SINGAPORE, March 3 — Eligible Singapore residents will receive S$20 (RM66.48) in Healthpoints, while Singaporeans will get more subsidies for chronic medication as part of the Healthier SG programme, said Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung today.
The Healthpoints, which are part of the Health Promotion Board’s integrated rewards programme, will be credited upon completion of the free first health consultation at participating clinics under Healthier SG, an upcoming national programme to improve Singaporeans’ health.
Healthpoints can be exchanged for vouchers at selected merchants, including FairPrice vouchers.
Speaking during the Parliamentary debate on his ministry’s spending, Ong also announced that Singaporeans with chronic conditions — depending on their income level — will receive subsidies of up to 87.5 per cent for whitelisted chronic drugs, under a new Healthier SG chronic tier.
This tier, which will take effect from early next year, will see such patients paying similar prices for their medication at Healthier SG general practitioner (GP) clinics as they would at polyclinics.
Text messages for enrolment to be sent out from July
Under the Healthier SG programme, Singaporeans will enrol with and commit to seeing one family physician to support their personal health.
The pre-enrolment exercise for the programme will begin from May this year for residents with chronic illnesses who are 40 years old and above, and who are already seeing a GP regularly.
Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 60 years and above will be invited to enrol in the programme via a text message from July this year.
The remaining residents will then be progressively invited to choose and enrol with any Healthier SG clinics, including polyclinics, using the HealthHub app.
Citizens who enrol to the Healthier SG programme will also enjoy full subsidies for nationally-recommended health screenings and vaccinations at their registered Healthier SG family physician.
More financial support for patients with chronic illnesses
Ong also announced more financial help for Singaporeans with chronic diseases under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) through a new Healthier SG chronic tier, which patients enrolled under Healthier SG can opt in from early next year.
Under the new tier, chronic patients will also be able to receive subsidies of up to 87.5 per cent, depending on their income levels, with no dollar cap and access whitelisted chronic medications, thereby making such medications at GP clinics under Healthier SG comparable to those available at polyclinics.
The whitelisted drugs are a set of about 300 medications that are not brand-specific, which are used at polyclinics for CDMP chronic conditions.
Patients under this tier will also receive adjusted dollar-based subsidies of up to S$360 per year for other chronic care components, such as consultation and lab tests.
“Today, CHAS (Community Health Assistance Scheme) already provides significant subsidies for patients with low chronic medication needs. So just with the CHAS subsidies, they pay zero dollars or very little for their visits and medications.
”However, there are patients with complex chronic diseases and who need more several drugs and medication, and the current CHAS benefits are not enough for them. Hence, these patients tend to go to polyclinics to get their subsidised drugs,” said Ong.
There are 23 chronic diseases that are covered under the CDMP, including diabetes, hypertension and major depression.
Patients who apply for the new Healthier SG chronic tier can still use the original CHAS chronic tier and may switch between both schemes, but cannot use both concurrently.
Ong added that the cash co-payment when using MediSave for chronic treatment will also be removed. Patients can use MediSave to pay their bills fully, up to the withdrawal limit. This will also be effective from early next year.
This means that residents who have any diseases under CDMP will no longer have to co-pay 15 per cent of their medical bills in cash and can use MediSave to pay fully for their treatments.
The MediSave usage will still be subject to the withdrawal limit of up to S$700 per patient yearly for chronic patients, and up to S$500 per patient yearly for non-chronic patients. — TODAY
