PART 1 | Short title and commencement |
| 1. This Act may be cited as the MediShield Life Scheme Act 2015 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint. |
2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “approved medical institution” means any medical institution approved by the Minister for the purposes of section 3; |
| “approved medical treatment or services” means any medical treatment or medical services approved by the Minister for the purposes of section 3; |
“authorised person” —| (a) | for the purposes of section 27, means a person authorised by the Minister to have access to information obtained under section 27(1) for the purposes described in section 27(1)(a) or (b); and | | (b) | for the purposes of section 28, means a person authorised by the Minister to have access to means information obtained under section 28(1) in order to assess the eligibility of any person insured or to be insured under the Scheme for any grant, subsidy or benefit under a relevant public scheme; |
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| “Board” means the Central Provident Fund Board constituted under section 3 of the CPF Act; |
| “Central Provident Fund” means the Central Provident Fund established under section 6 of the CPF Act; |
| “Council” means the MediShield Life Council established under section 8; |
| “CPF Act” means the Central Provident Fund Act (Cap. 36); |
| “CPF member” means a “member of the Fund” or “member” as defined in section 2(1) of the CPF Act; |
| “defaulter” means a person liable to pay an outstanding premium; |
| “Fund” means the MediShield Life Fund referred to in section 7, and includes the MediShield Fund; |
| “health declaration” means a declaration, as to whether a person has any pre-existing medical condition, submitted to the Board for the purposes of determining whether premium loading under the Scheme applies to that person; |
| “healthcare-related public scheme” means a public scheme, prescribed for the purposes of Part 5, that is established to provide any grant, subsidy or other benefit for the payment of any healthcare expenses, and includes a relevant public scheme; |
| “household composition” means information on the identity and particulars of the persons who comprise a household for the purposes of determining whether a member of that household satisfies the eligibility criteria for a grant, subsidy or benefit under a relevant public scheme or any tier or category within such eligibility criteria; |
| “insured person” means a person who is insured under the Scheme; |
| “investigator” means a public officer appointed under section 20(1) or an officer of the Board appointed under section 20(2); |
| “IRAS” means the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore established under section 3 of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 138A); |
| “means declaration” means a declaration, submitted to a person appointed by the Minister, for the purposes of determining a person’s household income or eligibility for a grant, subsidy or other benefit under a relevant public scheme; |
“means information” means —| (a) | any documents, information, returns, assessment lists or copies of such lists relating to the income or items of income of any person to which section 6 of the Income Tax Act (Cap. 134) applies; | | (b) | any documents, information, returns and assessments relating to the business, the value of the supply of any goods and services, or the income of any taxable person to which section 6 of the Goods and Services Tax Act (Cap. 117A) applies; | | (c) | information obtained under the Property Tax Act (Cap. 254), including the Valuation List; | | (d) | information obtained under the Stamp Duties Act (Cap. 312); and | | (e) | information relating to income or items of income of any person in the possession of any Government department or other public authority; |
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| “medisave account” means a medisave account maintained under section 13 of the CPF Act; |
| “MediShield Fund” means the fund called the MediShield Fund referred to in section 56 of the CPF Act as in force immediately before the date of commencement of section 37(7); |
| “MediShield Scheme” means the medical insurance scheme called the MediShield Scheme referred to in section 53 of the CPF Act as in force immediately before the date of commencement of section 37(7); |
| “outstanding premium” means the amount of premium due which remains unpaid, and includes any interest imposed under section 11(1)(a) in respect of the premium and any penalty imposed under section 17 in respect of the premium; |
| “premium” means a premium payable for insurance cover under the Scheme; |
| “prescribed public scheme” means a public scheme prescribed for the purposes of Part 5; |
| “public authority” means a body established or constituted by or under a public Act to perform or discharge a public function; |
“public scheme” means any scheme to provide financial relief, assistance or support to citizens or permanent residents of Singapore, or any part of them, that is established —| (a) | by or under any written law and administered by a public authority; or | | (b) | by the Government in any other manner; |
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| “recovery body” means any statutory body prescribed as a recovery body under section 18(1); |
| “relevant authority” means IRAS, the Commissioner of Stamp Duties, the Comptroller of Goods and Services Tax, the Comptroller of Income Tax, the Comptroller of Property Tax, the Chief Assessor, or any Government department or public authority in possession of means information; |
| “relevant public scheme” means a public scheme to provide any grant, subsidy or other benefit for the payment of a premium payable under this Act; |
| “relevant regulations” means any regulations made under this Act; |
| “Scheme” means the medical insurance scheme called the MediShield Life Scheme referred to in section 3. |
(2) A person has a pre-existing medical condition in relation to that person’s insurance cover under the Scheme (called in this subsection the relevant insurance cover), if the person has a medical condition specified by the Minister for the purposes of premium loading under this Act immediately before —| (a) | the date that person’s relevant insurance cover begins; or | | (b) | if that person has continuously had relevant insurance cover since the date of commencement of section 3, and was continuously insured under the MediShield Scheme immediately before that date, the earliest date from which that person was so continuously insured under the MediShield Scheme. |
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(3) For the purposes of this Act —| (a) | “premium loading” means any additional amount payable as premium, over and above the premium payable for an insurance cover under the Scheme; and | | (b) | the Minister is to determine the criteria for whether and when premium loading is to apply to any person. |
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| (4) For the purposes of this Act, the time at which an individual attains a particular age expressed in years is the corresponding anniversary of the date of that individual’s birth, except that where an individual was born on 29 February in any year, then, in any subsequent year, the anniversary of that individual’s birth is deemed to occur on 1 March of that subsequent year. |
| (5) A reference to a health declaration or a means declaration in this Act includes a reference to a health declaration or a means declaration, as the case may be, made before the date of commencement of section 3, in anticipation of the establishment of the Scheme. |
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