Nearly $157m disbursed from MediFund in last financial year

A total of $156.9 million from the Medical Endowment Fund (MediFund) was used to help needy Singaporeans with their medical bills in the financial year ended March 31 - $2.2 million less than in the previous financial year.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday that the decrease was due mainly to fewer patient visits to public healthcare institutions and intermediate and long-term care facilities amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of successful applications for assistance - more than 1.1 million - was down 5.3 per cent from the previous financial year.

MOH said a 4 per cent decrease in the overall number of applications contributed to the drop in successful applications.

More than $120 million in assistance was provided to patients at public healthcare institutions, down from nearly $123 million in the preceding financial year.

On the other hand, total assistance of $36.6 million was provided to patients in intermediate and long-term care facilities, up from $36.2 million in the financial year before.

The average amount of MediFund assistance provided was $841 per inpatient treatment and $93 per outpatient treatment.

MediFund helps needy Singaporean patients who are unable to afford their medical bills even after government subsidies and insurance and MediSave deductions.

It has two funds carved out to help specific groups: MediFund Silver, which provides more targeted assistance for the elderly; and MediFund Junior, which caters to children.

At the end of the financial year ended March 31, nearly $4.85 billion remained in MediFund, up from just over $4.64 billion at the end of the previous financial year.

This followed a $200 million top-up to the fund announced in Budget 2020 by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in Parliament in February last year.

MOH said: "MediFund ensures that no Singaporean will be denied basic medical care due to the inability to pay."