ElderShield: Stay voluntary or be made mandatory?

I refer to the article “ElderShield: Stay voluntary or be made mandatory? (Straits Times, Jan 12).

It states that “As the severe disability insurance scheme ElderShield is being reviewed, one new question is whether it should remain voluntary or be made mandatory.

This is part of the feedback received by the ElderShield Review Committee so far, said Mr Chaly Mah, chairman of the 14-member committee, last night. He was speaking to reporters at the first of several public consultations.

Balance competing concerns, raising benefits would cause premiums to rise?

… it was important to balance competing concerns. For instance, raising benefits would cause premiums to rise.

If ElderShield made mandatory – how to ensure low-income Singaporeans still benefit?

One view was that a risk-pooling scheme such as ElderShield should be mandatory in order to work, noted Mr Chee. But if so, the question is how to ensure low-income Singaporeans still benefit”.

Even before we consider the question – update statistics?

Even before we consider the question as to whether ElderShield should be made mandatory – don’t you think we should have an update of the statistics like the following:-

… total claims paid out since the inception of the scheme (the last update I understand was $90 million)

… total premiums collected

… total premiums plus interest

… claims to premiums ratio for the last year

Tan Kin Lian: Poor payout for premiums paid?

In this connection, former NTUC Income CEO, Tan Kin Lian was quoted – “Tan Kin Lian has expressed that consumers are getting a poor payout for their premiums paid into ElderShield” (“Poor payout for consumers who paid premiums into Eldershield“, The Independent, Oct 9, 2016).

Tan Kin Lian: Even after allowing for building up the reserves, the premium charged for ElderShield is too high?

Tan Kin Lian also wrote on his blog (“Is it good to buy Eldershield or its supplement?”, Dec 21, 2016) – “Someone said that a minister had explained that the payout is low because the insurer needs to build up a reserve for future claims.
Do not believe this minister (I don’t know who he is). Even after allowing for building up the reserves, the premium charged for ElderShield is too high.

Read this article.
http://www.tankinlian.com/Info/947/Info/947/Should-a-consumer-buy-Eldershield-or-opt-out-of-this-plan?”

Leong Sze Hian