More Subventions for Nursing Homes

16 December 2009

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16 Dec 2009

From Jan 1, 2010, MOH will revise its subvention framework to providers of subsidised long-term residential care services, i.e. nursing homes, chronic sick units and psychiatric rehabilitation homes. Currently, there are 35 nursing homes, 4 chronic sick units and 3 psychiatric homes, caring for some 6,000 subsidised patients.

MOH currently provides these providers with an operating subvention, based on the family income of the patients, grouped into 4 tiers. From next month, MOH will enhance the subvention framework by expanding it into a 9-tier framework (see Table 1).

This enhancement follows a similar exercise in community hospitals and hospices. The implementation in the community hospitals and hospices has been smooth and welcomed by the subsidised patients there. Most of them have benefitted from the enhanced framework, saving them hundreds of dollars each, in many cases.

Table 1: Enhanced 9-tier Subsidy Framework for Long-term Residential Care Services

Table caption

Family Income Per Month (for a family of 4)	Subsidy Level for Citizens*
≤ $1,440	75%
$1,441 - $2,200	70%
$2,201 - $3,000	60%
$3,001 - $3,800	50%
$3,801 - $4,600	40%
$4,601 - $5,200	30%
$5,201 - $5,400	20%
$5,401 - $5,600	10%
> $5,600	0%

*Permanent Residents will receive 10%-point less subsidy

With this enhancement, one in three subsidised patients in nursing homes will get more subsidies, saving them substantially hundreds of dollars in bill size. By raising the income thresholds, we have ensured that no patient will be worse off as a result of the change. (Please refer to Annex for examples).

The enhanced subsidy framework in the provision of long-term residential care services will raise MOH’s annual subvention to these providers by an additional $6 million, to about $61 million per year.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

ANNEX

Example 1

Mr. Tan, 83 years old, is wheelchair-bound and needs daily skilled nursing care. His family of four has a total family income of $3,400 a month. From 1 Jan 2010, he can expect the following savings for his nursing home care bills:

Table caption

	Government Subsidy	Average Monthly Bill Size
Current	25%	$ 1,320
From next month	50%	$ 880 (Savings of $440 p.m.)

Example 2

Mdm Chee, 75 years old, requires daily skilled nursing care and assistance in activities of daily living. Her family of four has a total family income of $2100 a month. From next month, she can expect the following savings for her nursing home care bills:

Table caption

	Government Subsidy	Average Monthly Bill Size
Current	50%	$ 880
From next month	70%	$ 528 (Savings of $352 p.m.)