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Oral Answer by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on Re-employment of Elderly Workers

Notice Paper No. 109 of 2012 for the Sitting on 9 April 2012
Question No. 323 for Oral Answer

MP: Ms Foo Mee Har

Question:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Manpower what can be done to help re-employed elderly workers who are re-assessed as 'new cases' by insurance companies upon their reaching the age of 62 and risk being denied coverage for existing medical conditions that were previously covered before re-employment.

Answer:

  1. The Retirement and Re-employment Act, which came into effect on 1 Jan 2012, requires employers to re-employ their older workers from age 62 to 65. To enable these employees to continue to be covered by group medical insurance schemes, we understand that most major insurers have extended the coverage of employees up to the age of 65, or beyond. Re-employed employees who have been working for the same company over the years and have been covered by the company’s medical insurance schemes typically do not need to be re-assessed as ‘new cases’ for the purpose of insurance coverage in this regard. If an insurance company does not extend the coverage of the scheme up to the age of 65 and also requires re-employed employees to be re-assessed, the employer should work with the insurance company to address this issue so that the medical needs of these employees can continue to be met.
  2. Industry feedback drawn from various briefing and outreach sessions has shown that companies have already raised the coverage of their group medical insurance schemes for their employees to the age of 65, or beyond. In such cases, re-employed workers would continue to enjoy medical benefits under their company’s medical insurance schemes. By so doing, they would avoid the risk of being denied coverage for existing medical conditions that were previously covered.