Medisave Contribution Draw
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Channel News Asia 2 May 2007
seriously, if they stopped taking from the medisave account with useless insurance such as eldershield.... the people will have more money. they should consider one and only insurance that covers all rather than coming up with useless idea such as medishield, eldershield and other useless insurance
SINGAPORE : Unionists have said they like the idea of having a draw to encourage the self-employed and informal workers to contribute to their Medisave.
Many have also supported Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's call during his May Day Rally for constant upgrading to prepare themselves for new job opportunities.
Love, friendship and camaraderie were the themes of the first-ever May Day musical by Young NTUC members. And such a message got the Prime Minister and union leaders on their feet, in a show of support.
The musical is about how the Singapore labour movement overcame the challenges and struggles since it was founded in 1961.
But issues such as helping workers stay employed remain relevant till today. And this is why PM Lee has urged all workers to opt for continuing education.
He singled out 36-year-old Max Chan, who went for re-training to pursue his dreams.
Max started as a glass artist after completing his N-Levels.
10 years later, when the glass industry declined, Max switched to selling cakes for a living.
But to hone his professional skills, Max took up a Diploma in Multimedia Production, and later went for a 3D animation programme run by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and Media Development Authority.
This helped Max overcome his disadvantage of not being proficient in English.
Today, Max works in a local 3D animation production house and his films might soon be shown all over the world - if his company succeeds in bringing their films to Cannes later this year.
Max said, "I've been interested in animation since young. But animation wasn't a viable career then. Then I took the WDA course, which gave me a chance to learn digital animation."
G Muthu Kumar, General Secretary, Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers, said, "PM says these people must go for training, upgrade their skills...(it) doesn't mean you must have the education, or language...You have the experience, you have the talent, you can survive. So that encourages us (not to) just stay behind. (People should) go for a course, whatever course you can do."
Mr Lee said the best solution for Singaporeans was to stay employed longer.
Of particular concern are the self-employed and informal workers.
Mr Lee said the tripartite partners are now discussing ways to ensure that low-wage workers save for their CPF.
The Prime Minister's plan to introduce a Medisave Contribution Draw drew much laughter at the Rally.
But union leaders understand that the underlying intent is serious.
Albert Ong, President, TransCab Operators' Association, said, "I think that will encourage more taxi drivers to contribute their CPF and Medisave. I think most of them, especially taxi drivers, contribute very little to Medisave.
"So if there's a draw, everybody likes lucky draws, so I think it will encourage more people to participate in this. That means they'll try to save, maybe themselves contribute S$100 to Medisave..."
The man who first mooted the idea in Parliament said he hopes the CPF Board would roll out the Draw early next year.
Seng Han Thong, Assistant Secretary-General, National Trades Union Congress, said, "For low-wage workers, what they need is money in cash. So we want to get them to save for Medisave. At the same time, if you save more, you have more chances to get cash, to top up your Medisave, why not?
"I didn't expect PM to really go into it seriously. But I must say it's good news for low-wage workers, because they need cash, and why not if they are encouraged to save, and there's more cash for them to top up their Medisave account which is for their medical and old age. It's a good idea.
"I hope there'll be many cash prizes, to encourage people to save. These are low-wage workers, if on top of cash prizes, we can also have some prizes in kind, like household appliances, like iron, rice bowls, to signify you have job, you're secure, why not?"
Wrapping up the May Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee's message was clear - change, work hard as a team, and everyone will have something to sing about. - CNA/ms/yy -
I think "lucky draw" is a good idea but hope it's not to NKF's extent of condos and cars as prizes. The medisave account needs to be further liberalised to encourage self-employed to put money in.
Insurance is always complicated with lots of terms and conditions. No one size fits all. If the govt lumps all plans together, no one would have a choice. Eldershield, Medishield etc are all opt-out plans, allowing citizens to drop out anytime they want.
Eldershield is quite crappy. After all, how many actually lose major body parts to become disabled?
Medishield is ok so far but still room for improvements. -
Lame as hell insurance policies
from Multi Million Dollar government....
LPPL it shall always be... -
I have one curious question regarding Medisave claims for surgeries;
>> What do they mean, by COSMETIC?
eg.: a friend of mine, went for surgery to replace his badly worn out knee joints. He was allowed to claim for hospitalization and medicals, but the artificial joint the doctors implanted for him to replace his rotting joints were not allowed to be claimed, by reason that it is 'cosmetic'.
Hey, I mean, WTF!?!?! His knee joints were rotting away, and resolving it with artifical knee joints is regarded 'cosmetic'???? What fark kind of logic is that???
In my opinion, I believe government is just giving lame excuses to evade paying out people's money! WTF, it is his money, he is in pain, and what "cosmetics"???
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NPNTOriginally posted by ShutterBug:eg.: a friend of mine, went for surgery to replace his badly worn out knee joints. He was allowed to claim for hospitalization and medicals, but the artificial joint the doctors implanted for him to replace his rotting joints were not allowed to be claimed, by reason that it is 'cosmetic'.
joint replacement is not cosmetic surgery. But if he wants a titanium implant instead of a cheaper one, then he may have to pay cash. -
There is no such thing as one insurance that covers all, or rather you cannot afford it. You pay for whichever product you can afford. In the US, there are many who cannot afford medical insurance and so do not get any healthcare. There are even more people who have a limited health insurance that doe snot cover obstetrics, for example. Consider yourself lucky in Singapore.Originally posted by SevenEleven:C
seriously, if they stopped taking from the medisave account with useless insurance such as eldershield.... the people will have more money. they should consider one and only insurance that covers all rather than coming up with useless idea such as medishield, eldershield and other useless insurance
Eldershield is for the poor who find themselves in the sad situation when they need assistance with daily living. With an aging population, the number of elderly persons who will fall into that category will rise.