MEDICAL SAFETY NET

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MEDICAL SAFETY NET

28.

Dr Ong Seh Hong asked the Minister for Health in view of a recent NKF Children Medical Fund Charity Show where a mother was shown to have incurred some $50,000 on medical expenses for her child, who suffered from multiple illnesses, why was the medical safety net not utilised to ease the financial burden of this family.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: In the recent NKF Children Medical Fund Charity Show, the mother of a child patient with multiple illnesses spoke about her problems looking after the child. I sympathise with her and her family.

As Dr Ong noted, she mentioned that she had already spent about $50,000 on her child's medical bills since birth. Dr Ong asked why the medical safety net was not there to help ease her financial difficulties.

My Ministry has looked into this case. The child was born in a private hospital in 1998. After several months in a neonatal ward there, the child was transferred to the National University Hospital. She has been under the care of the NUH ever since.

We have asked her mother about her medical expenses. She explained that the $50,000 expenses comprised: (a) $22,000 largely incurred in the private hospital and an initial stay at the NUH; and (b) $30,000 incurred in the NUH since 1999.

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The family sought the assistance of the NUH's Medical Social Worker (MSW) in late 1998 after they realised that they would have problem coping with the child's continuing medical care. After an investigation, the MSW was able to secure the approval of the Hospital Medifund Committee to help this family. This was in early 1999.

To date, Medifund has paid $21,000 of the bills incurred by the patient, and has continued to help the family for the patient's medical treatment.

The family's payment of the child's medical bills so far is therefore about $31,000 and not $50,000. The bulk of the expenses were incurred in the private hospital to which the family had owed some money. The mother has however clarified that, since the screening of the Charity Show, the private hospital has decided to waive the rest of the bill.

As Members can see, the medical safety net is well in place for those needy Singaporeans who, despite heavy Government subsidies, Medisave and MediShield, are still unable to afford their medical bill.