MEDISAVE FOR ANNUAL MEDICAL CHECK-UPS

Mr Leong Horn Kee asked the Acting Minister for Health whether he will allow the use of Medisave for annual medical check-ups.

The Acting Minister for Health (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Medisave scheme was introduced specifically to meet the hospitalization needs of the average Singaporean worker and his immediate family. Since the implementation of the scheme in 1984, my Ministry has already extended Medisave to cover services not originally considered such as day surgery, radiotherapy and expenses incurred for delivery of the third child. My Ministry plans to also extend Medisave to cover the catastrophic illness insurance scheme. My Ministry currently has no plan to further extend the usage of Medisave. We need to be sure that the current 6% Medisave contribution rate could still provide adequate savings to meet the individual's hospitalization needs during his or her old age before considering any further extension on the use of Medisave.

Mr Leong Horn Kee: Sir, may I ask the Minister whether he will agree that allowing the CPF depositors to use their money for annual medical check-ups, is, in fact, a form of preventive medicine, as it may help to alleviate their need for hospitalization in the future? The end result is that there will be lesser hospitalization cost being incurred than if you do not allow them to use their CPF for their annual medical check-ups.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, my Ministry recognizes the need for preventive medical care and that is why we have a very comprehensive preventive health education programme which includes encouragement on the use of screening services. However, that does not mean that Singaporeans need to have the use of Medisave before they make use of the screening services.

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