Many Singaporeans will be upset with the proposed increase in MediShield premiums by an average of $120 a year to cover higher payouts for catastrophic hospitalisation.

I am glad the proposed scheme will benefit those who face increasingly huge hospital bills. But I don't understand how the extra premium is arrived at.

I remember the last increase of MediShield premiums was less than three years ago in July 2005 when my wife and I each had to pay a new premium of $160 a year for our age group, an increase of $100. With the next proposed increase, my wife and I may each have to pay $280 a year, 75 per cent more than before.