Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 15/1990

Read the first time on 12th June 1990.
An Act to amend the Central Provident Fund Act (Chapter 36 of the 1988 Revised Edition).
Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:
Short title and commencement
1.  This Act may be cited as the Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Act 1990 and shall come into operation on 1st July 1990.
Amendment of section 25
2.  Section 25 of the Central Provident Fund Act is amended by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:
(1)  Subject to this section or any regulations made under this Act, a member who is an undischarged bankrupt shall not be entitled to make withdrawals from the amount standing to his credit in the Fund.”.
New Part IVB
3.  The Central Provident Fund Act is amended by inserting, immediately after Part IVA, the following Part:
PART IVB
MEDISHIELD SCHEME
Interpretation
37M.  In this Part —
“approved hospital” means any hospital approved by the Minister for Health for the purposes of the Scheme;
“insured person” means a person who is insured under the Scheme;
“MediShield Fund” means the fund established and maintained by the Board under section 37Q;
“Scheme” means the medical insurance scheme called the MediShield Scheme established and maintained by the Board under section 37N.
Establishment of MediShield Scheme
37N.  The Board may establish and maintain a medical insurance scheme to be known as the MediShield Scheme for the purpose of paying the full or part of the costs incurred by an insured person for the treatment received by him in an approved hospital at any time during the period which he is insured under the Scheme.
Premium
37O.—(1)  Every insured person shall pay a premium of such an amount as may be prescribed by regulations made under this Part.
(2)  The Board shall be entitled to deduct the amount of premium payable by a member or his dependant who is insured under the Scheme from the amount standing to the credit of that member’s medisave account.
General obligation of insured person to furnish information
37P.—(1)  An insured person or any other person who wishes to join the Scheme shall, when so required by the Board —
(a)furnish to the Board such information as the Board thinks fit regarding that person’s background and health or members of his family; and
(b)undergo such medical examination as the Board thinks fit.
(2)  An insured person or any other person who wishes to join the Scheme shall be under a duty to disclose to the Board all material facts, which if known to the Board, would have reasonably affected the decision of the Board to permit that person to join the Scheme or entertain any claim made by the insured person under the Scheme.
(3)  An insured person or any other person who wishes to join the Scheme shall be deemed to have given his consent to the Board to seek information from any doctor who has attended to him or any hospital where he has received treatment, and he shall also be deemed to have authorised his doctor or the authority of that hospital to give such information to the Board.
Establishment of MediShield Fund
37Q.—(1)  The Board shall establish and maintain a fund to be known as the MediShield Fund into which shall be paid all premiums collected under this Part and out of which shall be met all payments to be paid by it under the Scheme.
(2)  The MediShield Fund shall be controlled and administered by the Board.
(3)  The moneys in the MediShield Fund may be invested by the Board in such manner as the Board thinks fit.
Regulations
37R.  The Minister may make such regulations as are necessary or expedient for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Part and, in particular, such regulations may —
(a)specify the members or class of members or other persons who are entitled to join the Scheme;
(b)prescribe the conditions under which an insured person is entitled to claim the benefits payable under the Scheme;
(c)prescribe the benefits payable to an insured person under the Scheme;
(d)prescribe for the rates of premium payable by insured persons and the manner and time for payment of such premiums;
(e)provide for the refund of any premium and the method or circumstances under which the refund shall be made and at such rates as may be prescribed;
(f)provide for such information, evidence and documents that the Board may require an insured person to furnish for the purposes of this Part; and
(g)provide for all matters which are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Part.”.