ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS TO MEDISAVE WITHDRAWAL LIMITS IN LINE WITH INFLATION IN HEALTHCARE COSTS

NOTICE PAPER NO. 3221

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 12 NOVEMBER 2024

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Hazel Poa

Non-Constituency MP

Question No. 6869

To ask the Minister for Health whether MediSave withdrawal limits can be adjusted every year in line with any inflation of healthcare costs, similar to the way the CPF Basic Retirement Sum and Full Retirement Sum are adjusted every year to take into account inflation.

Answer

1. There are various features of MediSave that are salient to Singaporeans. A key one is MediSave withdrawal limits for co-payment of hospital bills, which is reviewed as part of our review of the MediShield Life scheme. As this is a holistic review, it is typically done once every three years. Other MediSave features such as Flexi-MediSave are also reviewed periodically. This approach is favored over automatic annual adjustments, to better account for other healthcare financing adjustments and enhancements that are continuously being implemented.