The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board and Ministry of Health (MOH) have issued a joint statement with regards to a husband’s request to use his CPF savings for his wife’s cancer treatment.
The couple, 47 year-old Sarojini Jayapal and 47 year-old Suriia Das have depleted all their savings and MediSave funds to pay for existing treatments and hospital stays.
As such, they requested that Suriia be able to transfer a portion of his monies from his Ordinary and Special accounts to his wife’s MediSave account.
However, CPF Board denied this request.
https://www.facebook.com/CPFBoard/posts/10157037465850923?__xts__[0]=68.ARC4OZRdMuaaXft7TIKakEk4d8MQ8H6WYNd9e2iDuehmzfV7h9p0Y5xS1V_69lcLVGIxsY3fWWfZQPMZMiIgtKyL5ERSQNOlWkuPOvGSYvxEq_CdrAv61SEi6CkPNRtosnMNuJhYo6C2m-E9T7c47KljWE5XiH0AEuGVhumCZM9GK16-NutdxvzdoX2MH2a_QHID9vq2Bn504yyDt4-n4qPriQJC_5UfKG22Zj-5f5wGdTc2NWQWVIAqHcZpwd7jp1vIeFGljpjtoxleZ7Auuz0EPX2Hpui-r6Vpx7rUfsT8DblvwqUVugA8iCGoE_3rbDu1-xJ_5_VNtg&__tn__=-R
In their joint statement with MOH, they wrote, “As shared publicly by the couple, Mdm Sarojini suffers from advanced metastatic ovarian cancer. Since 2017, she has opted to receive treatment at MEH (Mount Elizabeth Hospital) and PCC (Parkway Cancer Centre). PCC has informed her and her husband that her cancer is not curable and her illness is terminal. Mdm Sarojini had visited NUH in 2018 for a second opinion, and the NUH specialist’s evaluation was her disease is not curable, similar to PCC’s diagnosis. NUH had offered her an open appointment date should the family decide to transfer to NUH for subsidised care”.
The statement also said: “In sum, arising from Mdm Sarojini’s illness, CPF-allowed insurance schemes have paid out a total of about $510,000 to date, while $34,000 has been withdrawn from the CPF accounts of both Mdm Sarojini and Mr Suriia Das”.
CPF Board added, “We empathise deeply with the difficulties the couple is facing. We have done all we can to extend support to them through various schemes since 2017. We would like to emphasise again that subsidised care at NUH remains an option for the family.”
M Ravi, a human rights lawyer who agreed to look into this case pro-bono for the couple also posted an update on his social media account.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211547804411184&set=a.1442239076439&type=3&theater
He said, “We are pleased to announce that Suriia’s legal case to challenge the CPF Board is now being amicably resolved with the Board. We have informed the court at the Pre Trial Conference this morning that the case is being withdrawn. We would like to wish the couple the very best and will pray for recovery”. /TISG