• In response to the government’s National Health Plan, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board implemented the MediSave scheme in 1984, making MediSave account one of the mandatory deposit accounts for CPF savings.
• According to the provisions of the CPF Board, employees and employers must contribute to the CPF savings on a regular (monthly) basis. With an increase in age, the percentage of the contribution required of employees and their employers will decrease accordingly, but the portion of an employee’s salary deposited into the MediSave account will remain between 8% to 10.5%.
• The government has set a cap for the MediSave account balance. On 1 January 2019, the maximum balance that can be saved in the MediSave account (also known as Basic Healthcare Sum, BHS) for members aged 65 and below is set at $57,200. However, this amount is subject to yearly adjustment to keep pace with medical cost inflation. This adjustment will not affect members aged above 65.
• The savings in MediSave can be withdrawn for the member’s personal use and can also be used to pay for their family members’ medical expenses. As there is a growing demand for medical services, MediSave can also be used to pay for various medical expenses, which includes hospitalisation, day surgery, and certain outpatient charges.

The cap of a CPF member's MediSave account balance will increase by $2,700 to $57,200 from next year onwards. This means that members are required to set aside more savings for medical expenses.（Lianhe Zaobao, 16/11/2018）