With universal MediShield Life coverage, as part of collective responsibility, all Singapore Residents should play their part in paying their premiums in a timely manner. This ensures that MediShield Life is able to meet its commitments to all its members and pay out on claims.

The Government will provide strong support through various subsidies to help Singaporeans with their premiums. Active measures will also be taken to facilitate the payment of premiums, including deduction of premiums fully from MediSave balances, regular reminders, switch of payment arrangement to family members and Additional Premium Support for the genuinely needy.

However, there may be a small group of defaulters who have means but choose not to pay premiums. The premium recovery measures are targeted at this group to discourage freeloading and ensure that they also pay their fair share of premiums. Otherwise, premium defaults will translate to bad debts to the MediShield Life Fund and higher premiums for all.