This may include extending the coverage of Medisave and MediShield schemes.
The Ministry will also study how to make it easier for patients to undergo day rehabilitation programmes.
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan raised these ideas at a dialogue session on the healthcare budget, at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
During the one-and-a-half-hour session -- attended by about 100 members of public -- questions concerning costs for the chronically ill were raised.
One of them was if Medisave could be used for outpatient post-acute care.
"We try not to prescribe what the money can be used of, so we just say (that for) every Medisave account, you can withdraw up to S$300 per year," Mr Khaw said.
He added that some may say that S$300 is not enough because some types of medicine are quite expensive.
"... (But) in time, I'm quite sure that we will review these limits of S$300. It can be (raised up to) S$350 or $400 in due course, but I think there is some avenue of financial capacity there, which we certainly will take a look, and if indeed it is a hindrance, we can try to help out," Mr Khaw said.
And to help patients manage costs better, Mr Khaw raised the possibility of extending the insurance coverage- MediShield to those with congenital diseases or mental illness.
He said: "I think at some stage, we have to review the whole MediShield, so at the next round of review, I would really like to include congenital illnesses in it... we certainly want to include mental illness as well.
"Obviously this will have an impact on premiums, so we shall cost it and see (if the plans are) viable.
"Over the next five years, I also will like to spend some time looking at some patients with uncommon conditions.
"These patients may not be large in number and may include those suffering from conditions that are congenital in nature.
"But their (healthcare) costs may be very high, so I wanted to actually have a closer study on the treatment for these groups of patients".
Mr Khaw said the overall goal is for healthcare to become more home and patient centric to meet the needs of an ageing population better.
He said the direction is to upgrade the level of care outside the hospitals.
This could be within the homes, nursing homes or community hospitals.
He added that such care is traditionally left to the volunteer welfare organisations and he said they are doing a good job.
But there is still scope for the Health Ministry to offer professional knowledge and expertise, Mr Khaw said.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
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