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30% rise in Medifund applications approved

chaichin [at] mediacorp.com.sg

chaichin [at] mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE — The amount paid out by the Medifund scheme to help needy patients between April last year and March this year jumped 27 per cent to S$130 million, compared with the previous financial year, based on the fund’s annual report released yesterday.

The number of Medifund applications approved also increased by about 30 per cent over the same period, from 587,000 to 766,000.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) attributed the increases to the wider range of healthcare services covered. For instance, Medifund — also known as the Medical Endowment Fund — was extended to polyclinics from June last year, and about 68,000 approved applications were for polyclinic patients, the annual report stated. It was also extended to non-residential intermediate and long-term care services from the 2012 financial year and approved applications for the services nearly tripled from 9,400 that year to 27,000 in FY2013.

The average amount Medifund gave out per inpatient treatment was S$1,579, while the average amount given per outpatient treatment was S$103, the MOH said. Elderly patients received about a third of the total Medifund aid given.

Applications for Medifund assistance are not equivalent to unique patients as a patient may make more than one successful application each year. Set up in 1993, the scheme helps citizens who are unable to pay their medical bills even after government subsidies and tapping their Medisave accounts and MediShield. For the vast majority, or 93 per cent, of approved applications, the outstanding subsidised bills were fully paid for by Medifund.

Each Medifund-approved institution — which includes public hospitals, polyclinics and various nursing homes — has a Medifund committee that evaluates and approves applications from eligible patients. The committees also decide on the quantum of assistance to be provided.

The bulk of Medifund grants (83.7 per cent, or S$108.8 million) went to public hospitals, national speciality centres and polyclinics, while the remainder went to step-down care facilities.

With S$1 billion injected by the Government into Medifund in FY2013, the combined capital of Medifund and Medifund Silver — targeted at needy elderly patients — stood at S$4 billion at the end of March this year.

The MOH said it would continue to ensure that public healthcare remains affordable to Singaporeans.

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