Health insurance 'spurt' in Singapore
A new report from research consultancy Timetric has suggested that major growth opportunities are set to appear in the health insurance market in Singapore over the next five years, due to its ageing population. According to the report, during the review period (2009 to 2013) health insurance businesses registered significantly higher growth compared to personal accident and travel insurance providers, with gross written health insurance premium income increasing from US$1 billion in 2009 to $2 billion in 2013. Travel and personal accident gross written premiums, meanwhile, recorded growth of $146.6 million and $697.5 million respectively in the years reviewed. The outlook for health insurance remains bright, said Timetric’s analysts, who expect the category to retain the leading position and to record gross written premiums of $3.4 billion in 2019. This growth is likely to be supported by Singapore’s growing ageing population and rising domestic demand for health insurance. These factors, coupled with changes to the country’s healthcare programme, will continue to generate business for the health insurance category over the next five years.
“Singapore has a large older population, with people aged 65 and above accounting for 10.2 per cent of the total population in 2013, a 1.4-per-cent increase compared with 2009,” said Jay Patel, an insurance analyst for Timetric. “As this trend will likely persist in the near future, it is also anticipated to boost sales of private health insurance products.”
Additionally, changes to Singapore’s healthcare programme, along with a rise in health insurance premiums, will likely benefit the overall growth of the health insurance sector over the forecast period. “The Singaporean government amended its Medishield healthcare system, renaming it MediShield Life,” added Patel. “Unlike before, the new system aims to provide healthcare facilities to all citizens, including the over-90 age group, which was previously excluded. Although premiums will be higher as cover is provided for a wider range of diseases, these changes are expected to contribute significantly to the growth of the health insurance business.”