Hospital Charges In Singapore

How Much Does Hospitalisation in Singapore Cost?

Healthcare and medical expenses in Singapore have gone through the roof in recent years. Notwithstanding a push from the government to encourage people to contribute more towards their CPF savings, especially the Medisave account, data from one of our recently conducted surveys showed that almost 4% of the population take loans for meeting medical expenses.

With life expectancy at birth standing at 80.6 for males and 85.1 for females as per 2016 data published by the Department of Statistics Singapore, many experts have conceded that cost of healthcare will continue to rise.

A report published by The StraitsTimes says that according to available evidence, obesity rates for those aged between 20 and 29 have tripled over the last 15 or 16 years. Long work hours and unhealthy lifestyles increase chances of serious ailments many times over.

Government Healthcare Spending on the Rise But Is It Enough?

To meet the current and future load on the country’s healthcare system, the government has been steadily increasing its budget allocation for healthcare.

While a Ministry of Health (MOH) report says that government spending on healthcare was S$8.6 billion in 2015, contributing 2.1% to the country’s GDP, healthcare allocation for 2018 has risen to S$10.2 billion, which is about 2.2% of the country’s GDP.

The Finance Minister, HengSweeKeat, had said in his budget speech this year that the country is hoping to expand its current healthcare capacity and spend at least 3% of the country’s GDP on it over the next decade. But, with hospital bills getting bigger every year, insurance companies are also increasing premiums on their integrated shield plans and add-on plans to meet their increasing liabilities due to deteriorating health.

Common Factors That Determine the Cost of Hospital Treatment in Singapore

• Type of hospital.
• Type of ward.
• Type of disease.
• Transportation.
• Subsidised or not.

Let us now turn our attention to some health-care-expense-related statistics available in the public domain.

Average Cost of an Operation in Singapore

Data from the Ministry of Health Singapore shows that till 23 October 2017, an average fee of a surgeon, average fee of an anaesthetist, an average cost of using a hospital facility was

Low: 25% of the patients paid less than this amount.

Middle: 50% of the patients paid less than this amount. (Median)

High: 25% of the patients paid more than this amount.

Let us now see how much a Singaporean citizen or a PR has to pay for hospitalisation related to some major critical illnesses.

Average Cost of Hospitalisation Based on Illness

Low: 25% of the patients paid less than this amount.

Middle: 50% of the patients paid less than this amount. (Median)

High: 25% of the patients paid more than this amount.

(Source: Ministry of Health Singapore)

The data presented above was last updated on 23 October 2017.

Cheaper to Die Than Fall Sick?

There is a common saying in Singapore that it is cheaper to die than fall sick. Going by the results of studies published by AON Hewitt, it may seem that there is some truth to it after all.

The gross annual medical inflation for Singapore stands at 10% in 2018. This beats the global medical inflation rate of 8.4% against an average general inflation of 3.1%.

While the rise of costs may have been slower across other domains in Singapore, it is quite evident that hospitalisation expenses in particular and healthcare expenses in general are rising at an alarming rate.

This makes medical insurance policies a must.Even if you contribute to your Medisave account every month or have invested in MediShield Life, you should still consider investing in a comprehensive private integrated shield plan for all-round protection.