[Cost Guide] How Much Do Hospitalisation Treatments In Singapore Cost?

In recent years, the rising cost of healthcare has been a major concern in Singapore. Aside from an increase in government spending on healthcare, both from an absolute amount ($7.5 billion in 2015) and as a proportion of overall GDP (2.1%), insurers have also been increasing their premiums for private integrated shield plans due to the rising and unsustainable increase in the cost of hospitalisation treatments.

Read Also: Who Should Be Blamed For The Unsustainable Increase In Private Healthcare Cost?

Unless you are working in the finance department of a hospital, most of us do not realise just how expensive treatments in hospitals can be, until it happens to ourselves or our loved ones.

While bills for hospital treatments differ depending on where you get your treatments from (private hospitals tend to cost more), ward types and the complexities of the illness, the Ministry of Health (MOH) does keep track of the average hospital bill sizes across different types of conditions in Singapore.

Average Cost Of Hospitalisation In Singapore

Before we go into the cost details. Here are some pointers to note.

> MOH keeps a very detailed check of bill sizes across both private and public hospitals. These include the bill size at the 25, 50 and 75 percentiles, and the volume of cases in each hospital based on ward type. For this article, we will only be showing the bill size at the 50 percentiles (i.e. the median) from the private and public hospital than have seen the most volume of cases (i.e. the most popular).

> For some treatments, MOH have broken down the bill size for both complex and non-complex treatments. For this article, we will only be showing the bill for non-complex treatments.

> We have only included the cost of treatment when there is at least an overnight stay at the hospital. Cost for day surgeries are not included.

> Information accurate as of 23 October 2017

If you like to know about the cost of a specific treatment at a certain hospital, we recommend that you get the information from the MOH website directly.

Read More: Total Hospital Bills, By Treatment/Conditions – Ministry Of Health

Abdomen/Groin, Hernia Repair

Surgery to repair weakness in the abdominal wall and groin area.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Mt Elizabeth Novena	Private	136	16,352
NUH	A	77	6,409
SGH	B1	71	5,965
Tan Tock Seng (TTSH)	B2	345	1,547
Changi General Hospital (CGH)	C	196	1,021

Source

Appendix, Surgical Removal Of Appendix

Surgery for patients with appendicitis

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Mt Alvernia	Private	41	17,828
CGH	B1	41	4,591
SGH	B2	97	2,535
Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH)	C	143	1,434

Source

Brain, Brain Surgery

Brain related surgery.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Mt Elizabeth Novena	Private	83	58,836
SGH	B2	60	7,161
TTSH	C	64	5,471

Source

 

Ear, Nose & Throat, Related Surgery

Surgery for ear, nose and throat related problems.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Mt Elizabeth Novena	Private	57	12,335
NUH	B2	86	1,721
CGH	C	85	1,271

Source

 

Foot, Foot Related Procedures

Surgery for foot related problems.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Mt Elizabeth Novena	Private	90	22,189
SGH	A	42	14,241
SGH	B1	32	13,444
SGH	B2	68	4,208

Source

Hand, Hand Surgery

Surgery on hand, wrist or finger.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Mt Elizabeth Novena	Private	71	17,078
NUH	A	112	5,580
TTSH	B2	82	1,344
CGH	C	71	867

Source

 

Hip, Hip Replacement Surgery

Surgery to replace hip joint with implant.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
SGH	A	70	23,968
SGH	B1	45	22,235
SGH	B2	110	7,816
SGH	C	87	5,932

Source

 

Knee, Knee Replacement Surgery

Surgery to replace knee joint with implant.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Gleneagles	Private	93	30,905
SGH	A	172	21,887
SGH	B1	407	19,213
SGH	B2	865	6,861
SGH	C	231	5,953

Source

 

Nose, Nose-Related Procedures

Surgery for nose related problems.

Hospital	Ward Type	Volume	Median Bill Size ($)
Mt Elizabeth Novena	Private	253	17,156
NUH	A	73	6,471
NUH	B2	91	1,706
CGH	C	97	1,248

Source

Our Observations

If you are surprise by the difference in cost between private and public hospitals, you are not alone. Based on our observation, the cost of treatment at private hospitals can easily be 10 to 20 times more than a similar treatment at a Class C ward in a public hospital.

When we compare between private hospital bills and those from Class A wards at public hospitals, the difference is also significant. The simple analysis here is that for most Singaporeans, unless they are already covered under some form of insurance, or are very wealthy, public hospital treatment would make the most financial sense.

Another important observation is that public hospitals in Singapore have the expertise to handle all kind of treatments, and exceed the capabilities of some private hospitals. This is a strong affirmation that our public healthcare workers are able to deliver good healthcare outcomes in spite of the fact that public hospitals charge a lot lesser.

Last but certainly not least, we should remember that the cost highlighted in this article may not necessarily be a full reflection of the total healthcare cost that a patient may incur. Other notable cost areas that are not included would be cost of medicine needed and any post-hospitalisation treatments.

Do you have a personal experience about hospitalisation cost that you wish to share? Let us know on our Facebook page.

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