Most people won’t feel brunt of higher MediShield Life premiums: Minister

While MediShield Life premiums will go up following a review of the scheme, most people will not feel the brunt of the increase due to support measures to cushion the blow, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Oct 18.

- Zhaki Abdullah

“When premiums go up, we subsidise more, we top up MediSave more,” he said in an interview on The Big Show on SPH Radio station Kiss92.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Oct 15 that starting in April 2025, premiums for MediShield Life will go up.

By March 2028, the premiums will increase by an average of 22 per cent.

This change is part of an expansion of the national insurance scheme, allowing people to claim more for hospital stays and providing coverage for additional outpatient treatments and selected new ground-breaking therapies.

MOH said more than nine in 10 people here will receive help to more than offset the increases, with $4.1 billion going towards support measures.

For example, from April 2025, lower-income and middle-income Singaporeans in older age groups will receive premium subsidies of up to 60 per cent, up from 50 per cent currently, while the MediSave grant for newborns will increase from $4,000 to $5,000.