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03 Mar 2010
Question No: 337
Question
Name of the Person: Mdm Halimah Yacob
To ask the Minister for Health for 2009, what is (i) the average bill incurred by patients in the A, B1, B2 and C wards respectively; (ii) the distribution of patients over the different classes of wards; (iii) the amount of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by patients in the different classes and (iv) the increase in bill sizes from 2008.
Reply
Reply From MOH
I do not have the complete 2009 data yet. Based on the claims submitted during the first 9 months of 2009, the average acute hospital bills incurred in Class A, B1, B2 and C wards were respectively: $4,751; $3,873; $1,660; and $1,506.
The distribution of patients were 8% in Class A, 12% in B1, 39% in B2 and 41% in C.
Patients would tap on various kinds of payment modes, from Medisave, insurance, employers’ medical benefits to outright cash. I do not have the breakdown of these payment modes. However, we know that most subsidised patients would not need to fork out any cash, after Medisave and MediShield deductions.
Between 2008 and 2009, the increase in the average bill sizes ranged from 3% in Class B1 to 10% in Class B2.