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MOH lays out plans for greater healthcare coverage

SINGAPORE — More Singaporeans can expect to benefit from greater healthcare coverage as general practitioner (GP) fees, dental care and treatment for more types of chronic diseases will be subsidised.

General practitioner Dr Tan with elderly patient. Photo: Ernest Chua

General practitioner Dr Tan with elderly patient. Photo: Ernest Chua

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SINGAPORE — More Singaporeans can expect to benefit from greater healthcare coverage as general practitioner (GP) fees, dental care and treatment for more types of chronic diseases will be subsidised.

Medisave will also be expanded to include more types of vaccinations as well as outpatient screenings for newborns, the Ministry of Health said today (Aug 29) in announcing plans to make healthcare more affordable for more Singaporeans.

It was also revealed today that the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), a scheme offering subsidies at GPs for needy Singaporeans, will now offer subsidies for recommended health screening tests.

From Jan 1 next year, the qualifying age of 40 years for CHAS will be removed. The MOH has also raised the income ceiling to include more people under the scheme, and this change is already in effect.

Medisave use will also be extended to five more chronic conditions from the start of next year, bringing the total number under the Chronic Disease Management Programme to 15. The five chronic conditions are osteoarthritis (degenerative joint diseases), benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlargement of the prostate gland), anxiety, Parkinson's disease and nephritis/nephrosis (chronic kidney disease).

These five additional chronic conditions can now also be subsidised by up to S$480 per year under CHAS. With these addition, close to 90 per cent of chronic conditions are now covered, up from the current 80 per cent.

Charges at Specialist Outpatient Clinics in public hospitals will also be lowered for lower and middle income groups as their subsidies will go up. More details will be announced in the first quarter of next year.

Health minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday also gave more details on the public consultation on MediShield Life, saying it will start in the fourth quarter of this year. Some indication on the figures for premiums under the new enhanced scheme should also be given then, he said.

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