The text
Impact of US Nutrition Policy Shift Towards Whole Foods to Singapore's Dietary Guidelines and Chronic Disease Management Approach 1 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health in light of the US nutrition policy shift towards whole foods and limiting processed ingredients (a) whether the Ministry is assessing its relevance to Singapore’s dietary guidelines and chronic disease management; and (b) what impact, if any, will this have on current health policies.
Impact of US Nutrition Policy Shift Towards Whole Foods to Singapore's Dietary Guidelines and Chronic Disease Management Approach Sir, this question has been answered in the written answer to Question No 19 at the Parliament Sitting on 3 February 2026.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act 2 Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry will review the administrative and reporting framework for deputies appointed under the Mental Capacity Act, with a view to simplifying procedures and easing the compliance burden, while maintaining safeguards for the persons they serve.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act he Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, under the Mental Capacity Act, Court-appointed deputies must submit an annual report to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). This report is an important safeguard against potential abuse as it requires deputies to set out how they have discharged their responsibilities under the Court order, which includes accounting for decisions made on behalf of the mentally incapacitated persons and how they have managed such persons’ property and affairs.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act The Ministry for Social and Family Development (MSF) has been working to reduce the burden for deputies, including online submission of reports and a built-in finance tracker. OPG organises monthly workshops to guide deputies to fulfil responsibilities and requirements for the annual reports. And for deputies who require help with filing, OPG also provides personalised support.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Ms Phua.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act I thank the Minister of State for his response. On the ground, we have heard recurring feedback from families and these are not just families with persons with disabilities, but also with seniors who, for some reason, have lost some of their capacities. My Parliamentary Question arises from all these recurring feedback.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act There were two sets of issues normally cited. Despite what the Minister of State mentioned that OPG has been doing. The first set is around the difficulties when they apply for deputyship. Usually, many of these families have limited access to knowledge and guidance, they do not even know where to go. Despite a simplified process, it is actually not so simple. Most applicants, especially those who are not so educated or not so proficient in English, do require hands-on guidance. And without it, the process is quite daunting. Also, for deputyship, unlike the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), it is more costly and administratively burdensome as well.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act There are also difficulties after deputyship orders are made. Like the Minister of State mentioned, the annual report; it is not so easy for people to even fill up. Some of my volunteers, including lawyers who help them, find it is not so straightforward for those post deputyship burdens —
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Ms Phua, do you want to ask your supplementary question?
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Yes. Also, their banking constraints as well. The banks are not very consistent in supporting these families.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act So, my supplementary question would be this: would MSF take a lead in setting up a small, maybe inter-agency work group, even including volunteers, to look into these problems that are really faced by the deputies who are family members and try to coordinate the efforts to assist them. And then, make the information available for them.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for her supplementary question. I believe the Member can appreciate that the scope of responsibility required of a deputy is much broader. The Member made comparisons to the LPA process. Indeed, for deputies, they do have to exercise quite a lot more responsibilities and these can vary quite widely depending on what the Court decides upon.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Having said so, I acknowledge the comments and feedback from the Member. We thank the Member for the feedback. We welcome that. We regularly and continuously engage key stakeholders, including deputies and prospective deputies, as well as members of the public. We will continuously review how we can improve both the application process and the reporting process, as well as the overall user experience in going through the deputyship journey.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Mr Patrick Tay.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act To add on to the Member's point: the resources required to do a deputyship is a couple of thousand dollars, and time and effort. It is especially problematic when it comes to having to deal with amounts of those who have lost mental capacity and the amounts may not be a lot of money, but you need it for sustenance or maybe to settle some debts or some payments, particularly of caregivers, relatives, friends, even neighbours.
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Is there a way to set some threshold where we allow maybe a statutory declaration or something else, rather than a full deputyship, to be able to handle this? Because now, increasingly, you have cases of dementia. We may be doing a lot of efforts at LPAs, but there are those who fall outside of it. This is a suggestion for MSF to look at, but can we set some thresholds with banks and financial institutions where we are able to withdraw those monies to pay for simple bills, rather than be in debt which then rolls on?
Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act Mr Speaker, we note the Member's suggestion. We will take a look at it.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions 3 Ms Gho Sze Kee asked the Minister for Education (a) whether Direct School Admission (DSA) offers reduce the Secondary 1 quota available for students from non-affiliated schools; and (b) whether there have been cases where a secondary school had no remaining slots for students from non-affiliated schools after DSA and affiliation admissions.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions Since the 2019 Secondary 1 Posting Exercise, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has required affiliated secondary schools to reserve at least 20% of places of their Secondary 1 cohort for non-affiliated students. This requirement is applied to each posting group, so that our schools remain open to students of different backgrounds. Overall, over the past five years, non-affiliated students have comprised about half of the Secondary 1 cohort of affiliated secondary schools.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions The total number of Secondary 1 places offered in each school is the sum of planned places offered under the Secondary 1 Posting Exercise and the Direct School Admission (DSA) exercise. While the DSA admissions does not reduce the number of Secondary 1 places available in a school, non-affiliated students admitted via the DSA exercise will be considered as taking up reserved places for non-affiliated students.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions In the past five years, there have been only two instances where an affiliated secondary school filled all the reserved places for non-affiliated students in one posting group via DSA, and no non-affiliated students were posted for that posting group during the Secondary 1 Posting Exercise. However, non-affiliated students in the other two posting groups were still admitted via the Secondary 1 Posting Exercise.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions Ms Gho.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions Mr Speaker, I think it would be very helpful if schools were to publish the number of DSA offers made this year and the number of affiliated students admitted in the previous year, and also, the incoming cohort size. With these three metrics, I think it would allow parents and students to make better informed choices when deciding which school the students should apply for, for the Secondary 1 admission exercise. Will MOE consider this suggestion?
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Gho for her suggestion. We will consider it. Perhaps, an opportunity to explain that in deciding whether to publish such details, we would have to consider whether the information would help parents make an informed decision. In other words, does the historical data have low variance and help to predict what will happen next? Or it has a high variance in which case it is not so helpful for the family to make the decision this year.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions But we will certainly study her suggestion.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions Sir, on the matter of affiliation, I wonder if the Senior Minister of State will be willing to share if MOE provides guidelines or imposes stipulations on how wide the differential between an affiliated and non-affiliated student may be. I ask this because I understand the principle behind wanting to encourage affiliated students to attend their given secondary school, but I have seen reports that this difference can be quite wide – as much as 10 points within the given posting group – which seems to undermine this principle of meritocracy.
Remaining Vacancies in Secondary Schools following DSA Exercise and Affiliated Admissions Sir, I thank Prof Lim for the question. I do not have the data with me. This Parliamentary Question (PQ) that was filed by Ms Gho was about the DSA exercise. I would suggest that he file a PQ on the issue of the affiliation and non-affiliation data.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework 4 Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how the new Safety Assurance for Food Establishment (SAFE) framework that will be implemented from 19 January 2026 is expected to address public health risks more effectively; and (b) what metrics does the Government plan to use in order to evaluate this.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework 5 Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how will transparency and authenticity of the food safety grading under the new Safety Assurance for Food Establishment (SAFE) framework be assured, given that physical decals will be replaced by digital disclosures from 19 January 2026 onwards; and (b) how will consumers who are less digitally savvy still be able to easily access the food safety grading information.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework 6 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment regarding the new Safety Assurance for Food Establishments (SAFE) framework (a) whether the shift to self-regulation and reduction in regular inspections is being driven by manpower constraints; (b) what is the revised inspection frequency; and (c) whether relying on track records risk making the system reactive, where food safety standards may slip unnoticed until a major lapse occurs.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework 7 Ms Poh Li San asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment with the new food grading system announced on 7 January 2026 (a) how will small businesses with limited resources be assisted to meet the additional requirements; and (b) what is the transition duration as well as the resources required by SFA to complete inspections under the new grading system.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take oral Question Nos 4, 5, 6 and 7 in today's Order Paper, together?
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Please proceed.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Mr Speaker, these four Parliamentary Questions (PQs) relate to the Safety Assurance for Food Establishments (SAFE) framework. The SAFE framework is a food safety grading system that communicates food establishments’ food safety performance more clearly to consumers, so that they can make informed choices. It is part of the Singapore Food Agency's (SFA’s) science- and risk-based food safety regime, which aims to keep the number of foodborne illness cases related to foodborne outbreaks low. It will be implemented in two phases, with the first phase implemented on 19 January 2026.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Under the SAFE framework, food establishments fall under two categories, based on their level of food processing or preparation. Category 1 food establishments are those with a larger scale of food processing or preparation, such as food manufacturers, caterers, central kitchens and large restaurants. The majority of food establishments such as hawker stalls, small restaurants and bakeries fall under Category 2. These have a smaller scale of food processing or preparation.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Food establishments are graded "A", "B" or "C" based on their food safety track record from SFA’s inspections. They do not have to fulfil any additional requirements, unless they are Category 1 food establishments that wish to attain Grade A. Such establishments will need to implement a Food Safety Management System (FSMS) and appoint an Advanced Food Hygiene Officer (AFHO) to provide better food safety assurance to consumers.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Those that commit a major food safety lapse and are convicted in court or suspended after accumulating 12 demerit points from food safety lapses will be downgraded to Grade C, regardless of their existing grade. Downgraded establishments will need to build up and maintain good food safety track records, before they can move back to a higher grade.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Compared with the annual snapshot assessment under the previous grading regime, the one that we are all very familiar with, the new SAFE framework considers a food establishment’s year-round food safety track record from its history of inspections, including any involvement in food-borne incidents. This encourages food establishments to consistently maintain good food safety practices. SFA will continue to conduct regular inspections of all food establishments under its targeted, data-driven regime. Food establishments with a larger scale of food processing or preparation, as well as those with Grade C, will be inspected more frequently.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework For small businesses in Category 1 that wish to implement the additional requirements and maintain their Grade A status, government support is available. Individuals who apply for the AFHO training course will receive SkillsFuture Singapore subsidies of up to 70%. Food businesses can send existing staff to be trained. So, there is no need to hire additional staff, you can use existing staff to do this. As for FSMS implementation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can receive up to 50% support under EnterpriseSG's Enterprise Development Grant to implement and certify their FSMS. This grant specifically supports local SMEs for their first-time certification and adoption of standards, and covers qualifying project costs such as consultancy and certification fees for FSMS standards.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Ms Nadia Samdin also asked about how the transparency and authenticity of the SAFE grades can be assured with the shift away from physical decals and how less digitally savvy consumers will be able to access information on SAFE grades. Under the previous system, physical decals were updated annually, once a year, following inspections and they may not follow real-time changes. By scanning the QR code on a food establishment’s licence, consumers can be assured of the most up-to-date, real-time and accurate information on the food establishment’s grade and track records. This mitigates the risk of outdated decals being displayed at the premises. Under the Environmental Public Health Act, food establishments must display their licence at a conspicuous and accessible position at their premises.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Consumers who are less digitally savvy or without smart devices can request the grade from the stall operator or seek assistance from a fellow diner with a smart device. To better support such consumers, SFA has also partnered with the Infocomm Media Development Authority on the Seniors Go Digital programme to teach seniors on how to use their phone cameras to scan the SAFE QR codes at food establishments.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Ms Nadia Samdin.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the Senior Minister of State as well. I have three follow-up supplementary questions.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework The first is really on the last point about accessing the food safety grading. While I understand that the new regime will provide more up-to-date grading, I think there is also something about a physical decal making it front-and-centre for consumers to be able to consider. So, will the Ministry consider including a physical decal requirement to be updated as and when the grade may change?
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework My second one is, I had asked about the measurement of the effectiveness of this change in regime. Could the Ministry elaborate whether there will be any outcome-based indicators beyond inspection performance? For example, outbreak severity or recurrence rates that will be checked alongside these compliance indicators?
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework My third and final one is, while SAFE strengthens assurance at the food establishment level, food safety risks can also originate earlier on in the chain – from import to processing to storage and distribution. I hope to understand how SAFE fits within the broader food safety and public health architecture, if possible.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework I thank the Member for her questions. For the first one, for now, I think the critical point is to get the information out in real time. The regime has changed significantly. With the risk-based regime, we are able to now do inspections more frequently for outlets that are found to be of higher risk or who perform poorly. The QR code enables us to change the grading as and when one performs poorly or one has improved performance, rather than waiting once a year.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework But having said that, when you scan the QR code, it is part of the licence that you have to show or display. So, there is a display of the licence and the QR code. A quick show and you can actually see whether it is a Grade A, B or C. So, it is quite clear to whoever who needs to use it.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Having said that, nothing stops the outlet from also printing it themselves and pasting it up. But we will not make it compulsory or mandatory for now, but we will see how this goes and we hope that we can educate more to use the new format.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework The Member's second question on the effectiveness, we will look into this. This is one way in which we also want to measure effectiveness of the system as well. But as it has just been launched and rolled out, give us a bit of time to assess the performance, how the ratings change. Because we do not have enough data now to see how it changes in the new system, so, give us a bit of time.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Certainly, one way in which we hope to see is to see improved performances over time. As food and beverage (F&B) outlets find that they are being monitored more in real time, they are more encouraged to keep performance up and keep food safety at a high standard.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework The third question on whether we are able to trace back, down to the food source. I think we have to take a very risk-based approach. Firstly, we have about 45,000 licensees under this regime, both Category 1 and Category 2; and therefore, it is not possible to track every single one. But certainly, when there is an outbreak or when we think that there is a risk to the system, like I said, we do take a very risk-based approach especially for those who have large volume or large networks, or those have outbreaks or poor performance, and that is where we have to then assess the sources.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework As part of the FSMS requirement, we will then also take a look at their records that they have to do for safekeeping. But I would also encourage F&B operators and all those licensees to really trace and track, and keep up the standards with the new grading system.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Mr Yip Hon Weng.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. The new framework is called SAFE. But for many Singaporeans, the real concern is whether it remains safe in practice or becomes unsafe when lapses go unnoticed. A heavy reliance on past track record makes oversight reactive rather than preventive.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Could the Senior Minister of State explain what early warning indicators SFA uses to detect deteriorating food safety standards before a serious lapse occurs and how these safeguards protect consumers upstream rather than after harm has been done? And secondly, in addition, what independent verification or audit measurements are in place to ensure that self-reported compliance accurately reflects on-ground practice?
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework I thank the Member for his questions. As I shared, our inspection regime adopts a targeted and data-driven approach. This enables us to also track proactively, which basically means, those under the Category 1, for example, larger kitchens, those with poor track records, they will be inspected more proactively. And of course, those who are doing better, we can do less. And therefore, as an overall, we will not have any less inspection than we have today.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework What we want to do is to be more proactive, take a risk-based approach. With the gradings being monitored in real time, I think that encourages a lot of operators to monitor and ensure that they keep up their safety standards, because they are monitored in real time and whenever they have downgrades, I think there is impact.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Government procurement is one good example in which there is a minimum of Grade B in the criteria to be procured under Government contracts. So, in some contracts in some Ministries, I also am aware that if the gradings change, they will also review the contracting requirements, the contracting conditions. These are ways in which the Government also sets the standard to ensure and keep our food providers and caterers on their toes.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework To the Member's second question on audits, for Category 1 and Category 2 classification as an example, there is no self declaration required. Technically, the data is based on licensee. So, in terms of audit, most of the data is already with us and we already assure them by licensing. And for grading, I think that comes as part of SFA's inspections. So, when it comes to audits as example, as part of inspections, we will inspect various things, whether it is your sources, whether your AFHO certifications are in place, whether you have a pest-free environment, and so forth. These are things in which our officers will look for which will go into your grading and risk profiling. So, there is data analytics involved, in short, and we will take a risk-based approach.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Last supplementary question. Ms Poh Li San.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework Thank you, Speaker and the Senior Minister of State. My supplementary question pertains to those establishments with poor performance, especially now that the decal is not being displayed. These establishments with poor performance would likely expect more frequent inspections and that means there will be disproportionately more resources on SFA's side to keep inspecting these few outlets. In that case, if they consistently do not perform, would SFA consider a safety time-out for these food establishments to protect the interest of consumers, especially if the decal is not even displayed and most people would not take the trouble to check, so how would they know that these are the frequent ones that do not improve?
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework I thank the Member for her question. It is certainly a valid concern. For SFA, we have a Point Demerit System. So, the moment that triggers, you will face suspension and therefore, this safeguards public safety, the consumer safety. Food safety and hygiene is top priority and top of mind for us. In the case of court conviction as well, suspensions will kick in as well.
Managing Public Health and Food Safety Risks with New SAFE Framework So, rest assured that there are measures under our food safety regulations and the Food Safety and Security Act to ensure that we maintain high food standards here in Singapore and for all our consumers.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders 8 Dr Hamid Razak asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry has data on how many disputes relating to health insurance claims were filed with MAS or the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC) in each of the past three years; (b) what proportion of such disputes were resolved in favour of policyholders; and (c) whether there has been an increase in disputes involving claim rejections, exclusions or post-treatment coverage.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders Sir, I refer the Member to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS') response to Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Ng Shi Xuan for the Parliament Sitting on 4 November 2025.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders Over the same three-year period of between 2022 and 2024, the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC) completed an average of 246 annual mediation and adjudication claims related to disputes on insurance claim liability and amounts awarded. Of these, an average of 95 were health insurance claims. Independent assessors ruled in favour of the policyholders in 4% of the health insurance claims.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders Dr Hamid Razak.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Given the very low percentage of adjudicated claims being in favour of the policyholders, has the Minister of State assessed why this is the case? For example, is this due to clearer policy terms or perhaps there are structural disadvantages that policyholders face? Because there has been ground feedback from healthcare providers that policyholders face delays or rejections, even at the pre-authorisation stage or even post-treatment, due to retrospective interpretations of policy terms.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders So, I would like to ask if MAS has safeguards in place to ensure that insurance companies adjudicate claims transparently, consistently and do not disadvantage policyholders, especially when there are clear clinical indications for treatment.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders Sir, I thank Dr Hamid Razak for his questions regarding the safeguards for consumers where they potentially face so-called unreasonable rejections of claims and pre-authorisation.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders The onus is on the insurers themselves to demonstrate that the non-disclosure of the health condition to a question asked in the application form is material to the underwriting outcome before they reject a claim for non-disclosure. And both MOH and MAS expect insurers to process these claims fairly, according to the policy terms. MAS will take action against insurers who fail to do so.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders Consumers who, nonetheless, believe that their claims have been unfairly rejected, should, first, contact their insurers who are required to handle these complaints independently, effectively and promptly. If a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached, consumers may file for mediation and adjudication at FIDReC, which offers independent, partial and low-cost dispute resolution services.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders But I thought it is also important to put that 4% into context and take a look at the overall denominator. If you look at the numbers in perspective, every year, insurers naturally process and pay out claims in large numbers, large volumes. The numbers of disputes and complaints that eventually end up in FIDReC or MAS, respectively, represent less than 0.01% of all insurance claims. So, if we think about this one out of every 10,000 claims end up as disputes or complaints, which FIDReC or MAS then addresses. But the vast majority, 9,999 of these 10,000 are processed and they are paid out.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders This indicates that for the vast majority of cases, the process works and most people settle their claims without needing any third-party help. But when a case does go into adjudication, as in that 4%, it is usually because it is complex or difficult. Think about our Meet-the-People Session cases, when they come to us, it is already quite complex.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders But these cases fall into two broad categories, which I thought is important to share with the Member. First is on policy terms. If the adjudicator found that the insurer followed the specific terms and exclusions of the policy, that is one case; and even as the policyholder may disagree with the result. Second is when there is an event of a non-disclosure. And this happens when the policyholder leaves out certain medical history that he thought was not important at the start but actually was.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders For example, to make it concrete, a person might not mention that he or she has a stomach condition when they apply for an insurance policy, and that if they later try to claim for a stomach-related issue, the adjudicator may rule that the insurer was right to exclude it because the information should have been shared from the start.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders But while there is only a small number, which the Member mentioned, 4%, that result in an award for policyholder, I wanted to share with the House that there is a silver lining. Because we are seeing that the total number of cases needing adjudication has been dropping over the last few years. This indicates that maybe the insurers and consumers are getting better at speaking to one another and resolving issues early through mediation and negotiation, rather than the alternative of letting things escalate.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders But behind every statistic is a person. And when a claim is rejected, it can be distressing. So, we have designed our system to address these issues to ensure fairness.
Health Insurance Claim Disputes Filed with MAS or FIDReC and Proportion Resolved in Favour of Policyholders First, MAS expects insurers to pay legitimate claims promptly. If an insurer falls short of this, MAS will step in and can require them to review the earlier decision or to pay back the consumer. Second, if you cannot agree with your insurer, FIDReC is there. It is independent, impartial and low cost. And over 85% of their cases are resolved through mediation or adjudication, and it remains a very effective channel for Singaporeans.
Considerations for Athletes who Peak Later in Sport Excellence Potential and Other Programmes 9 Assoc Prof Kenneth Goh asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) how programmes such as the Sport Excellence Potential (spexPotential) account for sports where athletes peak later, including how long athletes can be supported before reaching senior representation; and (b) how the Ministry ensures such athletes are not disadvantaged by early progression benchmarks.
Considerations for Athletes who Peak Later in Sport Excellence Potential and Other Programmes Sir, in high performance sports, every sport, and for that matter, every individual, is different, including the ages at which athletes peak their performance, and therefore, at what age and for how long they must be supported.
Considerations for Athletes who Peak Later in Sport Excellence Potential and Other Programmes Because our aim is to make sure every athlete fulfils their fullest sporting potential, Sport Singapore’s High Performance Sport Institute (HPSI) designs our support for athletes based on their current performance and assessed potential, rather than solely age. And we do not place a limit on how long athletes can be supported as long as they meet performance and potential criteria.
Considerations for Athletes who Peak Later in Sport Excellence Potential and Other Programmes Our Sport Excellence (spex) framework provides comprehensive support for athletes across different stages of their sporting journey. It seeks to retain athletes early in the developmental pathway and also, long enough for them to realise their aspirations and achieve their full potential.