GIA's proposal to cover platform workers under Medishield Life is essentially asking them to pay for medical expenses

SINGAPORE: The General Insurance Association of Singapore's proposal to cover platform workers under Medishield Life is essentially asking them to pay for their own medical expenses, Senior Minister for Manpower Koh Poh Koon said on Tuesday, "In principle, platform workers should get the same level of coverage as employees, who are currently covered for up to S $45,000 in medical expenses for work injuries by employers."

The platform workers should not have to rely on Medishield Life, which they can use to pay for their own MediSave, and thus pay part of the medical bills using their MediSave or out of pocket cash if they suffer a workplace injury, said Dr Koh.

He added that platform workers would be paying for their own medical expenses under such a suggestion.

Dr Koh was responding to a question in Parliament about injuries among platform workers, such as private hire drivers and food delivery riders. The Advisory Committee on Platform Workers made 12 recommendations on the better protection of the workers, including through Central Provident Fund contributions and enhanced injury compensation, referred to by the GIA's proposal and asked why insurers and platform companies did not make the suggestion earlier, given that there are riders who are dying on the job.

One of the requirements is that platform companies provide the same scope and level of work injury compensation as employees entitled to under the Work Injury Compensation Act WICA. The committee made a suggestion that insurance coverage was uneven for workers across the different platforms.

The recommendations will be implemented gradually from the later part of 2024 at the earliest.

As it has its downsides, the GIA suggested protections outside the Work Injury Compensation framework.

An employee on a fixed wage may find it easy to quantify his income, but a platform worker has to prove his loss of income over many months, and for many of them, across multiple platforms, according to GIA's chief executive, Ho Kai Weng, in a statement last Wednesday.

Mr Ho proposed a modified version of the MediShield Life that would allow for a longer term income replacement beyond 60 days, as well as MediShield Life. Since 2019, platforms have bought these for taxi and private hire drivers.

The GIA also suggested covering permanent incapacity and death with group personal accident or term life insurance, which covers platform workers 24 hours a day. Platform workers would not have to prove they were working at the time of the accident.