MediShield coverage for newborns and youths

28 Oct 2007

From 1 December 2007, all newborn Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) will be offered MediShield coverage on an opt-out basis. From mid-2008, the Ministry of Health will also facilitate coverage for Singaporean and PR youths.

Today, MediShield auto-coverage is already offered at the point of a person’s first working contribution to CPF, and at the point of marriage registration. In addition, parents today can voluntarily purchase MediShield for their children through the CPFB, or through Medisave-Approved Private Integrated Plans offered by private insurers.

At present, MediShield covers nearly 3 out of every 4 Singaporeans and PRs. However, about half of youths below 20 years old are not yet covered by MediShield.  Early coverage will benefit youths and their parents, helping them to meet medical expenses in the event of major or prolonged illnesses.  Early MediShield coverage is also beneficial as it would be difficult to obtain subsequent coverage if a person develops an illness in his youth.

As an added step to emphasize the importance of having catastrophic illness insurance, the Ministry of Health will systematically facilitate MediShield coverage for the following groups:

Newborn Children

• MediShield coverage will be offered to all Singaporean children whose births are registered on or after 1 December 2007.

• This will be extended to all children of Permanent Residents, where the child is born in Singapore and the parents register their newborn child’s permanent residency in Singapore on or after 1 December 2007.

• Mailers with more information will be sent to parents of newborns beginning December 2007.

Children Aged 0 to 6

• Singaporean and Permanent Resident children attending Primary One in mainstream schools in the coming year will be provided with opt-out coverage, between May and June 2008.

• This exercise will be repeated for each batch of Primary One pupils over the next 6 years from 2009 to 2014. 

Children and Youths Aged 7 to 20

• An exercise will be conducted between July 2008 and April 2009 to cover those currently studying in national schools (primary and secondary schools, junior colleges and pre-universities) as at 1 May 2008.

• Those not studying in mainstream institutions will be sent invitational mailers in 2009 to opt-in for MediShield coverage.

While the above coverage is being systematically put in place, we encourage parents who wish to more pro-actively insure their children under MediShield to submit an application online now, instead of waiting for the respective mailers.  Parents can access the CPF website at  http://www.cpf.gov.sg and go to “my CPF Online Services -> My Request -> Healthcare Matters -> Apply for MediShield Cover”.  To submit an application online, NRIC/CPF Account Numbers and SingPass logins are required.

Basic coverage for newborns and youths is affordable at $30 per year. The annual premium will be automatically deducted from the Medisave account of the father. If there are insufficient funds in the father’s account, the premium will be deducted from the mother’s Medisave account.

The CPF Board administers MediShield on behalf of MOH. More information on MediShield can be found on MOH’s website here and on CPFB’s webpage at http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/FAQ/HealthCare/MSH.htm