The Singapore budget held many goodies. The centre piece pioneer generation healthcare benefits have been extensively revised to the tune of a S$8 (US$6.3) billion fund set aside for their healthcare needs for the rest of their lives.
MediShield for the unacquainted is the national health insurance plan for Singapore. This scheme will be extended to cover all Singaporeans and renamed MediShield Life as announced last year. While a good quarter of the older population (65 and over) had previously not been covered, this will now not just include them but also for the whole pioneer generation, outright cash subsidies to pay the premiums for the national healthcare insurance will be given and other subsidies or extensions given for outpatient treatment. This is to ensure it remains affordable. (Pioneer generation refers to Singaporeans from age 65 and above at the end of this year and having obtained citizenship from 1986 and earlier).
MediShield Life will cover all pre-existing conditions which is a marked change from Medishield. In other words, even if someone has for example had cancer before being covered and then develops another cancer after being in remission, a reasonably likely scenario given the nature of cancer, the patient can be covered under this revised insurance plan. Presumably coverage for say a second heart attack when the first had already been covered under this scheme is also in place.
While many of these measures had been floated or some details announced, the pulling together of all these in the context of the national budget while running only a small deficit shows Singaporeans that it is more than possible.
The age limit has also been lifted for MediShield Life which had previously only stretched to 90. This is a very significant step given it is no longer surprising to see in the obituaries pages, that people are now dying into their 90s and sometimes past 100. One might say however that perhaps their longevity is in itself a tribute to Singapore’s healthcare services. Other gaps, mental illnesses, congenital defects very importantly for instance are now being covered.
Other privately provided insurance policies sometimes do not even cover otherwise healthy children for simply being underweight even if all indicators show good health. So the assurance of having a national healthcare scheme that is universal must be very reassuring to many Singaporeans and not just the old but right across the board.
Aside from the generous definition of the pioneer generation and extension of the national health insurance scheme to a more universal basis, the Singapore budget 2014 is remarkable for not raising taxes generally.
In the run up to the Singapore Budget 2014 announcement, there was some speculation that with a pioneer generation package, taxes would have to be raised. After all, how are all these benefits to be paid for?
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