NTUC Income launches insurance plan for children, young adults with autism

SINGAPORE — Whenever insurance agents approach Ms Grace Sulu, 42, and her family with insurance plans, they back off upon realising that her children have special needs.

Now, her three-and-a-half-year-old son, who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), can look forward to be insured with the launch of a new scheme yesterday by NTUC Income.

The plan, called SpecialCare (Autism), is the first such coverage in Singapore for children and young adults with autism.

A collaboration between NTUC Income and the Autism Resource Centre, it provides coverage for medical expenses from accidents and infectious diseases. This includes outpatient and hospitalisation expenses, daily hospital income, personal liability, death and disability due to accidents.

The scheme has additional benefits that are not found in most insurance plans. They include reimbursement for mobility aids, psychiatric treatment and physiotherapy, home modifications and caregiver training following an accident.

The launch of the new plan follows calls in recent years by parents for more to be done to ensure long-term financial security for their autistic children.

Before this, parents could set up a trust fund with the Special Needs Trust Company to make monthly payouts to their children after their death. They could also rely on the Special Needs Savings Scheme under the Central Provident Fund.

The Autism Resource Centre estimates that there are about 31,000 individuals with autism here and the Ministry of Health’s Child Development Programme diagnosed 610 pre-schoolers with ASD last year.

The NTUC Income scheme has two plans, with a yearly premium of S$198 and S$352, and maximum lifetime limit of either S$100,000 and S$150,000 respectively. Open to those between 15 days old and 30 years old, they must not have conditions, such as epilepsy, total deafness or blindness, or are diabetic and require insulin treatments, or already require mobility aids.

In comparison, the yearly premiums for those aged 65 and below for a similar NTUC Income Personal Accident and Infectious Diseases Plan range between S$101.65 and S$625.95, depending on the occupation and type of plan.

Mr Tan Suee Chieh, Chief Executive of NTUC Income, said yesterday the insurance giant realised that “children and young adults with autism form a segment of the uninsured”, which prompted them to “explore insurance for the community” and try to keep it affordable, accessible and sustainable in the long run.

Even if people with more severe autism possess “a higher risk” of getting into more accidents, Mr Tan called the insurance plan “worthwhile”.

“No insurer in Singapore or no commercial insurer in the world will spend this kind of time to do this. Because the premiums are only half a million to a million a year at the most optimistic, and the effort required in terms of the work required is significant ... I think it is something we should do — every life and every case matters to the family concerned,” he added.

Mr Money K, who had previously written to TODAY about the challenges in securing insurance coverage for his 21-year-old autistic son, said that while the new insurance scheme may be overdue, it will serve as a huge relief for families with autistic dependents.

“They should consider higher limits for those willing to fork out higher premiums. Cost of medical services will inevitably rise and current limits may not suffice in the long run,” he suggested.

Asked if the industry should move towards coming up with more plans for people with special needs, the Life Insurance Association said it welcome “product innovation by member companies to better meet the evolving needs of different market segments”.

“Individual life insurance companies develop innovative life insurance solutions to address consumer demand,” added the body representing life insurance product providers.

Meanwhile, NTUC Income said that there may be plans to expand its insurance coverage to people with other special needs.

Member of Parliament Denise Phua, who is also the President of ARC, added that if the new insurance scheme is well received, she hopes it could be extended to other disability groups.