Consideration of other assets for Means-testing

7 July 2014

Question No. 18

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament 
Mrs Lina Chiam
Non-Constituency MP

Question:

To ask the Minister for Health whether the means testing process for the Community Health Assist Scheme can take into consideration other assets such as bank deposits.

Answer:

1        Today, the means-testing process for the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) uses the per capita monthly household income as a way to assess a household’s means.  This allows the Government to better target subsidies at households who need them more.  The income criterion is set such that up to half of Singaporean households qualify for the scheme.  For households without any income, the Annual Value (AV) of their residence is taken into consideration as a proxy of their means. 

2        In designing the household means-testing process, we need to strike a balance between being more precise in assessing applicants’ means and keeping the process simple for applicants and also administratively practical.  While having additional criteria like a household’s ownership of other assets like bank deposits will provide a more complete assessment of means, this will make the application process much more onerous. 

3        We thank the Member for her suggestion.  My Ministry will continue to regularly review the means-testing process and criteria to ensure that the scheme reaches out to those who need it.