SingaporeMotherhood | Pregnancy
January 2020
MediSave for Pregnancy – Maximise Your Claims and Minimise Your Costs
You’ve discovered that you’re about to become a mummy — or daddy — and you’re over the moon. But once the initial excitement subsides, it’s time to think about the practical issues. For instance, can you claim MediSave for pregnancy? The answer is YES! You can take advantage of the MediSave Maternity Package (MMP) which was designed to help Singaporeans defray costs incurred during pregnancy and delivery.
MediSave Maternity Package
Simply put, the MMP covers three different components to support parents. You can make MediSave claims for your hospital bills when you deliver at both public and private hospitals. It also covers pre-delivery expenses such as prenatal consultations and ultrasound scans.
Pre-delivery Expenses
The next nine months will be filled with doctors’ appointments, prenatal tests, ultrasound scans and so on. And yes, these are claimable, up to $900. Now you’re probably wondering how far that gets you?
(See also: Genetic Carrier Screening in Singapore: What you need to know)
Well, pre-delivery costs can vary quite a bit, depending on the type of care you choose and whether that’s subsidised. Of course, no two pregnancies are the same, with more complicated conditions requiring more care and costs.
However, the good news is that basic subsidised pre-delivery care at KKH or NUH costs about $850, including consultations, tests and scans. This means that it can be fully covered by the MMP.
Actual Delivery Expenses
The months, weeks and days have flown by and you’re ready to pop. Depending on your type of delivery procedure, the MMP lets you make MediSave claims from $750 to $2,150.
(See also: Using Medisave for Maternity Packages in Malaysia Can Help You Save Money on Prenatal Costs)
Natural birth is generally the cheaper option, although this isn’t always up to you. Not all women can delivery naturally, or the baby’s condition might make this difficult. In such cases, your doctor may advise a Caesarean delivery instead.
You will be able to claim $750 for normal vaginal delivery, and up to $2,150 for a C-section. How much the bill eventually costs will depend largely on your choice of hospital and ward class as well.
Your Hospital Stay
This component is pretty straightforward. Regardless of whether you choose a public or private hospital to give birth at, the MMP lets you claim $450 for each day of your stay for delivery.
To act as a rough guide, here is a table with hospital bill estimates (for 50 per cent of patients) and corresponding MediSave claimables. The numbers are accurate at publishing time; please visit the MOH website for updates.
Expense type | Public hospital (Ward B2) | Private hospital (Single bed) | MediSave withdrawal limits for MediSave Maternity Package |
Pre-delivery | From $850 | Up to $1,500 | Up to $900 |
Normal vaginal delivery | From $1,040 | From $7,489 | ($450 x 2 days) + $750 (delivery) = $1,650 |
Caesarean section delivery | From $1,560 | From $12,067 | ($450 x 3 days) + $2,150 (delivery) = $3,500 |
(See also: Hospital Maternity Packages in Singapore: 2019 Update)
How to Claim MediSave for Pregnancy
This is the easy part. Just make sure that you’ve saved all the bills for your pre-delivery medical expenses. Simply present them to the hospital where you’re delivering your baby. The hospital will submit these bills, together with the delivery expenses, for your MediSave claims.
By now, you probably have a better idea of which hospital and ward class you should choose. Some might elect to celebrate the miracle of birth in a private hospital suite complete with champagne reception and limo service. Others may prefer a subsidised government ward, keeping costs low so that they can put more into baby’s savings account later. Either way, you’ll be able to make the same MediSave claims under the MMP.
(See also: Maternity Insurance: what you think you don’t need, but should have)
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