Help available to locals, foreigners who can't pay medical bills

Hospitals here offer many options for patients who cannot afford to pay their medical bills. Most also have assistance schemes or funds to help the needy.

This should come as good news for people like Malaysian Kee Yau Chong, who faces a medical bill of more than $100,000 after he was set on fire by a colleague during a quarrel in June this year.

The hefty bill is due in part to the fact that Mr Kee, 24, is not entitled to the various health-care subsidies available to Singaporeans.

Mr Kee, who had burns to about 28 per cent of his body, was warded at the burns unit in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) for 46 days, where he underwent multiple skin grafts.