The Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which was previously known as the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS), has been enhanced to benefit more people from January 2012 this year.
Patients who qualify to be on the CHAS will be able to receive subsidised outpatient medical treatments for acute and chronic conditions as well as basic dental services at General Practitioners (GPs) and dental clinics near their homes.
The subsidies can be up to $18.50 for acute conditions and $80 for chronic conditions.
To qualify for CHAS, you must be either:
- A Singapore citizen who is 40 years old or above, and with a per capita monthly household income of $1,500 and below; or
- A Singapore citizen and you are unable to do any one of these six activities for yourself – washing / bathing; toileting; transferring; feeding; dressing; and/or mobility, and; with a per capita monthly household income of $1,500 and below; or
- On the Public Assistance Scheme.
Previously, only citizens aged 65 or more with a per capita monthly household income of $800 or less would qualify for the scheme.
Hopefully, with the enhanced scheme, some of the heavy demand at Polyclinics can be channeled over to private sector GPs.
For more information about the CHAS and the application form, you can visit the Community Health Assist Scheme website.