Gov't expands MediShield Life to cover precision medicine therapies

The high-scot therapies can be rough into ediShield Life and MediSave, amongst others

Precision medicine therapies will soon be included in  MediShield Life coverage, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung revealed.

In his speech at the Singapore Health & Biomedical Congress 2024, Ong said the health ministry intended to accept the MediShield Life Council's recommendation to include precision medicine therapies in its coverage.

"The approved precision medicine therapies or high-cost therapies can be brought into our subsidy, MediShield Life and MediSave, or S+2M, support framework, and all Singaporeans can benefit from these therapies," Ong said.

Ong said there is no healthcare financing system in the world designed to fully fund precision medicine, making it affordable only for the wealthy, which could eventually lead to serious inequity in healthcare.

Singapore is taking steps to embrace precision medicine and prepare for its mainstream adoption sustainably, said Ong.

"We have strengthened health technology assessment to robustly evaluate the cost-effectiveness of high-cost treatments, including precision medicine," Ong said.

"Even if the medicine increases the chance of a treatment that can prolong quality life but costs so much more, we can conclude that it is not cost-effective. Where they are proven to be clinically and cost effective, we will subsidise these therapies," Ong added.