More successful applications, but Medifund disbursement falls after MediShield Life rollout

SINGAPORE — The number of successful Medifund applications increased even as the disbursed amount decreased in the last financial year (FY), said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday (Nov 27).

In the year ended March 31, the number of successful Medifund applications went up by 3.6 per cent to hit about 1.136 million. Some 99.9 per cent of total applications were approved, and more than 9 in 10 of the approved applications received full assistance.

The amount disbursed was S$143.9 million, a 7.3 per cent drop from FY2015’s S$155.2 million. This was the second consecutive year of decrease from the S$159.3 million disbursed in FY2014.

The drop in Medifund utilised was partly due to the introduction of MediShield Life in November 2015, said the ministry as it released the latest Medifund annual report. MediShield Life is the basic national hospitalisation insurance scheme that provides better protection to policyholders than its predecessor, MediShield.

Medifund helps Singaporeans who cannot afford their medical bills even after government subsidies, MediShield Life and private insurance, as well as Medisave.

There were 122 Medifund-approved institutions in FY2016, four more than the previous year. The institutions include public hospitals, polyclinics and intermediate- and long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.

The average Medifund amount disbursed per inpatient treatment was S$1,124 and the average per outpatient treatment was S$79; in FY2015, the respective average amounts were S$1,529 and S$77.

Over the years, Medifund has been extended to cover more healthcare services. For instance, Medifund use was extended in 2013 to primary care at polyclinics, dental services and antenatal and delivery services.

At the end of the last FY, the Medifund capital sum stood at S$2.78 billion while for Medifund Silver, the capital sum was S$1.22 billion.