PAYMENT OF MEDICAL BILLS (Difficulties faced by patients)

Dr S. Vasoo asked the Minister for Health how many patients faced difficulties in paying their medical bills for the year 1994 and what was done to assist them.

The Minister of State for Health (Dr Aline K. Wong) (for the Minister for Health): Sir, at the Government and restructured hospitals, patients who have difficulties in paying their medical bills will be referred to the medical social workers for assistance. Hospitals may also arrange for the patients to pay their medical bills in instalment upon request, or to apply for help from Medifund. Hospitals may also remit the medical bills incurred by needy patients who are not eligible for Medifund help such as residents who are non-Singapore citizens.

In 1994, 21,180 applications for assistance from Medifund were received. In percentage terms, 1.8% of the admissions to Class B2 and C wards in the acute hospitals and 1.4% of the subsidised attendances at the Specialist Outpatient Clinics applied for Medifund assistance. A total of 21,104, or 99.6%, of the Medifund applications were approved. For the remission of hospital bills, 1,880 applications were approved in 1994.

Dr S. Vasoo (Tanjong Pagar GRC): Sir, how long would this process take for assistance to be rendered? The other supplementary question is whether it is true that people without Medisave, or those without adequate payment, would be turned away from treatment?

Dr Aline Wong: I do not have the statistics on what is the average length of time it takes for an application to be processed. I believe it is done very expeditiously. It also depends on the circumstances of the case. It is not true that people who have no Medisave would be turned away. Medifund is based on the principle that those people who have consistently contributed to Medisave would be given somewhat better consideration. But for those who have not, again depending on the circumstances of the case, they would be considered.

Mr Chng Hee Kok: Sir, I have a number of questions for the Minister of State. First, when did the Ministry start using the services of private legal practitioners to assist in debt collection? Second, what is the basis for deciding which legal firm should be used? And, lastly, what are the criteria for referring these cases to private legal practitioners for debt collection?

Dr Aline Wong: Mr Speaker, Sir, the supplementary questions are not entirely related to the main question. The main question is on application for Medifund. If the Member would like to ask about the use of legal debt collectors, I think he should file another question.

Dr Vasoo: Sir, would the Minister of State clarify whether those who seek treatment at SGH and other restructured hospitals but do not have sufficient money with them at that stage would be accorded treatment?

Dr Aline Wong: Yes, of course. We have repeatedly said so in this House many times. For A&E cases especially, there is no question whether you need to have a Medisave account or deposit. But if you go in as an inpatient and it is an elective surgery situation, I think all these processes would have been done before the patient is admitted. This is actually to expedite the processing of admission.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin: Sir, would the Minister clarify what is the cut-off point for Medifund? For Singaporeans who may not qualify for Medifund, but yet may not have enough Medisave or MediShield to pay, what are the other means that can help Singaporeans pay their hospital bills?

Dr Aline Wong: There is no cut-off point for Medifund as such. It depends on the circumstances of the case. If the patient's Medisave is not sufficient to cover the hospital bills and so on, he can actually seek and use the Medisave balance of his family members because this is the principle of family self-help. But if the family members together still cannot meet the bills, then the patient can apply for support from Medifund.