Levy on Patients Who Draw on Medisave Account under Chronic Disease Management Programme

Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Minister for Health (a) if he will elaborate on the rationale behind the CPF transaction fee levied on patients under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) if they were to draw on their CPF Medisave Account; (b) whether the Ministry will consider reviewing this fee; and (c) why inpatients are able to withdraw the full sum from their CPF Medisave Account when outpatients have to pay a variable deductible and co-payment in cash for medication under CDMP.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: A transaction fee is charged on healthcare institutions each time Medisave is used for medical expenses, to help defray the costs of administering the Medisave scheme and processing the claims from patients' and their family members' Medisave Accounts. MOH and CPF Board regularly review the transaction fee to ensure it remains appropriate and affordable. In 2009, the transaction fee was reduced following such a review.

Medisave is designed primarily to help patients with inpatient and the more costly outpatient treatments. As Singaporeans have finite Medisave savings, we need to strike the right balance between allowing members to use their Medisave to reduce their cash outlay, and avoiding premature depletion of their Medisave monies. Therefore, when Medisave use was allowed for outpatient chronic disease treatment, a deductible of $30 and co-payment of 15% were introduced. This is to encourage and help members keep their Medisave balances for larger bills.

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Primary and specialist outpatient care at our public institutions and at GPs participating in the Community Health Assist Scheme are subsidised to keep them affordable. For the middle-lower income patients, additional support, such as Medifund, is available. These subsidies help to reduce the overall patient bill and increase the affordability for patients.