Cap for Hospital Bills Based on Class of Ward

Mr K Karthikeyan asked the Minister for Health whether the Ministry can consider capping hospital bills based on the class of ward that the patient is admitted to instead of capping the maximum amount that they can claim from MediShield Life.

Hospital bill sizes vary depending on the severity and complexity of the patients’ conditions and type of treatment received. To help patients with their hospital bills, the Ministry has put in place a range of measures. These include significant Government subsidies of up to 80% for those who choose subsidised C Class wards; MediShield coverage for large hospital bills; MediSave to help with patients’ share of the bill; and MediFund for the needy. Today, the majority of hospital bills in B2 and C Class wards are almost fully covered by subsidies, MediShield and MediSave, with three quarters paying $100 or less in cash.

To better help Singaporeans with large subsidised hospital bills, MediShield Life will be introduced from 1 November 2015. We have raised the claim limits under MediShield Life

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and removed the lifetime limit. This means that MediShield Life will cover more and will be adequate for most B2 and C Class bills. Co-payment under MediShield Life will also be lowered, ranging from 10% for the smaller bills to 3% for the larger bills above $10,000. This means that patients will pay a significantly lower share of the larger bills.

While we ensure affordability, we also need to be mindful of the need to manage healthcare costs. Setting caps on hospital bills may inadvertently encourage wasteful consumption, like ordering more tests than necessary, because any expenses above the cap will be "free" to the patients. However, they have to be paid for ultimately by all of us, through higher taxes or premiums. Hence, it is better to have claim limits to help manage the cost of treatment, and instead, provide help to ensure that patients are able to pay for their bills.

Patients can tap on MediSave to pay for their share of the hospital bill, after subsidies and insurance payouts. For those with financial difficulties, they can approach the medical social workers to apply for assistance, such as MediFund. This will ensure that health care will remain affordable.