| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE : Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said he may allow Medisave to be used for regular health screenings.
But he said rules must be put in place to limit misuse of funds on expensive and "dubious" screenings.
When it comes to health, most people agree prevention is the better option. And as the Health Ministry finalises its priorities for the coming year, preventative healthcare will be a major focus.
In his latest blog entry, Mr Khaw said the use of Medisave may be tweaked for this purpose.
The original aim of Medisave was to pay for expensive hospital bills. But over the years, the Health Ministry has gradually expanded the use of these funds to include things like dental care and home palliative care, partly in response to public demand.
And now, the health minister said he is considering using Medisave for regular health screenings, but all this will be limited to prevent abuse.
The concern is that "unethical" service providers may recommend unnecessary and expensive screenings, thus depleting a patient's Medisave account.
In an email response to MediaCorp, Mr Khaw said he may consider imposing an annual withdrawal limit on the funds.
MP for Jurong GRC Halimah Yacob said this could work, and added a further suggestion.
Madam Halimah said: "Perhaps like what has been done now, for the use of Medisave for cholesterol testing, for diabetes, there are protocols to guide the doctors - for them before they are allowed to use the Medisave, to withdraw the Medisave."
Madam Halimah is the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) Chair for Manpower, and was formerly GPC Chair for Health.
Mr Khaw also wrote that screenings for key diseases like colorectal cancer may be subsidised for the low-income. But Madam Halimah noted that middle-income groups should be subsidised as well.
She said: "The long-term objective of healthcare must always be prevention. If the middle-income have to pay for screenings out of their own pocket, that could be quite prohibiting.
"So I think there is a certain value of allowing access to Medisave funds, particularly for the middle-income, if they are not going to be subsidised for healthcare screening."
Healthcare in the workplace is set to get a bigger push from the ministry next year. Since companies often end up paying for it when workers fall ill, Madam Halimah said it makes economic sense for employers to be more involved in preventative care.
She said: "Although in the short term, they see their costs go up because they have to pay for healthcare screening, but in the long term, they will see their healthcare bills go down, because people are better able to manage their health.
"Globally, healthcare costs have gone up for employers, and that forms a significant part of their wage bill. So it gives employers an interest therefore to have some programmes, so that employees can take care of their health, and also to manage their own total labour costs."
The Health Promotion Board now has an annual budget of S$100 million.
Mr Khaw said he will increase funding where necessary, and hopes to have one-third of Singaporeans exercising regularly in the near future, up from the current one in four. - CNA/ms
|
