If you need jaw surgery in Singapore to correct functional and/or aesthetic issues that are the result if misaligned or mismatched jaws, planning the financial aspects of your care is certainly a concern. Many patients, as they make those financial plans, are anxious to find out if Medisave can be used to cover jaw surgery costs. The answer is yes, it can, within certain limits, which we’ll outline here.
A Medisave account holder can use Medisave funds to cover the costs of approved dental surgery procedures performed on the account holder or immediate family members, so long as those procedures are done at an accredited Singapore dental clinic or hospital. Jaw surgery to correct skeletal deformity, also known as orthognathic surgery, is on the list of approved procedures, making it eligible for Medisave funding.
The maximum amount of Medisave funds that an account holder can claim for each procedure is determined by Medisave withdrawal limits, which have been put into place to help Medisave members avoid over-using their savings, with the goal of ensuring that they maintain sufficient savings for their future health care needs. Those limits are spelled out in the Table of Surgical Procedures (TOSP), which classifies surgical procedures based on complexity in rankings from 1 to 7, each ranking further broken down to an A, B or C level.
Under this system, double jaw surgery is classified as a 7C procedure – a ranking that indicates a more complex procedure. For a procedure of that ranking, Medisave account holders have the ability to claim up to $7,500 in Medisave funds to cover the costs of surgery. Additionally, Medisave account holders may be able to claim Medisave funds for hospital costs, depending upon their individual circumstances, with surgical inpatient cases being eligible for up to $450 per day and day surgery cases able to claim a maximum of $300 per day.
This is just general information on using your Medisave for jaw surgery in Singapore. The exact amount you will be able to access from your account will depend on the details of your surgical procedure, as well as final approval from the Ministry of Health. Your Singapore Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, who will be familiar with your individual circumstances and experienced in Medisave claim procedures, will be able to give you more specific details on just how much you may be able to claim to cover jaw surgery costs in your particular case. If you have an Integrated Shield Plan, it can also be used to cover the cost of jaw surgery.
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