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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg |
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Further measures to ensure
healthcare affordability |
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Minister for Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan
announced at a TV forum that the Ministry of Health is currently
reviewing Medisave and MediShield policies, and intends to implement the
following changes in 2007. |
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First, the Ministry of Health will increase
the Medisave inpatient daily withdrawal limit from $400 to $450. The aim
is to further assist middle-income Singaporeans, who have adequate
monies in their Medisave, to better afford Class B1 and higher wards. |
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In April 2006, the inpatient daily limit had
been raised from $300 to $400. Based on data from April to August 2006,
this increase has helped Singaporeans better afford their medical
expenses. |
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For an average A/private ward class bill,
Medisave can now cover 57% of the bill, compared to 52% before the
increase. For an average Class B1 bill, Medisave can now cover 76% of
the non-surgical component of the bill, compared to 67% earlier. |
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With the proposed increase to $450, more
patients will be able to reduce their cash outlay as they can use more
of their Medisave to pay for hospital bills. |
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Second, the Ministry of Health plans to
allow Medisave use for MRI and CT scans, if they form part of an
outpatient cancer treatment. Today, this is allowed only for inpatient
treatments. |
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Medisave is currently not allowed for
diagnostic scans, because of the strong likelihood of abuse, which
is evidenced and demonstrated in many countries. |
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However, we have reviewed and
determined that MRI and CT scans currently form part of the
standard of care for many cancer conditions, in particular for
diagnostic and treatment evaluation (e.g. tumour staging), and
possibility of abuse is less. |
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Third, the Ministry of Health will be
reviewing MediShield in 2007 to further improve the financing
support to patients. |
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Following the 2005 MediShield reform,
cherry-picking was eliminated. MediShield regained its financial
viability. Patients with large bills have benefited from larger
payouts and saved thousands of dollars, with co-payment reduced
from 60% to 40% of hospital bills. |
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Moving ahead, our preliminary feedback
suggests that Singaporeans are prepared to pay higher premiums for
greater MediShield payouts, provided the premium increase is not
too big. |
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MOH intends to further reduce the
co-payment, in particular the deductibles of Medisave-approved
private insurance plans, in 2007. |
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MOH will finalise the details for
these measures in due course and implementation is expected from
the middle to the end of 2007. |
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The TV Forum will be broadcast on 11
Jan (Thursday) at 10:30pm to 11:30pm on Channel 8. There will be a
repeat broadcast on 15 Jan (Monday) at 1:30pm to 2:30pm on Channel
8. |
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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg Press Release
11 Jan 2007 |
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Medisave can now be used for outpatient treatment of three
additional chronic diseases |
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FrontPage Edition: Thu 11 January 2007
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