Announcement Of Tender Results For Eldershield And The Interim Disability Assistance Programme For The Elderly

15 Apr 2002

The Ministry of Health has appointed NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited (NTUC Income) and The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited (Great Eastern) as the ElderShield insurers.

As for the Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE), the Ministry of Health has appointed NTUC Income as the insurer to administer the scheme.

ElderShield

The idea of ElderShield - an affordable severe disability insurance scheme - was first announced by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at last year's National Day Rally. ElderShield would provide Singaporeans with basic financial protection to help defray out-of-pocket medical expenses in the event of severe disabilities. Please see Annex A for the key features of ElderShield.

In Dec 2001, the Ministry of Health announced the details of the tender to select private insurers to administer and undertake the insurance risk of ElderShield. The aim of the tender was to encourage greater private sector participation in the severe disability insurance market. Also, through such a competitive bidding process, the Government would be able to get the best value for the premiums that ElderShield members would be paying. Please see Annex B for the key features of the ElderShield tender.

Based on the competitiveness of premiums and other selection criteria , the Ministry of Health has decided to award NTUC Income and Great Eastern the contract to insure and administer ElderShield. Essentially, eligible Singaporeans and Permanent Residents with Medisave accounts would be randomly allocated by the Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) to either NTUC Income or Great Eastern for ElderShield coverage. The allocation would be done such that both insurers would be allocated half of the eligible group. There would not be any difference in the ElderShield features whether an individual is an insured under NTUC Income or Great Eastern.

ElderShield Premiums and Subsidy

The finalised ElderShield premiums are highlighted at Annex C. ElderShield policyholders have the choice to pay their premiums annually until age 65 (i.e. the Regular Premium Scheme), or as a single payment upon joining the scheme (i.e. the Single Premium Scheme).

The Ministry of Health has previously announced a special 10-year premium payment plan for elderly Singaporeans and Permanent Residents aged 57 and above who join ElderShield. This is because under normal circumstances, they would have less than 10 years to pay their ElderShield premiums. The special 10-year premium payment plan, which would allow this group of elderly Singaporeans and Permanent Residents to pay their ElderShield premiums over a 10-year period, would be available during the special one-off ElderShield auto-cover exercise for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents aged between 40 and 69.

In recognition of the fact that elderly Singaporeans did not have time or the opportunity to build up their Medisave to purchase ElderShield, the Ministry of Health has announced that Government would subsidise the premiums of elderly Singaporeans aged between 56 and 69. For elderly aged between 65 and 69, the Government will subsidise about one-third of their premiums for 10 years. For elderly aged between 56 and 64, the Government would still provide premium subsidies but on a sliding scale . Please see Annex D for the respective premium subsidy amount for each age group based on the finalised ElderShield premiums. Similarly, the premium subsidy would only be applicable during the special one-off ElderShield auto-cover exercise.

Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE)

To provide Singaporeans who are not eligible to join ElderShield due to pre-existing disabilities or age limit with basic financial coverage against severe disabilities, the Ministry of Health will introduce the IDAPE. Please see Annex E for the features of IDAPE

Like ElderShield, a tender was conducted to select an insurer to administer IDAPE. The Ministry of Health has awarded NTUC Income the contract to administer IDAPE. As NTUC Income has also been selected as an ElderShield insurer, Singaporeans would be able to reap the benefits of the synergy.

Implementation

With the appointment of insurers for ElderShield and IDAPE, both schemes are expected to be implemented by the 2nd quarter of 2002. Further operational details of ElderShield and IDAPE will be released nearer the date of implementation.

Members of the public who wish to know more about ElderShield & IDAPE may call the following hotlines: MOH 1800-225 4122; CPF 1800-227 1188; NTUC Income 63321133; Great Eastern 1800- 248 2888. The public can also log on to the MOH website at www.moh.gov.sg to learn more about the two schemes.

Related: FAQs on ElderShield, click here.