MediFund Continues To Assist Needy Singaporeans With Their Healthcare Needs

1.     The Medical Endowment Fund (MediFund) provided a total of $149.8 million through 1,179,525 successful applications in assistance to needy Singaporeans on their medical bills in Financial Year (FY) 2017.

2.     MediFund assists needy Singaporean patients who are unable to afford their medical bills, after government subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave. MediFund Silver and MediFund Junior provide more targeted assistance towards the elderly and children from needy families respectively. MediFund ensures that no Singaporean will be denied appropriate medical care due to an inability to pay.

3.     In total, $149.8 million in MediFund assistance was provided in FY2017 to assist patients with their medical bills, as compared to $143.9 million in FY2016. On average, the amount of MediFund assistance provided was $953 per inpatient treatment, and $85 per outpatient treatment.

4.     Other key statistics of MediFund assistance provided in FY2017 are as below:

(i) The number of approved MediFund applications grew 3.8%, from 1,136,413 in FY2016 to 1,179,525 in FY2017;

(ii) In public hospitals and institutions, a total assistance of $119.9 million was provided to patients, compared to $118.9 million in FY2016; and

(iii) In Intermediate and Long-term Care (ILTC) facilities, a total assistance of $29.8 million was provided to patients, compared to $25.1 million in FY2016. The rise is due to an increase in the number of facilities and attendances, arising from the Ministry of Health’s efforts to provide patients with greater access to community care.

5.     Additional monies are injected into MediFund when the budget permits, to further strengthen MediFund as a safety net. In FY2017, $500 million was injected into MediFund, bringing its total capital sum to $4.5 billion.

6.     More details can be found in the Medical Endowment Scheme Annual Report 2017/2018 here.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
29 NOVEMBER 2018