Retired businessman Steven Choo, 60, underwent angioplasty at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) to unclog blood vessels in his legs last November.
Mr Choo, who is diabetic, underwent the procedure - with "balloons" and stents used to unblock the arteries - which prevented gangrene from spreading from his toes.
But the successful operation marked the start of another round of problems for him. On the day he was discharged from hospital, he received a shock: His medical bill came up to $14,501, but Medisave and MediShield would cover only $900 and $810, respectively, or $1,710 combined.
SGH also told him he would not get his $6,620 deposit back, and that he still owed it $5,381, Mr Choo told my paper in an interview. The remaining $790 was covered by a government grant.
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board told him that the Medisave claim submitted by the hospital did not indicate a surgical procedure. This meant he could not claim the full amount he should have been entitled to: $3,050.
Insurance company AIA, which handles his MediShield account, told him likewise.
Read full story: http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120802-362831.html
Author comment: This story had a relatively good end, as after a number unsuccessful appeals Mr.Choo did manage to get through and convince CPF and AIA that this was indeed a surgical procedure, even though the hospital chose not to utilize an operating theatre. Determination does pay off especially in the cases where the situations are not black and white and there's no successful precedents on how to treat those cases.
