NOTICE PAPER NO. 2068
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2023
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Ang Wei Neng
MP for West Coast GRC
Question No. 4861
To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the income criteria for the blue and orange Community Health Assistance Scheme (CHAS) card will be raised in view of the recent inflation; (b) how many households have appealed for blue and orange CHAS cards for the past two years and of which, how many appeals have been rejected due to the household monthly income per person criteria; and (c) whether CHAS subsidies will be reviewed due to the recent high medical inflation.
Answer
1 MOH regularly reviews the income criteria and subsidy levels for our healthcare subsidy schemes. Both CHAS subsidy levels and CHAS income criteria were last reviewed in 2019. From early next year, CHAS cardholders can benefit from the Healthier SG Chronic Tier, if they enrol with a Healthier SG General Practitioner (GP) clinic.
2 In the last two years, MOH has received around 14,000 appeals for changes of CHAS card status. Three in four managed to upgrade their cards. MOH considers all appeals on a case-by-case basis, to review applicants’ means and circumstances, beyond just applying eligibility criteria of per capita household income or the annual value of their homes.