CareShield Life and Long-Term Care Bill - Singapore Statutes Online

CareShield Life and
Long-Term Care Bill

Bill No. 24/2019

Read the first time on 6 August 2019.

An Act to establish and provide for the CareShield Life Scheme and other measures to provide for long‑term care financing support for severely disabled persons, and to make consequential and related amendments to certain other Acts.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. This Act is the CareShield Life and Long-Term Care Act 2019 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.

General interpretation

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“Administrator” —

(a)	in relation to the CSHL Scheme, means the person appointed under section 5(3); or
(b)	in relation to the ESH Scheme, means the person appointed under section 11(3);

“assessor” means an assessor approved by the Minister under section 17(1) to conduct, and report on, disability assessments;

“Board” means the Central Provident Fund Board constituted under section 3 of the CPF Act;

“claim applicant” means a person who makes a claim under section 16(1);

“Council” means the CareShield Life Council appointed under section 37;

“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;

“CSHL Scheme” means the severe disability insurance scheme called the CareShield Life Scheme established by section 5;

“defaulter” means a person liable to pay an outstanding premium;

“ESH Scheme” means the severe disability insurance scheme called the ElderShield Scheme that is transferred by the private insurers to the Government;

“former ElderShield Scheme” means the ElderShield Scheme approved by the Minister, that immediately before the transfer date was administered by the private insurers, for the purposes of allowing a person to purchase a severe disability insurance policy from a private insurer;

“Fund” means the CareShield Life and ElderShield Insurance Fund established by section 35;

“health declaration” means a declaration as to whether a person has any pre‑existing medical condition (including a person’s disability condition) that is made to the Board for the purpose of determining whether a person is eligible for insurance cover under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme;

“healthcare institution” means —

(a)	the holder of a licence under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (Cap. 248); or
(b)	such other person who provides care services for the disabled as may be determined by the Minister;

“healthcare practitioner” means —

(a)	a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act (Cap. 174);
(b)	a nurse registered under the Nurses and Midwives Act (Cap. 209); or
(c)	an allied health professional registered under the Allied Health Professions Act (Cap. 6B);

“insured person” means a person who is insured under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme, as the case may be;

“insured sum” means a prescribed sum that is payable monthly to an insured person under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme;

“investigator” means an investigator appointed under section 46(1) or (2);

“IRAS” means the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore established under section 3 of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 138A);

“LTC Support Fund” means the Long‑Term Care Support Fund established by section 38;

“means declaration” means a declaration, submitted to a person appointed by the Minister, for the purposes of determining an individual’s household income or eligibility for a grant, subsidy or other benefit under a 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 the income or items of income of any person in the possession of any Government department or other public authority;

“medisave account” means a medisave account maintained under section 13 of the CPF Act;

“outstanding premium” means the amount of premium due which remains unpaid, and includes any interest imposed under section 23(1)(a), and any penalty imposed under section 29, in respect of the premium;

“premium” means a premium payable for insurance cover under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme;

“prescribed public scheme” means a public scheme prescribed for the purposes of Part 8;

“prescribed social or healthcare‑related public scheme” means a public scheme, prescribed for the purposes of Part 8, that provides any grant, subsidy or other benefit for the payment of any social or healthcare expenses;

“private insurer”, in relation to the former ElderShield Scheme, means an insurer approved by the Minister charged with the responsibility for health to sell severe disability insurance policies to CPF members under that Scheme;

“public authority” means a body established or constituted by or under a public Act to perform or discharge a public function;

“public scheme” means a scheme 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,

to provide financial relief, assistance or support to citizens of Singapore or permanent residents of Singapore, or any part of them;

“rebate” means a payment from the Fund that is declared by the Minister under section 36(2);

“recovery body” means a public authority appointed as a recovery body under section 30;

“regulations” means any regulations made under section 64;

“severe disability” has the meaning given in the First Schedule;

“Supplement Scheme” means an insurance scheme administered by an insurer approved by the Minister to provide disability insurance benefits over and above the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme;

“transfer date” has the meaning given by section 8.

(2) In reckoning the age of an individual for the purposes of this Act —

(a)	the individual is taken to have attained a particular age expressed in years on the relevant anniversary of the individual’s birth;
(b)	a reference to the anniversary of the birth of an individual in paragraph (a) is a reference to the day on which the anniversary occurs;
(c)	where an individual was born on 29 February in any year, then in any subsequent year that is not a leap year, the anniversary of that individual’s birth is taken to be 1 March in that subsequent year;
(d)	if the day on which an individual was born cannot be ascertained but the month of the individual’s birth can be ascertained, the individual is taken to be born on the first day of the month in which the individual was born; and
(e)	if the month in which an individual was born cannot be ascertained, the individual is taken to be born in January.

(3) In this Act, a reference to a health declaration or means declaration includes a reference to a health declaration or means declaration (as the case may be) made before the date of commencement of section 5 or 11, in anticipation of the establishment of the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme, as the case may be.

(4) In this Act, an individual who lacks mental capacity is an individual who lacks capacity within the meaning of section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act (Cap. 177A).

Meaning of “approved payee”

3.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, an “approved payee”, in relation to an insured person, means a person who is within a class of persons approved by the Minister to receive benefits under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme on behalf of the insured person.

(2) Different classes of persons may be approved under subsection (1) for different classes of claim applicants or different classes of insured persons.

Meaning of “authorised applicant”

4. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, “authorised applicant”, in relation to —

(a)	an individual making a health declaration for the purposes of the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme;
(b)	an individual making an application for insurance cover under the CSHL Scheme;
(c)	an insured person withdrawing from insurance cover under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme;
(d)	an insured person making a claim under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme; or
(e)	an individual’s reinstatement as an insured person under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme,

who lacks mental capacity, means —

(f)

a person who is —

(i)	a deputy appointed or deemed to be appointed for the individual or insured person (as the case may be) by the court under the Mental Capacity Act with power in relation to the individual or insured person (as the case may be) for the purposes of this Act; or
(ii)	a donee under a lasting power of attorney registered under the Mental Capacity Act with power in relation to the individual or insured person (as the case may be) for the purposes of this Act; or

(g)

despite any provision in the Mental Capacity Act, where to the best of the Administrator’s or Board’s knowledge (as the case may be), there is no deputy appointed or deemed to be appointed, or no donee appointed under a lasting power of attorney, for the purposes of this Act for the individual or insured person (as the case may be), a person who is within the class or classes of persons approved by the Minister —

(i)	to make a health declaration on behalf of the individual for the purposes of the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme;
(ii)	to make an application for insurance cover under the CSHL Scheme on behalf of the individual;
(iii)	to withdraw from insurance cover under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme (as the case may be) on behalf of the insured person;
(iv)	to make a claim under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme (as the case may be) on behalf of the insured person including the nomination of an approved payee (who may be the authorised applicant); or
(v)	to act on behalf of the individual in relation to the individual’s reinstatement as an insured person under the CSHL Scheme or ESH Scheme, as the case may be.

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