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20-01-2015, 09:20 AM
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GOVT TO ACCESS FINANCIAL RECORDS OF S'POREANS AND CRIMINALISE THEM FOR NOT PAYING MEDISHIELD PREMIUMS
Post date:
19 Jan 2015 - 4:19pm
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/Healthcare%20Straits%20Times.jpg?itok=7QLMF6Ri (http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/field/image/Healthcare%20Straits%20Times.jpg)
[photo credit: The Straits Times]
The government said that it would soon authorise public servants to look into Singaporeans' medical and financial records, just to see who have not been paying up for their MediShield Life premiums and penalise them for not doing so.
New laws tabled in parliament today showed wanted to give public servants from the Central Provident Fund Board and the Health Ministry (MOH) to have the authority to look into government and administrative databases to check how much Singaporeans would need to pay for MediShield premiums and to get them to pay.
The new laws also would allow public servants to access information such as pre-existing medical conditions.
For individuals who do not want their information to be readily looked at, they can bar the access to their records.
MOH claimed that there will be safeguards to prevent these databases from being wrongly accessed. It said that only authorised persons would have access, just for the purposes of the scheme.
Anyone who accesses, uses or discloses the information without permission may be fined up to S$5,000, jailed up to a year, or both.
But worryingly, for someone who does not pay their outstanding MediShield premiums and interest on late premiums, they can be made to pay penalties of up to 17 percent of what they owe.
=> Just like the rate that banks charge credit line holders!
This is to force MediShield holders to pay their premiums on time.
MOH said that it would send warning letters to remind those who have not paid up. They will also send these letters to even the employers, banks or tenants just to force the MediShield holder to pay up.
Finally, they will even sue MediShield holders.
After the laws are passed, it will become an offence to provide false or misleading information, or omit key information deliberately. People who are convicted of doing so may be fined up to S$5,000, jailed a maximum of one year, or both. They may also be required to pay penalties pegged to undercharged premiums or overpaid benefits.
However, Singaporeans have raised concerns about how MediShield premiums are too high, especially for the low- and middle-income and for the elderly, where premiums rise with age. But where many of the elderly receive lower incomes, they would have difficulties paying for the premiums.
Where the government would enact a law to criminalise Singaporeans who do not pay their MediShield premiums, this can be worrying.
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/field/image/czl_0754a1.b47cgamyexskco0ok8kws84oc.623dhwacru88c g4swgwwc8okg.th_.jpeg
huat ah!
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?198429-fap-TO-ACCESS-FINANCIAL-RECORDS-OF-SGs-amp-CRIMINALISE-THEM-FOR-NOT-PAYING-MEDishield&goto=newpost).
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GOVT TO ACCESS FINANCIAL RECORDS OF S'POREANS AND CRIMINALISE THEM FOR NOT PAYING MEDISHIELD PREMIUMS
Post date:
19 Jan 2015 - 4:19pm
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/Healthcare%20Straits%20Times.jpg?itok=7QLMF6Ri (http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/field/image/Healthcare%20Straits%20Times.jpg)
[photo credit: The Straits Times]
The government said that it would soon authorise public servants to look into Singaporeans' medical and financial records, just to see who have not been paying up for their MediShield Life premiums and penalise them for not doing so.
New laws tabled in parliament today showed wanted to give public servants from the Central Provident Fund Board and the Health Ministry (MOH) to have the authority to look into government and administrative databases to check how much Singaporeans would need to pay for MediShield premiums and to get them to pay.
The new laws also would allow public servants to access information such as pre-existing medical conditions.
For individuals who do not want their information to be readily looked at, they can bar the access to their records.
MOH claimed that there will be safeguards to prevent these databases from being wrongly accessed. It said that only authorised persons would have access, just for the purposes of the scheme.
Anyone who accesses, uses or discloses the information without permission may be fined up to S$5,000, jailed up to a year, or both.
But worryingly, for someone who does not pay their outstanding MediShield premiums and interest on late premiums, they can be made to pay penalties of up to 17 percent of what they owe.
=> Just like the rate that banks charge credit line holders!
This is to force MediShield holders to pay their premiums on time.
MOH said that it would send warning letters to remind those who have not paid up. They will also send these letters to even the employers, banks or tenants just to force the MediShield holder to pay up.
Finally, they will even sue MediShield holders.
After the laws are passed, it will become an offence to provide false or misleading information, or omit key information deliberately. People who are convicted of doing so may be fined up to S$5,000, jailed a maximum of one year, or both. They may also be required to pay penalties pegged to undercharged premiums or overpaid benefits.
However, Singaporeans have raised concerns about how MediShield premiums are too high, especially for the low- and middle-income and for the elderly, where premiums rise with age. But where many of the elderly receive lower incomes, they would have difficulties paying for the premiums.
Where the government would enact a law to criminalise Singaporeans who do not pay their MediShield premiums, this can be worrying.
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/field/image/czl_0754a1.b47cgamyexskco0ok8kws84oc.623dhwacru88c g4swgwwc8okg.th_.jpeg
huat ah!
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?198429-fap-TO-ACCESS-FINANCIAL-RECORDS-OF-SGs-amp-CRIMINALISE-THEM-FOR-NOT-PAYING-MEDishield&goto=newpost).