The worry you feel when having a child confined in the hospital is certainly exacerbated when you also have to stress about how you will be able to afford kids medical fees.
Healthcare in any form is not cheap in Singapore. When it comes to having a baby and raising him through childhood and beyond, you could potentially spend a staggering amount on medical fees and other related issues.
From almost the day your child is born, you’ll incur medical fees for vaccinations, various childhood illnesses, bumps, cuts, broken limbs … and the list goes on.
So how will you be able to afford to pay these hefty medical fees for your child without going broke by the time your child is an adult?
It can actually be done through a resource you already have available to you: your Medisave grant for newborns.
What is the Medisave grant for newborns?
Every Singaporean newborn born on or after August 26, 2013 is eligible for a Medisave account. Medisave was created by the government specifically to support Singaporean parents with their children’s healthcare needs.
Parents do not have to apply for this scheme as their child will automatically be registered for it once registration of birth is complete.
Kids medical fees: From the day your child is born, there will be many occasions where you will have to think about how you can afford medical fees for them.
How much does a newborn get under this scheme?
The total grant is S$3000, which is given in 2 equal installments. The first $1,500 will be deposited to your child’s CPF Medisave Account within 3 months after registration of birth.
The next installment will be deposited a year later if your child continues to be enrolled in MediShield or a Medisave-approved Integrated Shield Plan.
How can this money be used if your child gets hospitalised?
Medisave can be used to pay your child’s hospitalisation bills and other approved outpatient treatment expenses at any of the participating hospitals in Singapore.
Medisave funds can be used for the following hospital charges:
– Daily ward charges
– Doctor’s fees
– Surgical operations
– In-patient charges for a range of medical treatments.
For more on how to afford your kids medical fees, go to the next page…
With government schemes such as Medisave and MediShield, you get some peace of mind when it comes to being able to afford medical fees for your child.
Using Medisave
A patient must have stayed in the hospital for at least 8 hours (unless the patient is admitted for day surgery) to make a hospitalisation claim using Medisave.
The maximum amount of Medisave savings that you can claim for each hospitalisation depends on the withdrawal limits. However, you can use multiple Medisave accounts to co-pay a hospital bill.
The restriction on how much you can withdraw is meant to help you avoid over-using your Medicare savings.
We all know that having health insurance is a great reassurance during health crises, especially when you have young children. However not all health insurance is affordable.
While the funds in your child’s Medisave account will certainly be useful in times of illness, the money there can easily be used up very quickly during a medical emergency or an illness that requires long-term hospitalisation.
This is where MediShield insurance can come handy, especially in terms of affordability.
What is MediShield?
MediShield is a low-cost insurance scheme that was introduced by the Singapore government in 1990. It is operated by the CPF board and helps members meet large hospitalisation bills that cannot be sufficiently covered by their Medishare balances.
Premiums for MediShield can be paid by Medisave.
Nothing is as important as your child and her health.
Making a claim with MediShield
Remember to inform the hospital that you intend to use MediSheild. You won’t need to sign any forms and the hospital will submit a MediShield claim for your child after he/she has been discharged.
If you are also claiming from Medisave, the hospital will submit both claims to the CPF Board. It will take about 7 working days to process normal cases.
A longer period will be required for cases where additional medical information is required for claim assessment.
To find out more about being able to afford medical fees for your child through Medisave and MediShield, click here.
Parents, we hope you found this information useful. Do leave a comment and let us know if you have ever used Medisave funds or MediShield to help afford medical fees for your child.
References
https://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/CPF/my-cpf/have-child/HC3.htm
https://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/CPF/my-cpf/Healthcare/PvdHC3.htm