Patients referred by doctors and General Practitioners (GPs) for specialist care may be classified as private or subsidised patients.

Private Patients

You will be classified as a private patient if your first consultation is through:

• Self-referral or walk-in
• Referral letter from a General Practitioner (GP)
• Referral letter from a private hospital
• Referral letter from a restructured hospital under private status
• Referral letter from a restructured hospital with any specification or patient's request (e.g. doctor by name, gender or rank)
• Referral letter from a polyclinic with any specification or patient's request (e.g. doctor by name, gender or rank)
• Industrial accident
• Discharge from inpatient Class A or B1

All resident foreigners and non-residents will be classified as private patients.

Subsidised Patients

You will be classified as a subsidised patient if your first consultation is through:

• Referral letter from a restructured hospital under subsidised status, A&E, polyclinic or SAF
• Discharge from inpatient Class B2 or C
• CHAS card holder and referred by a CHAS doctor
• Without specification or request for a doctor by name, gender or rank, etc.

Subsidy is only applicable for Singapore citizens and permanent residents who are not existing private patients for the same medical condition.

First Visit

Your visit will be treated as the first consultation if:

• You have been discharged from a specialist outpatient clinic.
• Your last consultation in that specialist outpatient clinic has lapsed by more than 12 months.

For more information, please call our appointment line at (65) 6555 8828.

Financial Assistance

If you have difficulty paying your medical bill, please approach our staff who will refer you to our medical social workers for assistance. Your request will be kept strictly confidential. The amount of assistance may vary, depending on your financial circumstances.

Assistance may be given in various forms:

• MediFund, an endowment fund set up by the government to help Singaporeans who have difficulty paying for their subsidised medical expenses, after MediSave and Medishield
• Other government assistance schemes, such as Medication Assistance Fund
• Hospital’s endowment fund

To apply for financial assistance, please produce proof of your income, savings and monthly expenditure. Please contact our Department of Medical Social Service at 6602 2588 for assistance.

Subsidy Schemes

MediSave

You can use your MediSave to pay the bills for hospitalisation and approved outpatient treatments for yourself and your immediate family members i.e. your spouse, children, parents and grandparents (grandparents must be Singapore citizens or permanent residents).

MediShield

MediShield is a medical insurance that helps CPF members and their dependants meet the costs of treatment for serious illness or prolonged hospitalisation.

Please inform our staff handling your admission if you wish to claim from MediShield. We will submit the claim on your behalf to the CPF Board. After processing, CPF will pay the hospital directly. For any remaining amount not covered by MediShield, you may pay with either your MediSave or cash, or both.

Private MediSave-approved Integrated Shield Plans (PMI)

Besides MediShield, there are other approved medical insurance plans offered by private insurers. PMI is a scheme which allows CPF members to use their MediSave to buy these plans for themselves and their dependants.

Each insured person can pay for only one MediSave-approved Integrated Shield Plan with MediSave.

For more information on schemes and subsidies, please refer to the Ministry of Health website.

* Information is correct at the time of publication and subject to revision without notice.