I refer to David Kwok Ng Kan’s letter “Make it easier for private patients to downgrade” (Straits Times, Mar 26).
How to downgrade to subsidised ward?
It states that “I was told that there were only two ways for a private patient to downgrade his status to receive subsidised treatment.
He can either be discharged by the health-care institution and re-register with a referral letter from a polyclinic, or obtain approval from a medical social worker – and this applied at all government hospitals.”
- If your illness is quite serious – and also how practical is it to expect any patient or his or her family members to resort to discharging from the hospital and then queue for hours at a polyclinic and then go back to the hospital and go through the entire admission process again?
Downgrading success rate 1%?
In this connection, I understand that the last time that a reply was given in Parliament and reported in the media – the success rate for downgrading requests from non-subsidised B1 and A wards to subsidised C and B2 wards, was only about 1%.
Was such a low rate due primarily to means testing, or difficulty in providing all the “means testing” information and documents in time before their discharge from the hospital?
Priority in booking appointments, can choose doctor?
As to “Given the choice, who would not want to be a private patient and be able to choose his doctor and get priority in booking appointments?
Patients want to downgrade and enjoy subsidised treatment because of a change in their income status.
Can the Ministry of Health make it easier for private patients to downgrade?”
Beds crunch?
- the beds’ crunch in subsidised wards may be due to some extent to this issue – that even those who think that they can initially afford better non-subsidised wards, priority in booking appointments and faster treatment, may be deterred from choosing them in the first place.
Also, if you have been seeing the same medical practitioner at a public hospital’s specialist clinic – and you quite naturally end up being operated by him or her – you will automatically be charged a non-subsidised ward rate for say a day surgery or longer surgical operation.
One may be told that if you select a subsidised ward or treatment – you cannot choose your surgeon (the medical officer on duty on the day will be your surgeon) and also it may takes months to get an appointment to do a test or the surgical operation.
MediShield Life?
As MediShield is designed to cover Class C and B2 wards and treatment – unless the problem of not being able to get into a subsidised ward in the first place or downgrading to one, are addressed – there will always be people who may be financially stressed by healthcare costs – no matter how MediShield Life is enhanced.
By the way, I have written a few hundred articles and letters over the last decade or so on the above issues, as well as other healthcare issues – but, fundamentally – nothing much ever seems to change to really make our healthcare system much better.
Leong Sze Hian
*Leong is the Past President of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, an alumnus of Harvard University, has authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been host of a money radio show, a daily newspaper column, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for Malaysiakini, executive producer of the movie Ilo Ilo (24 international awards). He has served as Honorary Consul of Jamaica and founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of Brunei and Indonesia. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors and 13 professional qualifications.