Forum: Not every healthy choice needs to become a medical claim

The proposal to use MediSave for lifestyle-based preventive health is well-intentioned (“Should we use MediSave to promote health, not just pay for sick-care?” Sept 6). However, it risks turning MediSave into a subsidised wellness account rather than preserving it for genuine medical needs.

As an oncologist, I see patients who regard exercise as less worthwhile simply because it is not claimable. 

But the answer is not to make every healthy behaviour medically reimbursable. Exercise, sensible eating and calorie restriction do not become more effective merely because they are prescribed, certified or paid for through MediSave.

There is a distinction between targeted medical support – such as dietetic care for patients with cancer, renal disease, malnutrition or complex diabetes – and funding broadly defined “medically approved” meals, gym programmes, social activities or lifestyle services.

If every activity associated with better health becomes claimable, there is no clear limiting principle. Why not running shoes, gym memberships or fitness trackers?

MediSave was established to ensure that people could afford defined, evidence-based medical care when they needed it. It should not become a mechanism for medicalising ordinary life.

If MediSave is expanded, it should be for targeted interventions with clear clinical indications and measurable outcomes – for example, medically tailored nutritional support during recovery from serious illness, or structured programmes for individuals at high risk of diabetes, subject to proper evaluation.

Good health should be encouraged through education, accessible community programmes and personal responsibility. Not every healthy choice needs to become a medical claim.

See Hui Ti