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Ministry of Health
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Medisave is allowed for 'outpatient' pre-surgery tests

11 May 2007

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11 May 2007, Today

Question

Name of the Person: David Soh Poh Huat

Pre-operation hospital tests should be 'outpatient', claimable

Of late much has been said about implementing "means testing" and solving the bed shortage problem faced by Government hospitals.

Based on my past experience and observations, our Government hospitals may need to review their operations in conjunction with the Central Provident Fund Board to help eliminate the bed shortage situation.

Normally, a patient in a Government hospital has to be warded at least one to two days prior to an operation or treatment. When they are warded, blood tests and other tests are scheduled to confirm the patient's condition. These stays and tests are claimable from the Medisave account.

Some private hospitals, on the other hand, schedule patients for blood and other tests as "outpatient", and ward them only on the actual day for the operation or treatment.

This procedure not only helps to reduce the need for hospital beds, but also avoid having to unnecessarily inconvenience the patient by making him stay an extra one or two days in hospital.

Though the private hospitals' procedure is excellent, such pre-hospitalisation tests are not claimable from Medisave. I hope that the regulatory authorities will review the procedures in both Government and private hospitals and further enhance the Medisave claimable process for these outpatient tests. This will be especially helpful to the elderly, who can then avoid having to pay that much extra.

Reply

Reply from MOH 

In “Pre-operation hospital tests should be 'outpatient' claimable", (TODAY, 4 May), Mr David Soh Poh Huat asked that Medisave be allowed for pre-surgery tests done on an outpatient basis. 

This is indeed the policy.  Hospitals can include the cost of such tests that are directly linked to the surgery and claim from Medisave. The Medisave withdrawal is of course subject to withdrawal limits.  The objective is to avoid unnecessary hospitalisation.