SURVEY ON ELDERSHIELD SCHEME (Findings)

Mr Gan Kim Yong asked the Minister for Health whether the proposed survey on the ElderShield Scheme has been completed, and if so, what are the main findings, and if not, when is it expected to be completed.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has asked the two ElderShield insurers to consider doing a survey to find out more about why people opt out of ElderShield. NTUC Income has since completed a telephone survey. There were 110 respondents.

On the main reason for their opting out of ElderShield, 23% indicated that they could not afford the premiums, 22% indicated that they did not perceive the need for ElderShield, and 20% indicated that the benefits were not attractive.

Great Eastern is conducting a similar survey, which will be completed in March. The Ministry will evaluate the results of the two surveys and ask the insurers to take these surveys into consideration when they subsequently review the ElderShield offer.

Mr Gan Kim Yong (Holland-Bukit Panjang): May I ask the Minister whether there is any specific timeframe for the revision of the new scheme.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: The ElderShield scheme was launched very recently. The immediate priority of the Ministry and the ElderShield insurers is to ensure the smooth operation of the scheme. We need to let the scheme run for a while to get a better feel of the application and payout rates. Then, I think, we have a meaningful basis to make changes to the premiums and the payout. You need better data on payout ratios if you want to make changes. But we will leave it to the insurers. If they feel that there are any market gaps which they can modify the scheme to fill in, they are free to come to us and propose how they can fill in the market gaps.