SINGAPORE: Singaporeans and permanent residents will be able to use more of their MediSave to reduce their out-of-pocket expenses at healthcare providers.

Currently, Singaporeans and PRs aged 60 and above can use up to S$300 (US$225) annually under the Flexi-MediSave scheme to pay for outpatient medical treatment at polyclinics, public specialist outpatient clinics and Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) clinics.

From Oct 1, this limit will be raised to S$400 annually, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday (Mar 7).

For outpatient scans, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerised tomography (CT) scans, the MediSave withdrawal limit will be doubled from S$300 to S$600 from 2026 for all Singaporeans and PRs.

These changes are expected to benefit more than 500,000 patients who use MediSave for outpatient scans each year, and around 700,000 seniors who tap on Flexi-MediSave.

These announcements were made by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday as he laid out his ministry's spending plans for the year.

Responding to Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh's criticism of the government's poor "budget marksmanship", Mr Ong defended the recent Goods and Services Tax (GST) increase.

"We need the additional GST revenue, paid for mostly by those who are better off, foreigners and tourists, to continue to support universal and affordable healthcare for Singaporeans. The support given in healthcare is practically all structural, instead of vouchers," said Mr Ong.

"We can argue about the perfect timing for raising tax revenues. However, if we do not raise the revenue in time while the population ages and healthcare expenditure escalates, we won’t be debating budget marksmanship then.

"There wouldn’t even be a balanced budget target board to aim for, as our fiscal position will be deep in the red."

Mr Ong said that this year’s healthcare budget is S$21 billion. By 2030, it is estimated to be over S$30 billion.

He points out that the 2 percentage point increase in GST yields around S$5 billion more in revenue.

MORE DENTAL SUBSIDIES

The ministry also plans to improve access to dental care by raising subsidy limits and allowing the use of Flexi-MediSave for some dental procedures, including root canal treatments.

Mr Ong said that there is a longstanding collaboration between schools and MOH to protect the teeth of the young, but oral health deteriorates in adulthood.

A person needs at least 20 natural teeth to chew effectively. However, only 56 per cent of people aged 55 and above in Singapore have 20 or more natural teeth – compared to the full set of 32 teeth.

The health minister said that he has met many residents who chose to extract a decayed tooth rather than go through a root canal, as extraction is cheaper and easier to do.

"But this is penny wise and pound foolish. We will have fewer and fewer teeth as we grow old if we take this approach. This diminishes our ability to chew effectively, and in our old age affects our nutritional intake," he said.

To improve oral health, subsidy limits will be raised for seven types of restorative dental treatments for lower-income families and those in the Pioneer and Merdeka generations, who are Singaporeans born before 1960.

CHAS Orange cardholders – households earning between S$1,501 and S$2,300 a month – will now qualify for dental subsidies for 10 basic and preventive procedures, such as scaling and polishing. 

Currently, these subsidies are only available to CHAS Blue cardholders – households earning S$1,500 and below – and Pioneer and Merdeka generation seniors.

From mid-2026, seniors will be able to use Flexi-MediSave to pay for root canal treatments and permanent crowns at CHAS dental clinics and public healthcare institutions.

MOH will also introduce fee benchmarks for common dental procedures in both public and private clinics by the fourth quarter of this year to enhance cost transparency.

Mr Ong said: "When subsidy goes up, we must prevent some providers from raising prices sharply and creaming off the subsidy. We will therefore have to strengthen governance and prevent abuse by introducing fee benchmarks for common dental procedures."