IN SEVEN years, about 85 per cent of people here will be covered under the national medical insurance scheme, MediShield.
A series of moves to offer automatic coverage for children will kick in from Dec 1 this year, when newborns will come under the Medisave-funded scheme, the Ministry of Health has announced.
Other young children will be covered when they enrol in school at Primary 1 from next year till 2014.
Those aged below 20 will get their turn, too, in an exercise stretching from July next year to April 2009.
Coverage is automatic with the $30 annual premium deducted from the father's Medisave account. If he has insufficient funds, the mother's account will be used instead.
Parents will be told of the automatic coverage and have the option to take their children off the scheme within a month.
About 2.8 million people here, mainly working adults, are covered by basic MediShield administered by the Central Provident Fund Board and enhanced versions offered by private insurers. This is about 75 per cent of the population.
But only close to half of those aged below 20 - about 390,000 children - have such insurance.
Parents often procrastinate. Some get into a bind later when their children develop an illness, rendering them uninsurable.
The insurance will come in handy if big bills are racked up during childhood.
Last year, MediShield paid out $16.7 million in 11,000 claims for children's medical fees.
Businessman Koh Guan Heng was glad his 13-year-old daughter was insured when she came down with appendicitis two months ago.
Her bill came to $3,000, of which $780 was paid by MediShield, which her parents had bought for her seven years ago.
Said Mr Koh: 'It's better to get some coverage. In fact, after this experience, we realised that what we have is not enough.'
He is now shopping for enhanced versions of MediShield for his family of five.
