Singapore residents who enrol in Healthier SG to get S$20 worth of points on Healthy 365 app

SINGAPORE: Singapore residents will receive S$20 worth of health points if they enrol in the voluntary Healthier SG programme and complete their first onboarding health consultation, announced the Ministry of Health on Friday (Mar 3).

Patients with chronic illnesses can sign up earlier, with pre-enrolment starting in May for those aged 40 and above and already seeing a Healthier SG-registered general practitioner (GP) regularly. The clinics will encourage their regular patients with chronic conditions to pre-enrol onsite.

However, their Healthier SG benefits - which include free recommended health screenings and vaccinations for Singapore citizens - will only start in July, when the national enrolment programme officially kicks off, starting with those aged 60 and above. 

Upon successful enrolment, residents can schedule a face-to-face health consultation, which will be paid for by the Government, with their Healthier SG clinic. 

After completing this, they will receive 3,000 health points worth S$20 through the Healthy 365 app, which can be exchanged for vouchers from merchants such as supermarket chain FairPrice or TransitLink credits.

Speaking in Parliament during MOH's Committee of Supply debate on Friday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said community organisations will also be holding more activities near homes.

Participating in such activities will allow users to earn health points, he said. 

FAMILY DOCTORS

"We want each of our residents to enrol with a family doctor, to build a long-term patient-doctor relationship," Mr Ong said.

"We think the doctor is the best place to guide a resident to better health and that makes family doctors the linchpin of Healthier SG."

Mr Ong added that his ministry has been engaging the GP community to encourage them to enrol as a Healthier SG clinic.

"Our assessment is that a great majority appreciates the objective of Healthier SG ... and they want to be part of it but the sums have to work for them," said Mr Ong, adding that there are currently about 1,600 GP clinics in Singapore focused on primary care.

"We are working with them closely and we hope to secure the great majority of them to be our partners in Healthier SG eventually."

ADDITIONAL SUBSIDIES FOR CHRONIC ILLNESS

A new subsidy framework aimed at keeping the cost of medication more affordable, particularly for patients with complex chronic diseases, will be introduced early next year under the Healthier SG programme.

Mr Ong said the current Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) already provides significant subsidies for patients who have lower chronic medication needs.

These patients already pay nothing or very little for their visits and medication, he said.

However, he noted that there are patients with complex chronic diseases who need more medication, and the current CHAS benefits are not enough for them. They tend to go to polyclinics to get their subsidised drugs. 

From early-2024, CHAS cardholders, with higher chronic medication needs and bills, can opt for the new Healthier SG chronic tier framework, which will provide subsidies for an approved selection of medications at their enrolled Healthier SG GP clinic, at around the same price as polyclinics. 

MOH said the medications are similar to those prescribed and subsidised in polyclinics such as Metformin and Losartan, typically used to treat diabetes and high blood pressure.

Under the new framework, CHAS cardholders can receive means-tested subsidies of up to 87.5 per cent for an approved selection of medications, with no dollar cap.

They will also receive subsidies of up to S$360 per year for other components of their chronic care, such as consultation and lab tests.

"I should emphasise that this Healthier SG chronic tier is an option for this group of patients ... because we know that some of these patients in this group are used to certain brands of drugs and they prefer to get it from their GPs, even though the drugs are not subsidised," said Mr Ong. 

"So now we make the subsidised and cheaper alternatives used by polyclinics available to these patients through their private GP clinics, but they are not compelled to switch. They can stay with the unsubsidised drugs that they are used to if they wish to."

During a media briefing on its Committee of Supply announcements on Feb 28, the health ministry said those who are likely to benefit from the new Healthier SG chronic tier make up a “smaller proportion” of patients.

It added that most patients, especially those with low medication needs, may already be covered by their existing CHAS chronic subsidies of up to S$540 annually, and need not switch to the new Healthier SG chronic tier.

To cater for possible changes to their medication needs, MOH said patients will be permitted to switch between the existing CHAS chronic tier and the new Healthier SG chronic tier.

Pro-ration of the annual dollar subsidy balance will apply upon switching, it added. 

In addition, enrolled residents using MediSave to pay for the treatment of chronic illnesses will no longer have to co-pay 15 per cent of the bill using cash from early next year.

Instead, they will be able to pay the full amount with MediSave, up to the MediSave500/700 limit. 

SUPPORTING CARE AT HOME

With Singapore’s population rapidly ageing, MOH will strengthen support for the delivery of care within homes and communities. 

In the latter half of this year, homebound patients will be able to use MediSave - specifically the MediSave 500/700 and Flexi-MediSave schemes - to pay for medical care delivered by home medical and nursing providers that receive subvention and support from MOH.

This will cover components such as consultation fees and blood tests conducted at home. Patients who are aged 60 and above can also use an additional S$300 yearly under Flexi-MediSave. 

As a start, Mr Ong said this will apply to 25 home medical and home nursing providers, who serve close to 10,000 patients collectively.

He added that his ministry will consider extending the scheme to the rest of the service providers when the scheme stabilises.

According to MOH, this is likely to benefit up to 6,800 patients each year who seek care at home. 

In addition, the ministry said it will continue incorporating telehealth in its care models, where appropriate.