Assistance for low wage workers and sel-employed to build their Medisave

17 Oct 2005

Question No:  258  

Question

Name of the Person: Mdm Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC

To ask the Minister for Health what measures will be taken to assist low wage workers and the self-employed to build up their Medisave balances as a recent Ministry of Health report has indicated that low wage workers and some of the self-employed have insufficient Medisave balances to meet their medical needs?

Reply

Reply From MOH

Mdm Halimah asked if Government could help the self-employed and the low-income Singaporeans build up their Medisave balances. The two groups are not identical and the approach will have to be different. 

First, the self-employed. They must first help themselves by contributing regularly to their Medisave Accounts, like all other economically active Singaporeans. Not all do. In fact, less than half (43%) of the self-employed have paid their Medisave contributions in full. 

As a result, the Medisave balances of the self-employed are less than those of salaried employees. For example, for the 55-59 age group, the self-employed's Medisave balance averaged $12,500, much less than the salaried employees equivalent of $21,500. 

We should all encourage the self-employed to save regularly for their future medical needs. That is why the CPF Board has to strongly remind the self-employed to contribute to their Medisave accounts. 

As for the low-income Singaporeans, the advantage of our Medisave scheme is that even low-income workers can, over time, save up sizeable Medisave balances. The data confirms this. For example, for workers earning less than $1,000 a month, their average Medisave balance today is $10,400, which is not a small sum. It could cover more than 10 average Class C hospitalisations. 

In addition, the Government will continue to top up the Medisave Accounts of Singaporeans, whenever the budget allows for it. Meanwhile, the safety net of Medifund will also be there to help those who are unable to pay for their hospital bills despite heavy Government subsidies, Medisave and MediShield.