More than 2,200 haze subsidy claims made

SINGAPORE – Many Singaporeans have been tapping on Government subsidies to seek treatment for haze-related conditions. Since the scheme was activated last Wednesday (Sept 23), there have been more than 2,200 haze subsidy claims made at polyclinics.

Minister of State for Health Dr Lam Pin Min provided the update today, on the sidelines of a visit to three General Practitioner (GP) clinics in Simei offering the Haze Subsidy Scheme.

Said Dr Lam: “What I gathered was there is an increase in terms of haze-related conditions being seen at the participating clinics to the extent of about maybe 10 to 20 per cent of their attendances are actually haze-related. And many (said) that the Haze Subsidy Scheme is very useful in terms of decreasing the out-of-pocket expenditure for those patients who are eligible for the scheme.”

The subsidies are offered at all polyclinics and clinics under the Public Health Preparedness Clinic scheme, which aims to help patients get treatment even in times of emergency. Currently, there are 585 GPs registered as Public Health Preparedness Clinics.

The Ministry of Health is still collating the number of claims from the Public Health Preparedness Clinics, as the clinics have up to a month from the date of the patient's visit to submit their claims to the Ministry.

With the Haze Subsidy Scheme, Public Assistance cardholders are fully subsidised and do not have to pay. Pioneer Generation Card holders will pay no more than S$5, while other eligible Singaporeans, including low-income earners, will pay no more than S$10.

The air quality in Singapore reached Hazardous levels on Thursday night, before improving yesterday afternoon. Slightly hazy conditions are expected today, said the National Environment Agency. CHANNEL NEWSASIA