By Lee How Teck

I THANK Mr Lim Yao Ho for his letter, 'Why no news on medical portability?' (Sept 22).

As a market leader in health insurance, NTUC Income has actively promoted the value of a Portable Medical Benefits Scheme (PMBS) to local employers through workplace talks, dialogues with HR practitioners and joint promotions with union representatives.

PMBS offers cost savings to both employers and employees by adopting different funding models to meet their needs.

Individuals will enjoy better and more comprehensive medical coverage with guaranteed unlimited lifetime cover, which they can keep for life regardless of their employment status. Premiums are affordable and can be paid out of Medisave.

PMBS also helps to enhance Singaporeans' insurability by securing their coverage at a younger age, when they are more likely to be healthy. This circumvents a current limitation of many group medical schemes, where employees may find it difficult to have their pre-existing illnesses covered once they quit and have to find another insurer.

For employers, PMBS lets them offer employees the gift of continuous cover, in the form of medical portability. In essence, they secure a lifetime contract on signing up whereby the insurer is obliged to look after in-patient and hospitalisation needs of their employees. Companies also enjoy certain tax benefits for implementing PMBS, such as receiving an additional 1 per cent tax deduction on total payroll.

NTUC Income offers a complete end-to-end support solution in facilitating employers' implementation of PMBS, which includes consultancy, programme planning and execution support. To date, about 200 employers have signed up with us to cover more than 10,000 employees. Companies interested to learn more about PMBS may contact us on 62 INCOME (6246-2663) or e-mail product@income.com.sg.

We will continue to work closely with all parties to address the needs of employers and employees, and raise awareness and interest in our offerings.

Lee How Teck (Ms)
Senior Vice-President & General Manager
Group & Health Department
NTUC Income

This article was first published in The Straits Times on October 02, 2008.