By MP for Hougang SMC, Png Eng Huat
[Delivered in Committee of Supply on 9 March 2015]
Madam,
Many elderly Singaporeans will be asked to tap into their children’s Medisave when their own limit for outpatient treatments is reached. Some of these retirees will have to dig deep into their pockets if their children are unable to help them.
A single parent told me her life savings has been depleting over the years because of her regular out-of-pocket medical expenses to treat her chronic illness. She said her Medisave400 limit will max out within two visits to the clinic.
An elderly gentleman I met said his only wish is to have fewer restrictions on the use of his Medisave in his twilight years. At $400 a year for outpatient treatments, he calculated his Medisave will outlive him while his quality of life will deteriorate as he has to dip into his life savings to pay for his medical needs. He is 80 years old.
This House was told in 2013 that patients incurred an annual bill of $200 on average for treatment of chronic diseases at the polyclinics, well within the Medisave400 limit.
However, the introduction of the Flexi-Medisave Scheme to add another $200 a year for outpatient treatments for senior citizens aged 65 and above seems to infer that the current limit of $400 is inadequate for the elderly.
Madam, older CPF members should be accorded flexibility in the use of their Medisave for outpatient treatments. Asking them to tap into their children’s Medisave to continue their treatments is like asking them to borrow from the future generation to pay for the current generation. This option should be used only as a last resort when the Medisave account of the older member is depleted. Otherwise the cycle will play itself out again when the younger generation ages with insufficient savings left in their Medisave accounts as a result.
I call for the limit on the use of Medisave for outpatient treatments to be lifted completely for senior citizens aged 75 and above.