Singapore healthcare benefit costs to rise by 9% in 2022: Willis Towers Watson

HEALTHCARE benefit costs for Singapore employers will likely see a 9 per cent increase come 2022, said Willis Towers Watson on Thursday (Dec 2).

Healthcare benefit cost growth in the Republic has been steadily rising in the past few years, advancing 7.7 per cent in 2020 and 8.6 per cent in 2021, according to a survey of medical insurers conducted by the advisory, broking and solutions company.

Singapore's projected growth in healthcare benefit costs in 2022 is in line with an overall growth trend in the Asia-Pacific, which is expected to rise by 7.6 per cent in the same year. Healthcare benefits costs grew 7 per cent in 2021 and 5.4 per cent in 2020.

Cedric Luah, Willis Towers Watson's international head of health and benefits, said Covid-19 has produced the biggest impact to global medical trend variation the industry has seen.

"We expect the resultant repercussions and volatility to extend into 2022 and beyond," he added, noting that markets and employers are feeling the impact differently. While some have experienced a recovery in demand for regular medical services in 2021, others will only see it from 2022 or after.

Medical insurers expect Malaysia and India to see the highest jump in costs at 16.2 per cent and 23.5 per cent respectively in 2022. On the other hand, the market which will see the least cost growth is South Korea at 2.7 per cent.

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More than two-thirds, or 64 per cent of insurers have cited the overuse of care to be the top driver of medical costs, as a result of medical professionals recommending too many services or overprescribing.

Excess care by insured members (59 per cent) is the second leading driver of medical costs, followed by the underuse of preventative services (38 per cent), Willis Towers Watson said.

Cancer (76 per cent), cardiovascular (62 per cent) and musculoskeletal (48 per cent) continue to be the top three costliest conditions for Asia-Pacific insurers. They expect musculoskeletal as well as mental and behavioural disorders to be 2 of the fastest growing conditions by cost in the next 18 months.