MOH to study stored-value model for Chas disbursements

MOH's Reply

TODAY, 12 May 2016

MOH to study stored-value model for CHAS disbursements

We thank Mr Paul Chan and Mr Mak Seck Hong for their suggestions to make the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) disbursements more transparent (“CHAS disbursements to clinics should be more transparent”, 4 May) and to increase patients’ accessibility to polyclinics (“Polyclinics should increase capacity so patients can rely less on GPs”, 4 May) .

MOH is mindful that fees at GPs can vary significantly across patients and clinics for various reasons, such as length of consult, treatments and medications prescribed. We therefore advise clinics to prominently display their common charges such as consultation fees and to issue itemised receipts to patients at no additional charge. This will enhance fee transparency and help patients make more informed decisions about their choice of doctors.

The current system of relying on clinics to file the claims ensures that patients can receive their subsidies conveniently and without delay. It also facilitates MOH to directly check with the clinics and ensure compliance with claims guidelines, thus ensuring stronger oversight and accountability. We thank Mr Chan for his suggestion to switch the mode of subsidy disbursement to a stored-value model. MOH will study its feasibility and will also consider other suggestions that will enhance patient’s convenience and experience.

While claims are submitted by clinics, CHAS cardholders and Pioneers can check the amount of subsidies claimed by their CHAS clinics and subsidy balances by logging in to the “MY CHAS” module on the CHAS website (www.chas.sg) or by calling the hotline (1800-275-2427).

Today, we have more than 1,500 participating General Practitioner and dental clinics island-wide and will continue to work to bring more clinics on board CHAS, to make subsidised primary care more accessible.  To complement this effort, we are also building new polyclinics in Jurong West, Punggol, Bukit Panjang and Eunos, and redeveloping existing polyclinics.

We welcome the public to provide feedback to us via the CHAS hotline on clinics they would like to recommend for CHAS, or to report potential overcharging practices.

Ms Lim Bee Khim
Director, Corporate Communications
Ministry of Health

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Forum Letter

TODAY, 3 May 2016

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).

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.

Paul Chan Poh Hoi

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Polyclinics should increase capacity so patients can rely less on GPs

I refer to the writer’s plight in “Higher GP charges nullify Community Health Assist Scheme” (April 15).

Many ageing patients have been left seeking an affordable solution to the escalating medication and consultation fees of some general practitioners (GPs), which have been going on for some time after the scheme was introduced.

At SingHealth’s recently revamped Marine Parade Polyclinic, patients have been provided with more registration counters, consultation rooms and waiting space. This should be followed up with more improvements to other polyclinics to cater to the community’s growing needs.

Patients would then be able to visit their nearest polyclinic, and rely less on some unethical GPs.

Mak Seck Hong