|
ABOUT 60,000 elderly will get an extra $100 top-up to their Medisave in September, in a move to help those over 80 meet the higher MediShield premiums.
The increase will bring the total amount for this group to $550, which was promised earlier by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in his Budget announcement.
With the planned changes to improve the basic national health insurance, people aged 81-85 will need to pay between $30 and $40 more a month in premiums - or up to $480 a year.
To help them, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced on Thursday night that the Government will raise their top-up so that they can meet this higher call on their Medisave accounts.
There are fewer than 5,000 'old-old' - a term increasingly used to describe people over 80 years old - who are insured under MediShield.
The top-ups announced in February are for people 51 years and older, and start from $150. The extra $100 for the 'old-old' will cost the Government $206 million, up from the original $200 million.
The increase in MediShield premiums is tentatively set to kick in at the end of the year. It ranges from less than $3 to $10 a month for people up to the age of 80.
Speaking to grassroots leaders at The Grassroots' Club at Ang Mo Kio on Thursday night, Mr Khaw said this final tweaking of the insurance scheme is necessary to ensure that it will pay the bulk of large bills for subsidised patients.
Today, it covers only about 60 per cent of bills that are $10,000 or more. He wants MediShield to pick up 80 per cent of such bills.
| 
