Allow Medisave for chronic illness

02 Aug 2005, The Newpaper

Question

Name of the Person: Carol Lim Siew Imm

Allow Medisave for chronic illness

My friend's 16 year old son has been on long term daily medication prescribed by the National University Hospital to ensure his kidneys function properly and avoid the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. 

The medication is costly and as such places a heavy financial burden on the family. I was told by my friend that she cannot use Medisave to supplement this recurring expense as Medisave can be used only to subsidise the cost of dialysis. 

I believe the CFP Board should allow us to use our Medisave for ourselves or our families (If we opt to do so) to subsidise long-term medication costs as prescribed and certified by hospitals. 

In this case, the medication is said to help prevent a medical condition which would cost the family more financially as weel as in mental anxiety.

Reply

Reply from MOH 

In "Allow Medisave for chronic illness" (2 Aug), Ms Carol Lim asked for Medisave to be used to pay for long-term medication. 

We fully empathise with families who need to bear the costs of long-term medication for chronic diseases. However, Medisave is intended primarily for inpatient care. We are concerned that extending Medisave for other non-inpatient purposes will deplete Medisave prematurely, creating future problems for patients and their families. With the increase in life expectancy, individuals will have to stretch their Medisave funds to cover more years of life. It will also require a much higher rate of Medisave contribution, which will make it costly for employers and employees. 

Nevertheless, we have allowed the use of Medisave for certain outpatient treatments such as chemotherapy, renal dialysis, and radiotherapy. 

We regularly review this list of approved outpatient treatments, and we will take Ms Lim's feedback into consideration in our review.