Press Releases
Revision of Hospital Subsidy for Foreigners
11 December 2006
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11 Dec 2006
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has reviewed the healthcare subsidy provided at restructured hospitals and national centres, to provide a clear distinction in health benefits between (a) Singapore citizens, (b) Permanent Residents (PRs) and (c) other foreigners, including foreign workers.
Currently, PRs are subsidised to the same extent as Singapore citizens. From October 2007, PRs will continue to be subsidised for hospital services, but at 5 percentage-points less than Singapore citizens. From October 2008, another 5 percentage-point reduction will be applied. This way, Singapore citizens will enjoy greater subsidy than PRs, by a total of 10 percentage- points. Please see Annex for details.
As for the other foreigners, there will be no more healthcare subsidy from October 2007. Most of them are here on employment. The Government is exploring whether to require employers to purchase medical insurance coverage for their foreign workers, to manage the potential impact of subsidy withdrawal.
An exception will be made for emergency services at hospital Emergency Departments. Fees will not discriminate between nationality or citizenship.
For more information, view the FAQs on the subsidy revision (23 KB)
Annex: Revision of subsidy for PRs
Table caption
Type of Ward Class/Service | Citizen subsidy level | PR subsidy level | |
|---|---|---|---|
Oct 2007 (First 5 percentage-point reduction) | Oct 2008 (Next 5 percentage-point reduction) | ||
Class B1 | 20% | 15% | 10% |
Class B2 | 65% | 60% | 55% |
Class C | 80% | 75% | 70% |
Day Surgery | 65% | 60% | 55% |
Specialist Outpatient Clinic (SOC) | 50% | 45% | 40% |