MediShield Coverage for Congenital Illness for Persons Diagnosed before March 2013

Mdm Speaker, MediShield is a health insurance scheme which focuses on inpatient hospitalisation and selected outpatient treatment like chemotherapy and dialysis. My Ministry recently announced the extension of MediShield coverage to congenital conditions for Singaporeans born on or after 1 March 2013. Existing policyholders will also receive coverage for congenital conditions diagnosed on or after 1 March 2013.

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Conditions diagnosed prior to the extension in cover are considered pre-existing and, hence, will not be covered under MediShield. Covering pre-existing conditions will lead to higher premiums for all.

My Ministry understands the concerns of Singaporeans whose children were diagnosed with congenital conditions before 1 March 2013, and has put in place further measures to address these concerns. We have set up a new scheme, Medifund Junior, from 1 March 2013 to provide additional financial assistance for healthcare bills incurred by children. Children with congenital conditions diagnosed before 1 March 2013 will benefit from this additional assistance under Medifund Junior, if their families face difficulties with their healthcare bills. Medifund Junior will help us to more effectively target families with higher needs and provide added assurance to Singaporeans.

Mdm Speaker, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. Basic healthcare insurance for every person, not just for children, regardless of ability or health condition, is an essential good that is needed, as the Senior Parliamentary Secretary has said, in times of hospitalisation, or even for treatment such as chemotherapy, and so forth. I am really grateful to MOH and the Government for responding to the public's cry for – especially in the special needs community – covering children who are born on or after 1 March 2013 with congenital or pre-existing conditions. So, thank you for that, I want to register that.

However, there is still this group who are in the transition who happened to be missed out and excluded from this wonderful package. Say what we want, they are still excluded, and they are not provided with what is basic healthcare insurance. We have always heard that if we include them, then a higher premium will be incurred. But I think this is something that is more than economics. It is a basic good or essential good that should be provided to every citizen, I ask the Ministry to look at this again. It is not an easy topic. I feel that the Medifund Junior that is set up will help some but not cover every child, and does not include every Singaporean that needs to be covered. This is only a transitional period. I ask for a special look into this.

I also ask the Ministry to make public what is Medifund Junior. What is the definition of "children"? Does it mean that if they are older than 12, they are not covered? What is really covered? What kind of criteria are we looking at? And what happens to the rest of the Singaporean children, youths and adults who are not covered currently? And also, to look urgently into situations under which

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they need to go beyond the usual MediShield coverage ceiling; to see if there are best practices in other countries and other societies that we can look into so that they can be safe from that kind of hardship that they will experience if they do not have money to treat their congenital or pre-existing illnesses. So, I look forward to MOH's help in this. It is not easy. I thank you very much for the M&P Package. I really think that we might as well complete it and include this group that is not included.

Madam, I would like to thank the Member for the supplementary questions, and also for her concerns for the children. That is the precise intention of what we are doing. In fact, we are going to roll out the Medifund Junior, which is for children aged below 18. Essentially, with Medifund Junior, we would cover our children. No Singaporean children will be deprived of medical attention and treatment, even if they do not have the financial resources. But we will look into the Member's views. To me, it is an on-going journey that we are looking at to see how we can further enhance our healthcare system.

Mdm Speaker, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his openness. I would like to know how long that on-going journey will be, because I am advocating not just for those below 18, but there are many, for example, adults with Down Syndrome where it is not transparent if they are covered or not under the current scheme. I understand they are not covered in many instances. Many insurers are not interested in covering them, but I think the State should look into this and see how we can come up with some solutions on this. For some families, it may be co-sharing. For others who are from the lower income families, the State might want to take over the insurance. I would just like to ask for some timeline on this.

Madam, I am also happy to share with the Member that we have increased the portion for Medifund for those who are above 18. We have increased it from $80 million to $100 million. Like I said earlier, essentially, we will look into the needs of Singaporeans, regardless of their conditions. We want to ensure that no Singaporeans are deprived of medical services. Again, I thank the Member for her views. We will certainly look at all the views and further improve our healthcare system.

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