of birth - unless their parents decide otherwise.
The $30-a-year insurance premium will be deducted from the father's Medisave account. If the father has no Medisave account, the mother's account will be used.
This move to get widespread insurance coverage for children is the final big piece in Singapore's health-care structure, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday. With children added, 85 per cent of the population would be covered against catastrophic diseases.
And with the big umbrella structures in place, the Health Minister signalled that he would be turning his attention to the 'micro elements', such as getting providers to be more efficient in their service by not overcharging or over-treating patients.
Another possible next step: Getting insurers to encourage policy-holders to stay healthy with 'no-claim bonuses, premium discounts for non-smokers and discounted or complimentary health screenings', said Mr Khaw.
As for insurance for newborns, this is how it will work: Parents will be sent a letter telling them of their child's insurance coverage, and will have a month to cancel the policy.
If they do nothing during this time, it will be assumed that they agree, and the insurance coverage for the child will commence after an additional one-month waiting period. This is the standard for MediShield, the national health insurance scheme.
But it won't be just newborns that will be insured. Next year, parents of school-going children will also be given the option to sign them up for MediShield, which covers children in case they incur large hospital bills.
The Health Ministry will work with the Education Ministry to get pupils insured when they register for Primary 1. There will also be a one-off exercise for all other schoolchildren.
Mr Khaw told The Straits Times last night that MediShield 'is a good product and inexpensive, and really, all children should be in it'.
About half the children in Singapore are already covered, but close to 400,000 are not. Should they suffer a serious illness, their parents might have difficulty paying their hospital bills. The child may also no longer be eligible for insurance coverage.
Before deciding on the extended coverage scheme, Mr Khaw spoke to parents whose children have no health insurance coverage to find out why. 'They said: 'Inertia'! This is understandable, so we shall make it easy for them to do so.'
Today, 75 per cent of Singaporeans and permanent residents are covered by MediShield. With children added, coverage will go up to 85 per cent, he said.
It's not realistic to expect 100 per cent coverage as there are people who can't be insured because of existing problems, or who have private funds or insurance, he said.
Mr Khaw was giving the media his assessment of the state of health care here after the opening of the three-day Southeast Asia Health Insurance conference at the Raffles City Convention Centre.
Singapore had carefully incorporated the best elements from America's insurance model and Britain's tax model, he said.
On top of that, it added a strong emphasis on personal responsibility.
'Co-payment helps to re-establish the primary relationship between buyer and seller, so critical in ensuring the proper functioning of any market,' he said.
