MediSave

13 Feb 2006

Question No:  348  

Question

Name of the Person: Dr Tan Sze Wee, Nominated MP

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether, with advances in medical science resulting in shorter hospital stays and more day surgeries, the higher Medisave daily withdrawal limits will translate into patients paying a smaller proportion of hospital charges out of their own pockets; (b) whether the Ministry will consider having a higher limit for the first few days of hospital stay; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider reviewing the limits for surgical procedures, which are based on the Table of Surgical Procedures (TOSP) which has largely been unchanged since its launch more than 10 years ago.

Reply

Reply From MOH

Dr Tan asked if the higher Medisave withdrawal limit would mean patients paying less of their hospital bills out of their pockets. The answer is yes. Indeed that is the objective of the exercise. 

Current Medisave withdrawal rules were set with Class B2/C patients in mind. This should remain the primary objective of Medisave. 

However, incrementally, for the middle-income group who have larger Medisave balances and would normally use Class A/B1 wards, there is a case to allow them to use more of their Medisave balances to pay for their hospital bills. 

This can be done in various ways. We can raise the daily limit by $X and increase the surgical table claim limits at the same time. Or we can allow a larger $X daily limit while keeping the surgical table claim limits unchanged. 

Yet another alternative is to have multiple daily claim limits, allowing higher claims for the first few days of hospitalisation as suggested by Dr Tan. 

I decided to go for a simple solution by simply raising the daily withdrawal limit substantially from $300 to $400. 

The impact will be sizeable. On average, a Class B1 hospitalisation bill would be covered up to 76% by Medisave, while a Class A bill would be covered up to 62%. Compare this with the existing corresponding figures of 68% and 53%. Most patients will stand to save hundreds of dollars in their out-of-pocket expenses. 

For Class B2 and C patients, the change will enable practically all of them to have their hospital bills fully covered by Medisave, without their having to dip into their pockets. 

My next task is to see how Medisave can be used for costly outpatient care, especially for those with chronic illnesses. 

But even as we liberalise the use of Medisave, I must remind our patients to remain prudent in their choice of hospitalization class and use of medical services. Medisave is for a rainy day when one is old and no longer employed. Better not deplete it prematurely.