Some interesting parcels of information about our healthcare system can be collated from a collective reading of the Health Ministry's annual Medifund reports on its website. 

 

Complied from Medifund Annual Reports located on MOH website

 

1. The number of applicants seeking Medifund aid has steadily increased over the years. The number applicants has grown from 356,566 in 2007 to 518,389 in 2011.

 

2. The amounts disbursed have been progressively climbing from $39.8 million in 2006 to $84.3 million in 2011. This is increase of 112% is due 2 reasons: The expansion of the principal amount within the endowment fund and better utilizations of Medifund monies.

 

An indication of the better utilization of Medifund monies can be seen by examining the size of the protected reserves (the accumulated unutilized interest monies that were locked up at the change over of Government).

 

The two elections between December 2001 and May 2006 accounted for $76 Million. This means that $76 million of Medifund monies were unused and transferred to our protected reserves as dictated by our constitution between December 2001 and May 2006. 

 

The previously mentioned protected reserves grew by just under $2 million ($1.3 million from Medifund and $0.64 million from Medifund Silver) after the May 2011 General Elections to today's balance of $78 million. 

 

While year on year utilization numbers are not available, the latest report does show that the overall utilization of allocation exceeded 100%. These numbers suggest that the government has actively been making adjustments between the allocation of funds from Health Ministry and the actual disbursement to patients within the Medifund approved institutions. 

 

3. There has also been an steady increase in the average amount of assistance rendered, from $76 and $851 in 2007 for outpatient and inpatient bills respectively to $94 and $1321 at present.

 

So now you know what you can learn from reading the Ministry of Health's annual Medifund reports collectively. So what do reports not tell us then? Come back next time to find out.