Alternative daily news (37) – Average Medifund grant dropped 74%?

January 26, 2014

TR Emeritus

Jan 26, 2014

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/01/26/alternative-daily-news-37-average-medifund-grant-down-74/

I refer to the article “Medifund gave out S$102m to needy patients in 2012” (Channel NewsAsia, Jan 21).

Medifund grants increased 12%?

It states that “Medifund gave out S$102 million to needy patients in 2012 — a 12 per cent increase from the year before (S$90.8 million in 2011.”

There were more than 500,000 successful Medifund applications in a year, compared to less than 10,000 in 1989 (“Medifund helped over 0.5m patients?“, Feb 23)

From Chart 1, you can see that the number of applications seeking assistance from Medifund has been increasing every year.

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Chart 1: Number of Medifund Applications Approved (Ministry of Health Singapore, Singapore Notes)

(Note: The charts in this article were created by Roy Ngerng)

In Chart 2, you can also see that the Medifund grants disbursed has also been increasing every year.

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Chart 2: Medifund Grants Disbursed (Ministry of Health Singapore, Singapore Notes)

How many patients were successful, not applications?

How many patients needed Medifund assistance and applied, but were unsuccessful? The statistics only give the number and percentage of successful Medifund applications (not patients). And of course what about those who may have been told that they don’t have to apply because they clearly fail the criteria?

According to the Ministry of Health, “Of the successful Medifund applications, more than 93 percent received full assistance, i.e. 100 percent assistance for the outstanding subsidised bill. On average, the amount of assistance given was $1,295 per inpatient episode and $103 per outpatient episode.”

If we perform some simple mathematics, we can see in Chart 3 that the average grant per application is about $160.

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Chart 3: Medifund Trends (Ministry of Health Singapore, Singapore Notes)

Also, if we compare this to the period 1993 to 1995, we can see in Chart45 when Medifund first started out, the average grant per application was $265.

Chart 5: Medifund Trends (An overview of health care systems in Singapore)

Chart 4: Medifund Trends (An overview of health care systems in Singapore)

Average grant per application dropped 74%?

This is peculiar because if healthcare costs are more expensive now than in the 1990s, shouldn’t there be a higher average disbursement now?

So, it appears that the average grant per application decreased by about 31 per cent from 1993 to 2011. Since inflation was about 36 per cent for the same period of about 18 years – does it mean that in real terms the average grant dropped by about 74 per cent?

Public forum on 15 February

Come join your fellow Singaporeans for a free public forum – Pre-Budget Debate 2014: Singaporeans pay the highest taxes, get the least benefits – on 15 February, 2 to 5 pm. Venue: To be advised. (Budget 2014 will be announced in Parliament on 21 February)

The speakers at the forum will explain why from a cashflow perspective – the Government does not spend a single cent on healthcare, CPF and HDB.

Leong Sze Hian

 

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About the Author

Leong
Leong Sze Hian has served as the president of 4 professional bodies, honorary consul of 2 countries, an alumnus of Harvard University, authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been a radio talkshow host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for theonlinecitizen and Malaysiakini, executive producer of Ilo Ilo (40 international awards), Hotel Mumbai (associate producer), invited to speak more than 200 times in about 40 countries, CIFA advisory board member, founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of 2 countries. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional  qualifications.