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WHILE MediShield Life has received a fair bit of attention since it was mooted in the prime minister's National Day Rally speech, it may take a while before the enhanced insurance scheme is rolled out.迷你倉A public consultation exercise will be held by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in the fourth quarter, in which it will obtain feedback from Singaporeans and key stakeholders, such as private insurers."It will take some time for us to finalise the design of the scheme and the structure," said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, adding that it may take a year or more before it is finalised.Changes will include lifelong and universal coverage - eradicating the current age limit of 90 - as well as more generous caps to cover a larger proportion of the bill, in addition to reduced co-insurance, to help Singaporeans cope with large hospital bills.But the government is seeking feedback on key issues such as whether to initiate pre-funding of Medisave to help Singaporeans cope with premiums in their old age, and safeguards to ensure premiums don't keep climbing with a higher number of claims.As such, implementation is likely to be only in 2015, although Mr Gan did not rule out the possibility of launching it in stages.He was speaking at a press briefing yesterday where he outlined changes to the healthcare financing framework, including greater access to subsidies as well as liberalisation of Medisave usage. The changes are aimed at defraying out-of-pocket costs - a top healthcare concern of Singaporeans - as healthcare costs continue to rise.From Jan 1, 2014, the qualifying age of 40 years for the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) will be removed while the qualifying income criteria is being raised so that more lower- and middle-income households wi儲存倉l benefit.CHAS grants qualifying Singaporeans subsidies for outpatient treatment of chronic conditions at participating clinics near their homes.In addition, more subsidies will be made available for CHAS cardholders for recommended screening tests such as diabetes and cervical cancer.Meanwhile, from next January, the list of 10 chronic diseases under the Chronic Disease Management Programme for which Singaporeans can tap Medisave will be expanded to add five more, with further liberalisation of Medisave usage possibly on the cards. These five include anxiety, Parkinson's disease and nephrosis. Members will be able to tap the CHAS for subsidised treatment of the five ailments.High-risk groups, such as the elderly and the young, will also be allowed to use their Medisave for pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations.While he welcomed the expanded list, Lam Pin Min, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, felt more chronic diseases should be included. But the annual limit of $400 per Medisave account should stay, "to prevent premature depletion of the Medisave account", he said.For the CHAS, the removal of the age limit and inclusion of additional chronic diseases are expected to cost an additional $13 million per year and the extension of screen subsidies, $10 million annually.Finally, MOH is also looking into enhancing subsidies at specialist outpatient clinics in public hospitals for lower- and middle-income groups, with more details to be announced in the first quarter of 2014.Mr Gan yesterday also reiterated Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's stance that with these adjustments, the Medisave contribution rate may need to go up when the economy permits, but he stressed that there were no immediate plans to raise it.迷你倉價錢