Medical Expenses Insurance Cover For Foreign Worker Working In Singapore

Here is what I learned from the The Ministry of Manpower’s website.

The Ministry will require employers to purchase and maintain insurance for the medical expenses of foreign workers from 1 January 2008.

The requirement will apply to:

• All new and existing foreign workers on Work Permit or S Pass from 1 January 2008.
• All new foreign domestic workers, and existing foreign domestic
workers when employers renew their Work Permits, from 1 January 2008.

The medical insurance coverage must be at least $5,000 a year for each Foreign Worker's [FWs] inpatient care and day surgery. The requirement will be a Condition of Work Permits/S Pass.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) will withdraw hospital subsidies for all foreigners, including FWs, from 1 January 2008. The medical insurance requirement will help employers manage the potentially high medical bills of their FWs.

The onus is on the employers i.e. employers are required to purchase medical insurance for their FWs and should not pass on such cost to their FWs.

Any employer who contravenes the Condition of Work Permits/S Pass to purchase medical insurance shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

So do ensure that your foreign workers' medical expenses insurance covers are taken care of come January 2008.

You can click here to find out more about the medical expenses insurance cover for foreign workers.