Clarification by Senior Minister of State for Health
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This clarification concerns Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon seeking details from MP He Ting Ru regarding her statement that senior residents were reducing prescribed medication dosages due to financial difficulties. Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon highlighted the increase in annual MediSave limits to $700 for chronic conditions and questioned the specific outcomes of the cases mentioned. Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh intervened to ensure Ms. He Ting Ru had sufficient time to prepare a response to the inquiry. Ms. He Ting Ru confirmed the validity of the residents' concerns from her Meet-the-People sessions but requested to provide specific details later to ensure accuracy. Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon concluded by agreeing to wait for the information and offered Ministry of Health assistance for the residents involved.
Transcript
3.01 pm
The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to seek a clarification from Member Ms He Ting Ru.
She made a speech in this House during the debate on the Budget Statement on 28 February 2022. Unfortunately, she left shortly after her speech and was unable to return to the Chamber for the rest of the Committee of Supply (COS), as I understand she was down with COVID-19. But in her speech, she made this statement and I quote, "After all, what does it say about us as a society that our senior residents come to us and tell us as a matter of course that they have requested for their medication dosages to be cut down because they cannot afford to pay for the full dosages that doctors have prescribed to them to treat their medical aliments".
Further down, in the next paragraph of her speech, she also said, and I quote, "These are real-life scenarios that all of us have seen our residents tackle".
Sir, I made my speech in last year's COS in this House, announcing that we have revised the annual MediSave limits from $500 to $700 for patients with complex, chronic conditions under the Chronic Disease Management Programme. So, I would like to seek a clarification from the hon Member. As a Member of Parliament (MP) whom the residents have approached for help, may I seek clarifications from Ms He Ting Ru, what is the outcome of these residents whom she has encountered and provided assistance to?
Mr Speaker: Ms He Ting Ru.
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Speaker, Point of Order.
Mr Speaker: Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Pritam Singh: Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak. I do not think there is anything wrong with seeking a clarification by Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon. The question is, is the Member apprised that this clarification is coming up so that she can prepare for her response? Because if it comes up just like that, I am not sure if she is still holding on to her Budget speech.
Mr Speaker: If she does not have the response now, she can respond later.
Mr Pritam Singh: Thank you.
Ms He Ting Ru (Sengkang): Thank you for bringing this point up. These are some of the issues that I have encountered during my Meet-the-People sessions. Unfortunately, because I want to make sure that I get the correct information and details out to the Senior Minister of State, I will respond to him at a subsequent point, after going back and checking.
Dr Koh Poh Koon: Thank you, Sir. I would appreciate the Member coming back to us with details subsequently. I will be happy to also work on the MOH side and see if there are other areas in which these residents may need help through some of the resources that MOH may have.