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Parliament: Around 1,000 withdrew CPF on medical grounds each year in last 2 years
Over the last two years, about 1,000 Singaporeans were allowed to withdraw their Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings on medical grounds each year, said manpower minister Lim Swee Say in Parliament on Monday (9 May).
Lim was responding to questions posed by Worker’s Party’s Daniel Goh, who asked the ministry to clarify its definition of “severely impacted life expectancy” when applying for an early withdrawal under the CPF Medical Grounds Scheme.
Goh also asked if the definition could be brought in line with the Life Insurance Association’s (LIA) Critical Illness Framework, or its equivalent.
For withdrawal of CPF savings on medical grounds, Lim said that applicants are only eligible for full withdrawal of their savings if they are suffering from a terminal illness.
Those who are suffering from an illness that renders them permanently unfit to work, suffering from “unsound mind”, or have a severely impaired life expectancy, are able to withdraw either the higher of up to $5,000 or their remaining savings after setting aside a reduced retirement sum in their retirement account. This reduced retirement sum has been set at $40,300, which is half of the current basic retirement sum, Lim said.
Lim also explained that it would be inappropriate to adopt the LIA framework as suggested by Goh as not all of the listed medical conditions would result in a “severely shortened life expectancy”.
“Conversely, there may be medical conditions which are not on their (LIA) list that could still result in severely shortened life expectancy,” Lim said.
CPF members who wish to make withdrawals based on any of the four medical grounds are required to have their medical conditions certified either by doctors from public medical institutions or those on the CPF board’s panel.
When asked if the ministry would increase the $5,000 cap due to rising cost of living, Lim replied that he was hesitant about introducing such a move.
“On balance, the Medical Grounds Scheme is about allowing members to withdraw their savings in a lump sum versus keeping some savings to support their monthly expenditure. We feel that $5,000 is the right amount at the moment.”
Over the last two years, about 1,000 Singaporeans were allowed to withdraw their Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings on medical grounds each year, said manpower minister Lim Swee Say in Parliament on Monday (9 May).
Lim was responding to questions posed by Worker’s Party’s Daniel Goh, who asked the ministry to clarify its definition of “severely impacted life expectancy” when applying for an early withdrawal under the CPF Medical Grounds Scheme.
Goh also asked if the definition could be brought in line with the Life Insurance Association’s (LIA) Critical Illness Framework, or its equivalent.
For withdrawal of CPF savings on medical grounds, Lim said that applicants are only eligible for full withdrawal of their savings if they are suffering from a terminal illness.
Those who are suffering from an illness that renders them permanently unfit to work, suffering from “unsound mind”, or have a severely impaired life expectancy, are able to withdraw either the higher of up to $5,000 or their remaining savings after setting aside a reduced retirement sum in their retirement account. This reduced retirement sum has been set at $40,300, which is half of the current basic retirement sum, Lim said.
Lim also explained that it would be inappropriate to adopt the LIA framework as suggested by Goh as not all of the listed medical conditions would result in a “severely shortened life expectancy”.
“Conversely, there may be medical conditions which are not on their (LIA) list that could still result in severely shortened life expectancy,” Lim said.
CPF members who wish to make withdrawals based on any of the four medical grounds are required to have their medical conditions certified either by doctors from public medical institutions or those on the CPF board’s panel.
When asked if the ministry would increase the $5,000 cap due to rising cost of living, Lim replied that he was hesitant about introducing such a move.
“On balance, the Medical Grounds Scheme is about allowing members to withdraw their savings in a lump sum versus keeping some savings to support their monthly expenditure. We feel that $5,000 is the right amount at the moment.”
