Singapore: Insurers urged to provide cover for end-of-life care
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Nov 2015
The palliative care sector has called on insurers to provide cover for end-of-life care to make it more affordable, as demand for palliative care is expected to double in the next five years.
End-of-life care experts say that patients are staying in hospitals longer than they need to because insurance companies do not pay for palliative care in hospices, reported The Straits Times.
Dr Cynthia Goh, Senior Consultant at the National Cancer Centre Singapore and chair of the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network, said: “Yet some patients are stuck in hospital because their insurance plans do not cover care at a hospice. Insurance companies here still have not realised that better care can be obtained at a hospice at a fraction of the cost of the hospital.”
In Singapore, insurance companies and MediShield Life do not cover care in hospices.
By 2020, more than 10,000 people a year are expected to need palliative care, up from the 6,000 in 2013.
Lien Foundation Chief Executive Lee Poh Wah said: “Only about 20-30% of those who pass away each year use palliative care services, when research shows that 70-80% of all deaths in high-income countries would require such care.”