Inpatient Hospice Patients who have Sought ElderShield Claims

26 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Health (a) since 2022, how many inpatient hospice patients have sought ElderShield claims; (b) of these, how many claims have been approved; (c) what is the median time taken from application to the commencement of payout; (d) how many have been approved through (i) severe disability assessor review by a visiting assessor and (ii) resident assessment forms submitted by the inpatient hospices, respectively; and (d) whether the claims of patients with severely limited life expectancy in inpatient hospices can be expedited.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health (Ms Rahayu Mahzam) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, between January 2022 and June 2023, around 20 inpatient hospice patients have sought ElderShield claims, and all were approved, supported by severe disability assessments conducted by the Ministry of Health (MOH)-accredited severe disability assessors. The Resident Assessment Form is an assessment tool that is typically used in nursing homes and is not commonly used in inpatient hospices.

Currently, the median time for processing all severe disability scheme claims applications is 10 working days. Payouts are disbursed in the month after application approval and will include payouts for prior months between date of disability assessment and approval date. The Agency for Integrated Care proactively looks out for claims applications from patients with limited life expectancy and prioritises the processing of their claims applications.

Mr Speaker: Dr Tan.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): I thank MOH for the answer. I have got two supplementary questions. My Clementi resident was terminally ill, admitted to an inpatient hospice. Her family shared they had difficulty getting an assessor to go to the inpatient hospice. Eventually, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) asked if the hospice could arrange a Resident Assessment Form. But then the family were told there needed to be two assessments done six months apart.

Sir, I know our agencies mean well and try their best. But six months is a very long time for a terminally ill patient in a hospice. My resident died that same month. Can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, can MOH do a review of existing policies to see how assessments and outcomes can be expedited for terminally ill Singaporeans who do not have much time left? Secondly, can I also ask how can we improve access to ElderShield claims and payouts for persons who are less mobile at home and therefore, cannot easily seek medical assessment?

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: We recognise that requiring two Resident Assessment Forms six months apart is not very applicable to the patients in hospices. For patients in the inpatient hospice setting, the best assessment arrangement is to use the severe disability assessment, but we acknowledge the issue that Dr Tan's resident faced. In that particular case, the ElderShield application was eventually approved based on the doctor's memo.

We thank Dr Tan for raising a very important issue so that we can enhance our claims processes for patients with limited life expectancy. In following up with Dr Tan's feedback, MOH is working with AIC to improve access to severe disability assessors. In particular, AIC will work with inpatient hospices to actively link them up with available severe disability assessors. More broadly, AIC will proactively look up for claims from patients with limited life expectancies and prioritise processing of their applications.

To further enhance this, we are also looking at enhancing access to severe disability assessments at home for patients who may be less mobile. We will continue to expand our pool of house-call assessors who are currently in the number of about 230. We are also exploring the possibility of allowing tele-assessments to further improve accessibility of severe disability accessors.

So, we hope that in doing all these efforts, the concerns raised by Dr Tan will be addressed.

1.01 pm

Mr Speaker: Order and of Question Time. Ministerial Statement. Second Minister for Home Affairs.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]