Use Your Child's MediSave Account To Pay Their Aviva MyShield Premiums

Aviva Singapore is pleased to inform you that you can now use your child's MediSave account for your child's MyShield premium payment.

CPF MediSave account grants for newborns

To support parents with their children's healthcare needs, the Government is creating a CPF MediSave account for all newborns who are Singapore Citizens born on or after 26 August 2012.
In this account, parents will receive the $3,000 grant in two equal tranches. The first $1,500 will be deposited after the registration of the child birth, and the remaining $1,500 will be deposited in the subsequent year if the child continues to be enrolled in MediShield or a MediSave-approved Integrated Shield Plan. This grant can help parents pay the costs of their child's MediShield premiums, as well as other healthcare expenses such as vaccinations. To find out more details, please visit this site.

How does it work for Aviva's MyShield?

You can apply for the MyShield plan after the grants are credited no later than 4 months of child birth. The crediting of grant will depend on how soon you, the parents register for the child's birth. If the you wish to cover your newborns soon after birth, the first premium will have to be paid from the parent's MediSave account and thereafter you could change the deduction to the child's MediSave account.

Important point to note: The use of child's MediSave account is only for his/her own MyShield policy. The parent/legal guardian must be the same person as Proposer/Insured of the policy.

To apply via Child's MediSave Account: You (the parent/legal guardian) will have to submit the authorisation form along with the new business application form. (contact this adviser for the forms)

Existing policy holders of Aviva: can also opt for deduction of their MyShield premiums from their child's CPF MediSave account upon renewal. They too will have to submit the authorisation form. This option is only available for renewal from 1 August 2013 onwards.

BMI for Children

The following post is courtesy of Dr Leslie Tay of Karri Family Clinic:

"Actually, not many parents come to the clinic worrying that their kids are too fat. Most parents come to the clinic complaining that their kids are not eating well and are too thin.

I think that there needs to be a fundamental change in the thinking of parents concerning their children's weight. In many Asian cultures, fat is seen to be good because traditionally, food is scarce, so only those who are really well off can afford to feed their kids well. So fat kids are seen as a sign of prosperity. However, in Singapore now, we are seeing an epidemic of kids who are really too fat. Obese kids who grow up to be obese adults who run the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol levels etc.

The Health Promotion Board has recently released new BMI for age charts which I have uploaded here on the website. BMI is short for Body Mass Index and it is a way to determine if your child is over or underweight. But unlike adults, kids of different age groups have different BMI ranges. So that is why in order to find out if your child is indeed overweight, you need to first work out his BMI and then compare it on the BMI for age percentile chart."

So here is how to use the BMI for age charts: