Explain what happens to your contributions once MediSave reaches the Basic Healthcare Sum.
Linda is 52 and works as an admin manager in Toa Payoh. Last year Linda noticed that the MediSave balance had barely moved, even though the payslip showed the same MediSave deduction every month, and that the Special Account had grown faster than expected. Nothing had gone wrong: MediSave had hit its ceiling, and the extra money was flowing somewhere else.
MediSave cannot grow without limit. The government sets a cap called the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS). It is meant to cover your basic healthcare needs in old age, including MediShield Life premiums and typical hospital bills in a subsidised ward. The BHS is revised over time to keep pace with healthcare costs, usually once a year.
The BHS that applies to you depends on your age. If you are under 65, your BHS can rise each year. At 65, the CPF Board fixes your BHS for life, and later increases no longer change your cap. Check the current BHS, and how it applies to your cohort, on cpf.gov.sg each time you need it, because last year's figure will be out of date.
Most people in their twenties and early thirties are far below the cap. People in their late forties and fifties who have worked steadily are often close to it or already at it, which is where Linda is.
Once MediSave reaches the BHS, the MediSave share of each new contribution moves to another account. This is called overflow, and which account receives it depends on your age.
Under 55: overflow normally goes to the Special Account (SA), where it earns the SA rate and becomes retirement money. Under 55, with your SA already at the Full Retirement Sum: overflow goes to the Ordinary Account (OA). 55 or older: there is no Special Account, because since 2025 the SA closes at 55. Overflow goes to the Retirement Account (RA) if your RA is still short of your retirement sum, and to the OA otherwise. Lesson 6.1, What happens to your accounts at 55, explains the SA closure.
Interest credited to MediSave follows the same rule. Any interest that would push your balance above the BHS moves to the next account in line. The CPF Board adjusts the overflow order when the account structure changes, so confirm it on its website.
For someone at the cap, overflow is good news. Linda is under 55, so each month the money labelled MediSave on the payslip lands in the SA instead, earns the SA rate and adds to Linda's savings at 55. There are two catches to keep in mind.
First, MediSave at the cap does not stay there. Every premium or bill you pay from it brings the balance below the BHS, and new contributions refill MediSave before overflow resumes.
Second, if you count on overflow to build your SA, your SA projection depends on MediSave staying full. A large hospital bill, or paying a parent's premiums from MediSave, can switch overflow off for a year or two. Lesson 5.4, List what your MediSave pays each year, shows how to see whether your balance will stay near the cap or fall away from it.
You can make voluntary cash contributions to MediSave. Your room for one is the current BHS minus your current MediSave balance.
Take Kelvin, who is 32 and whom you met in lesson 1.2. Kelvin has S$25,000 in MediSave. Assume the current BHS is S$70,000; this is an example figure only, not the real BHS. S$70,000 minus S$25,000 is S$45,000. That is Kelvin's room before overflow starts, and it is also the room for voluntary contributions.
Linda is in the opposite position. At or near the cap, the room is close to zero, so a voluntary top-up would mostly have nowhere to go.
There is a second limit to check. Voluntary contributions count towards the CPF Annual Limit, which caps the total of compulsory plus voluntary contributions in a calendar year. If your compulsory contributions are high, you may have less room than the BHS gap suggests. The CPF Board publishes the Annual Limit and shows your remaining room when you log in. Lesson 3.3, Voluntary MediSave contributions and the BHS limit, weighs whether voluntary MediSave contributions are worth making.
You need three figures: your current MediSave balance, the BHS that applies to you this year, and your age. Subtract the balance from the BHS to get your room, then use your age to say where any overflow would go. If you are considering a top-up, also note the Annual Limit room shown after you log in.
Log in to cpf.gov.sg with Singpass and note your MediSave balance. Then find the current Basic Healthcare Sum on the CPF Board website and check whether your age affects which figure applies. Keep the numbers with the interest rules you wrote down in lesson 1.2, because the worksheet in lesson 1.4 needs both.
Write down your MediSave balance, the current Basic Healthcare Sum and the room left between them, then note where overflow would go in your case.
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