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CHAS disbursements to clinics should be more transparent

I agree that the Government should curb the runaway prices charged by general practitioners in the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), to protect the interests of patients (“Regulate medication costs to curb price inflation”; April 13).

I agree that the Government should curb the runaway prices charged by general practitioners in the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), to protect the interests of patients (“Regulate medication costs to curb price inflation”; April 13).

CHAS and the Pioneer Generation Package were conceived with good intentions. In their present guise, however, they suffer from a few structural shortcomings.

Fundamentally, the cardholder has no direct control over the application of the subsidy, since funds are transferred between the Government and the designated clinics. Moreover, there are still many non-CHAS clinics, restricting the degree of choice cardholders can enjoy.

Also, despite the authorities’ repeated reminders, the way many registered clinics compute medication and consultation charges is not transparent: Detailed bills are not printed out to explain unusual charges; price lists, if available at all, are often not displayed prominently.

To improve the system and prevent abuse, the Government should reconsider how the subsidies are disbursed.

Rather than having a closed loop between the state and the clinics, subsidies and charges could be tied to the Pioneer Generation card using a stored-value model. This would allow for greater transparency in how the subsidy is applied.

Itemised bills indicating the amount of subsidy deducted should also be mandatory for clinics, so that patients can have a means of recourse if they are overcharged.

And clinics should be made to display their pricing clearly; patients can then make an informed decision even before approaching the front desk.

On a broader scale, the Government should investigate how to expand CHAS coverage, to ensure that elderly patients need not travel far for subsidised health care.

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