Debated in Parliament on 13 Jul 2015.
Mr Baey Yam Keng asked the Minister for Health whether the public using cards issued under the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) and Pioneer Generation programme could be kept informed of the subsidy that they have enjoyed and the balance of subsidies for the year as a means to check against any fraudulent claims.
The Minister of State for Health (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister of Health): Mdm Speaker, currently, patients on the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), including Pioneers, can check the subsidy that they have enjoyed for chronic medical conditions and their annual balance through the CHAS website or by calling the CHAS hotline. As the subsidy limits for chronic diseases are refreshed yearly, this enables patients to monitor their usage of the subsidy to date and check their available balance.
Each of us – MOM, CHAS clinics as well as the patients – has a role to play to ensure accountability and prevent fraudulent claims. MOH encourages patients to check with their clinics on any queries they may have on the treatment and charges and to request for itemised receipts, so that they are more informed. MOH also closely monitors the CHAS subsidy claims submitted by clinics and takes feedback on potential cases of abuse seriously. We will continue to improve the access to relevant information and strengthen our audit
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system.
I would like to ask the Minister of State, given the profile of the CHAS members and PG members, checking the website or even calling the hotline may not be something that is very accessible or something that they are used to. Is it possible, to minimise wastage or a lot of admin work, for the Ministry to provide yearly updates, consolidated accounts of the subsidy the members have enjoyed and the treatments that have been taken, so that they are kept abreast of what subsidy they have?
And in the other scenario where there are general practitioners (GPs) who put in bogus additional treatments on top of a genuine consultation, for example, there needs to be a better way to check against this and prevent abuse of the two schemes.
Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank Mr Baey Yam Keng for his suggestion. MOH is aware that there is a growing suggestion and request for other modalities to check the balances. In our review, we will take into considerations some of these suggestions that have been given to us and we will try our best to make it seamless and easy, especially for the elderly.
I would just like to ask the Minister of State: there has been a suggestion that perhaps because of a good guideline to CHAS participant clinics to add in the remaining balance on the CHAS accounts as part of the itemised bills. I note that some clinics do give some information to the patients but this is not across the board. And I was wondering whether MOH could consider giving some sort of advisory to this effect.
Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank Dr Chia Shi-Lu for that suggestion as well. There are other measures being explored to enhance the pricing transparency to patients and accountability of the clinics for their charges. While it is currently not mandatory for clinics to issue itemised receipts, MOH is looking at these suggestions to make this mandatory for all licensed clinics as part of our review of the Private Hospitals & Medical Clinics (PHMC) Act and Regulations.
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