Assessment of Healthcare Subsidy Eligibility Thresholds and Out-of-pocket Expenditure for Households with $2,300 Monthly Per Capita Income

Dr Hamid Razak asked the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry has assessed the combined impact of healthcare subsidy eligibility thresholds on households around the monthly per capita household income threshold of $2,300; and (b) if so, what are the findings regarding the resulting out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure.

Mr Ong Ye Kung: The Ministry of Health (MOH) monitors and assesses affordability of healthcare after applying subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave. In designing subsidy frameworks, MOH considers the need to tailor subsidy levels and support for different income segments.

An individual with per capita household income of around $2,300 or slightly higher, such as a family of four with a household income of $10,000, would receive substantial subsidies across most healthcare settings.