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Written Answer by Mr Lim Swee Say Minister for Manpower on Claims and Withdrawals for Permanent Incapacity

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 653 OF 2017 FOR THE SITTING ON 8 MAY 2017

QUESTION NO. 470 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Ong Teng Koon

To ask the Minister for Manpower within the “Withdraw CPF Savings and Claim Home Protection Scheme Benefit on Medical Grounds” form, whether he will review the question asking if the applicant is permanently incapacitated from ever continuing in any employment, to help applicants who genuinely need funds but are excluded from the scheme due to the medical practitioner's strict adherence to ‘permanently incapacitated’ as a medical term, thus not fully reflecting the applicant’s circumstances and the answer to this question.

Answer

  1. CPF members first need a doctor’s certification of their medical condition before they can apply for early withdrawal of CPF savings under the Medical Grounds Scheme (MGS) or make a mortgage insurance claim under the Home Protection Scheme (HPS) on medical grounds.
  2. The question in the form that the Member highlighted is meant for a doctor to certify if a CPF member is “permanently incapacitated from ever continuing in any employment”. The focus of the question is on employability because these members can qualify for the early withdrawal of their CPF savings under the MGS or claim HPS benefits if they are not able to earn an income from work due to their medical condition.
  3. For CPF members who do not meet the above criteria, CPF Board will assess if the member can qualify for MGS and HPS under other conditions that are not based on employability. For MGS, members can qualify if they have a terminal illness, a severely impaired life expectancy, or are mentally incapacitated. For HPS, members with terminal illness and total permanent disability are eligible to make claims, even though they may be working or doing some form of work.
  4. A CPF member whose doctor had determined that he is not “permanently incapacitated” can consider obtaining an alternative medical certification from other medical institutions, if he is seeking treatment at multiple places. There may also be other deserving cases on medical grounds, which CPF Board will consider on a case-by-case basis.
  5. CPF Board will take into account the Member’s feedback and review this application form.