No. S 347
Central Provident Fund Act
(Chapter 36)
Central Provident Fund
(Private Medical Insurance Scheme)
(Amendment) Regulations 2000
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 77(1)(ja) of the Central Provident Fund Act, the Minister for Manpower, after consultation with the Central Provident Fund Board, hereby makes the following Regulations:
Citation and commencement
1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Central Provident Fund (Private Medical Insurance Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations 2000 and shall come into operation on 1st August 2000.
Amendment of regulation 2
2.  Regulation 2 of the Central Provident Fund (Private Medical Insurance Scheme) Regulations (Rg 26) (referred to in these Regulations as the principal Regulations) is amended by inserting, immediately after the definition of “member”, the following definition:
“ “policy year” means a period of 12 months from the date of the commencement of an insured person’s insurance cover under the Scheme;”.
Amendment of regulation 3
3.  Regulation 3 of the principal Regulations is amended —
(a)by deleting the words “provided by NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited known as IncomeShield” in the 3rd and 4th lines of paragraph (1); and
(b)by deleting the word “IncomeShield” in the regulation heading and substituting the words “private medical insurance policy”.
New regulation 6A
4.  The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 6, the following regulation:
Period of insurance cover
6A.  Notwithstanding anything in these Regulations, any member or his dependant shall, on payment of the premium payable under the private medical insurance policy taken out under the Scheme, be insured under that policy for a period of 12 months from the first day of the month in which the premium was paid.”.
Amendment of regulation 7
5.  Regulation 7 of the principal Regulations is amended —
(a)by renumbering the regulation as paragraph (1) of that regulation, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraphs:
(2)  A person who is already insured under the Scheme shall be deemed to have opted out of that Scheme as from the date he is insured under the MediShield Scheme and the provisions of these Regulations as are applicable to a person who has opted out of the Scheme shall thereupon become applicable to him.
(3)  A person who is already insured under a private medical insurance policy under the Scheme shall be deemed to have opted out of that policy as from the date he is insured under another private medical insurance policy under the Scheme.”; and
(b)by deleting the regulation heading and substituting the following regulation heading:
Automatic termination of existing insurance cover”.
New regulations 7A and 7B
6.  The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 7, the following regulations:
Termination of existing insurance cover by member
7A.—(1)  An insured person —
(a)who is a member; or
(b)who is insured as a dependant of a member and has attained the age of 16 years,
may terminate his insurance cover under the Scheme by giving notice in writing to the insurer with whom his private medical insurance policy is taken out that he no longer wishes to be insured under the Scheme.
(2)  Where an insured person is insured as a dependant of a member and —
(a)has not attained the age of 16 years; or
(b)is, in the opinion of the insurer, unable by reason of his disability to make the decision to terminate his insurance cover by himself,
the member who took out the private medical insurance policy for the insured person may terminate the insured person’s insurance cover by giving notice in writing to the insurer with whom the policy is taken out that he no longer wishes the insured person to be insured under the Scheme.
(3)  An insured person in respect of whom a written notice to terminate his insurance cover has been given under paragraph (1) or (2), as the case may be, shall cease to be insured under the scheme with effect from either of the following dates, whichever is the later:
(a)the date on which the notice is received by the Board; or
(b)the date specified in the notice as the effective date of termination of the insured person’s insurance cover under the Scheme.
Refund of premium
7B.—(1)  If an insured person —
(a)opts out of the Scheme;
(b)applies to be insured under another private medical insurance policy under the Scheme; or
(c)applies to be insured under the MediShield Scheme,
within 2 months from the date of the commencement of his existing insurance cover, the insurer with whom the existing private medical insurance policy is taken out shall refund to the member who took out the policy the full amount of the premium paid by the member for that policy year.
(2)  If an insured person —
(a)opts out of the Scheme, applies to be insured under another private medical insurance policy under the Scheme or applies to be insured under the MediShield Scheme at any time after the second month of the commencement of the existing insurance cover; and
(b)has not, before the effective date of termination of his insurance cover, made any claim under the existing private medical insurance policy,
the insurer with whom the existing policy is taken out shall refund to the member who took out the policy, a proportionate amount of the premium in respect of the unexpired period of the insured person’s insurance cover under the Scheme.
(3)  Where any premium is to be refunded under paragraph (1) or (2) —
(a)any premium paid entirely by deducting the member’s medisave account shall be refunded to the member’s medisave account; and
(b)any premium paid partly by deducting the member’s medisave account and partly in cash shall —
(i)if the amount of premium to be refunded is less than the amount of premium paid in cash, be refunded to the member in cash; and
(ii)if the amount of premium to be refunded exceeds the amount of premium paid in cash, be refunded to the member in cash in respect of the amount of premium paid in cash and the balance shall be refunded to his medisave account.”.

Made this 31st day of July 2000.

TAN CHIN NAM
Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Manpower,
Singapore.
[MMS 10.3/82; AG/LEG/SL/36/97/3/Vol. 1]
(To be presented to Parliament under section 78(2) of the Central Provident Fund Act).