Hospital subsidy: Layoffs taken into account

THE Health Ministry will give the maximum subsidy to hospital patients who have been laid off.
For those who have had a wage cut, the subsidy level will still be based on the average wage figures reported to the Central Provident Fund Board in the past 12 months - which will include the last drawn salary, a Health Ministry spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday.

She was elaborating on Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan's written reply to Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC), the chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, on the criteria for means testing during the current recession.

In Mr Khaw's reply to Parliament, released yesterday, he said his ministry would take into account the new economic situation of workers who were laid off or suffered pay cuts when deciding on the level of subsidy for hospital patients.

'Retrenched (workers) and workers suffering pay cuts should not be adversely affected by means testing,' he said.

With means testing in place since Jan 1, anyone, rich or poor, can opt for the most highly subsidised ward classes, but the better-off will receive less financial help from the Government.

Singaporeans earning on average $3,200 and less a month get the full 80 per cent subsidy in C-class wards and 65 per cent in B2 class.

Those earning $5,201 or more get the minimum subsidy of 65 per cent in C class and 50 per cent in B2 class.

Madam Halimah had asked whether the ministry would review its practice of relying on average earnings over 12 months to set the level of subsidy, given that people might have had pay cuts.

Mr Khaw said it would continue this practice for 'practical reasons'.

However, Singaporean workers who had a significant change in wages in recent months will have their cases taken into account, but the patients will need to show proof, with documents, he added.

While a retrenched person will receive the full subsidy, a person with no income for more than the 12-month period will have his subsidy rate pegged to the value of his home.

He will get the maximum subsidy unless he lives in a home with an annual value exceeding $11,000. Almost every HDB home is valued below $11,000.

All jobless residents of HDB flats - excluding executive condominiums - are entitled to the full subsidy.

Mr David Ang, general manager of the Singapore Professionals' and Executives' Co-operative, feels the approach may cause grief to some professionals. He noted that jobless people living in big homes might not qualify for the full subsidy.

In his reply, Mr Khaw said 91 per cent of patients opting for B2- and C-class wards received the maximum subsidy, while the rest, belonging to the higher-income group, continue to be 'heavily subsidised'.

'The design parameters have been deliberately set to be generous,' he said.

- The Straits Times