REMISSION OF HOSPITAL FEES (Figures)

Mr Yeo Choo Kok asked the Acting Minister for Health how many patients have successfully applied for remission of hospital fees because of financial difficulty in all the government hospitals from 1985 up to the latest convenient date.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, the total number of patients whose charges were remitted or waived numbered 5,014 from 1985 to December 1987. The total amount remitted and waived amounted to $1.4 million. This represents 0.8% of the total number of hospital bills raised during the period and it shows that the hospital fees are within the means of the vast majority of Singaporeans. 11.20 am