TR EMERITUS

The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced yesterday (17 May) that as part of the Pioneer Generation Package, all Pioneers will benefit from special Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) subsidies for common illnesses, chronic conditions under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP), selected dental services, and health screening recommended by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) under its Integrated Screening Programme (ISP). MOH said in a statement, "One key component of the Pioneer Generation Package is to help our Pioneers receive quality primary care at a network of more than 1,000 CHAS GP and dental clinics near their homes. This way, long-term relationships can be built between our Pioneers and their trusted doctors in their neighbourhoods." The Pioneer Generation Package, which was announced by PM Lee at the National Day Rally last year, is to honour and thank Singapore's pioneers for their hard work and dedication. An estimated 450,000 Singaporeans will benefit from the package. MOH said that starting 1 September 2014, the following CHAS subsidies will be available for the Pioneer Generation: To receive the above benefits, Pioneers are required to bring their Pioneer Generation card and NRIC when visiting a CHAS clinic, MOH said. Every Pioneer will be issued an individual Pioneer Generation card, which will automatically be sent to his/her NRIC-registered address by September 2014.  Read More →

In the article "CPF - Where does the deceased's money go?", the same experience happened to my 60+ year-old mother-in-law recently. And CPF being CPF and their lack of customer service, sent my mother-in-law on a wild goose chase. I even begged to differ that CPF would actually try and trace the rightful nominee because it sure did not happen to my mother-in-law. It happened in 2010 when her sole father passed away. For a while, there were no letters from CPF indicating that she had been nominated by her father. After 90 days, she went to CPF in Tampines who wouldn't help a distraught daughter who had just lost a father. They said without the proper documents in relations to the dead, they can't do a thing. Even her NRIC and the father's Death Certificate didn't mean a thing to them. I then wrote in to CPF to express my unhappiness. My mother-in-law for almost all of her life, could only simply remember that her father did nominate her as a child. That was as far as she could remember. Of course, her worry is that somehow along the way, her father may have transferred the nomination to someone unscrupulous. You see, when CPF started in the 50's, my mother-in-law was only a child. Her father, being a labourer and uneducated, was told to nominate someone upon his death. But back then, being less educated could mean you were susceptible to any scams. For 50 over years, the nomination remained unchanged together with both of their older NRIC, older address, etc, etc. It took a while for CPF to track the father-daughter kinship and even then, they can only process if the mother-in-law can produce a copy of an old birth certificate or NRIC. This NRIC, apparently was way before the 80's flexible plastic one. You can see how heartless CPF is by making things so much difficult. It is like they are hard-up for the father's $100,000 plus and wouldn't let go by any means. Luckily, I had scanned and kept both of their NRIC (back then, it belonged to the British Colony) and the mother-in-law's birth certificate. After quite a disappointment, they finally released the monies to what was rightfully hers. For fifty over years during the introduction of CPF, not even once did CPF hold an exercise for members to update their particulars or their nominees. There were four to five changes of NRIC from British Colonial times paper-type to post-independence flexible type to the hard plastic type. Neighbourhood changed from kampong addresses to block numbers and street names. Postal code changed from four digits to six digits. Telephone numbers changed from 5 digits to 6 digits to 8 digits. But not once, did CPF take all these into consideration. How else could old information from my mother-in-law and her father still be used, causing all the confusion? If this happened to my mother-in-law, then I strongly believe that there are many rightful nominees out there who are stranded because they can't produce some sort of old documents to support the kinship. I would laugh if CPF says this is an honest mistake or this is a one-off case. This incident brings me to light of all those advertisements CPF print in the newspaper of dead CPF members. I believe, it is because of this "non-exercise" movement they failed to do that now they are searching high and low for the respective nominees. So if you have someone older, parents, relatives, check with them if they remember who they nominate in the 50s or if they remember if they have frequently updated their info to CPF. We don't want all these easy money to go to Temasek Holdings who is hell bent on losing a fortune and then making use of our newly increased Minimal Sum. Mosh Pamo * Submitted by TRE reader.  Read More →

The study found that those with musculoskeletal diseases, which include back pain and osteoarthritis, had a 5.6 per cent to 14 per cent chance of incurring over S$10,000 in hospital bills after government subsidies. (Photo: Thinkstock) We refer to the article “Musculoskeletal patients face highest risk of large hospital bills: Study” (TODAY, May 13). Luck and the type of illness? It states that “The study found that those with musculoskeletal diseases, which include back pain and osteoarthritis, had a 5.6 per cent to 14 per cent chance of incurring over S$10,000 in hospital bills after government subsidies (but before insurance, self-funded payments and MediFund kick in, where applicable). The probability was 1.3 per cent to 8.3 per cent for those with cancer, and 2 per cent to 8.8 per cent for those with heart disease. In contrast, patients without these conditions faced a 0.85 per cent to 5.6 per cent chance of incurring net expenditure exceeding S$10,000. Class C bill can be $38,721?  After government subsidies of 65 per cent to 80 per cent, patients in C Class wards paid between S$38 and S$38,721, with an average of S$1,466, and 99 per cent of them paying no more than S$9,004. Class B2 bill can be $95,615? B2 patients, who receive 50 to 65 per cent in subsidies, incurred net bills ranging from S$68 to S$95,615, with the average of S$1,727, and 99 per cent of the patients paying no more than S$10,083. The highest net bill was S$207,741, for an A Class patient.” “Affordable” healthcare that depends on “luck”? The above may have highlighted a crucial fundamental flaw with our “affordable” healthcare system – that even if one has MediShield and choose Class C treatment – you may still have to depend on your luck as to the type of illness you have – and that you and your family may face financial difficulties in paying your medical fees. Financial counselling, referral from private clinics? As to “The SGH — the only hospital out of five contacted that responded to media queries — said prior to admission, patients undergo “detailed financial counselling” based on their choice of ward class, expected length of stay and types of treatment. Why is it that patients who are referred from a private clinic are not allowed to choose Class C or B2 treatment? Also, why are patients typically told that they may have to wait for months for diagnostic tests or treatment, if they choose subsidised treatment against non-subsidised treatment in Class B1 and A? What if you can’t pay? With regard to “Patients who stay for at least a week are given an interim bill to keep them updated and informed, said Ms Ong Mei Ling, SGH’s business office senior manager. The hospital explores assistance options if patients have difficulties paying” Downgrading requests? Why is it that the last time that a reply was given in Parliament – the success rate of downgrading requests was only about 1%? If the interim bill raises the patient’s concern about his or her ability to continue to pay the medical fees – Why the difficulty in downgrading which as I understand it, is subject to means testing? MediFund? With regard to “A Ministry of Health spokesperson told TODAY that the study provides “a useful perspective on hospital bill sizes, and how the appropriate choice of ward classes coupled with heavy government subsidies, Medisave and MediShield work to reduce bill sizes and keep healthcare affordable for Singaporeans”. Those with financial difficulties despite these schemes can tap Medifund” Why is it that the statistics on the rejection rate for MediFund applications has never been disclosed – only the successful applications rate (not the patients’ rejection rate) are disclosed annually. Public share of healthcare spending? In respect of “We will continue to refine our healthcare financing system to ensure that it continues to meet Singaporeans’ needs,” the spokesperson said. Why is our public healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP, at about 1.4%, still amongst the lowest in the world? Why is our public share of healthcare spending at about one-third – also amongst the lowest in the world? SY Lee and Leong Sze Hian  Read More →