What is Medishield?
MediShield is a basic healthcare insurance introduced by the Singapore Government to help protect Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents from unexpectedly high medicals bills due to hospitalization and surgery.
MediShield can be used to claim for part of your hospitalization and surgical expenses including:
While MediShield provides a basic level of medical expense coverage, it is important to note that claims for basic MediShield is subjected to:
What is the difference between MediSave and MediShield?
Most people think MediSave and MediShield are the same thing, but this is incorrect.
MediSave is Singapore's National Healthcare Savings Scheme to help Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents set aside a sum of money for healthcare expenses by making it compulsory for all working employees and employers contribute a small portion of their income to their MediSave account every month. It is like a compulsory savings account which you need to contribute money to every month. However, you cannot withdraw any money from it unless to pay for medical expenses and to purchase certain insurance approved by the Singapore Government, such as MediShield and ElderShield.
MediShield is a basic healthcare insurance introduced by the Singapore Government to help protect Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents from unexpectedly high medicals bills due to hospitalization and surgery.
Since MediSave can only be used to pay for medical expenses and to purchase insurance such as MediShield and ElderShield, it is wise to do so.
Why upgrade your MediShield?
Why upgrade your MediShield when you can just use MediSave to pay for your medical expenses? The reason is because while you can certainly afford to pay with your MediSave when your medical expenses are small, but what happens if they are high.
Imagine you only have $30,000 in your MediSave account, but your total medical expenses are $50,000. This means you will be forced to empty your entire MediSave account. In addition, you also need to fork out an extra $20,000 in cash to pay off the remaining of your medical bills.
On the other hand, if you have upgraded your MediShield plan, the insurer can help cover up to 100% of your Medical Expenses. Since basic MediShield does not cover you 100% due to deductibles, co-insurance, and sublimits; an upgrade to 100% medical expense coverage from the first dollar is recommended.
What Is MediShield Co-Insurance?
MediShield co-insurance is the sharing of payment between the you and the insurer. In other words, you pay part of your medical bills, while the insurer pays the other part. For example if the MediShield co-insurance is 20%, you need to pay 20% of your medical bills, while the insurer pays the rest of the 80%.
What Is MediShield Deductible?
A deductible is the amount of money you need to pay out of your own pocket before you can make a claim from the insurer. For example, if MediShield has a deductible of $1,500, it means you have to pay the first $1,500 of your medical expenses before you can claim anything from the insurer.
What Is Medishield Sub-Limit?
MediShield sub-limit is the maximum amount of compensation you can claim from the insurer under a specific claim category. For example, if the MediShield sub-limit for surgical operations is $1,100, it means that if the maximum amount you can claim from the insurer for surgical operations is limited to $1,100 per operation. Anything expense exceeding that amount will not be claimable.
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