Qualifying age for Primary Care Partnership Scheme lowered to 40

Qualifying age for Primary Care Partnership Scheme lowered to 40

by Tan Weizhen 04:46 AM Aug 15, 2011

SINGAPORE – To help needy Singaporeans cope with outpatient medical costs, the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS) will be expanded to include more patients. At the same time, the Government will increase subsidies to low income patients for prescription drugs and expand the list of drugs that will be subsidised.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday at the National Day Rally that the qualifying age for the PCPS will be lowered from 65 to 40. Its income ceiling will also be raised. More details will be announced by the Ministry of Health at a later date.

Under the PCPS, needy elderly patients and those on the public assistance scheme can receive subsidised outpatient care through their neighbourhood GPs or dental clinics. There are currently about 32,100 PCPS card holders.

During his English and Mandarin speeches yesterday, Mr Lee underlined the Government’s focus on the country’s ageing population. Mr Lee noted that, in time to come, elderly citizens with chronic ailments or those who require long-term care – such as patients with dementia – can become a heavy burden to their families.

While the 3M (Medisave, MediShield and Medifund) framework has worked well for inpatient care, Mr Lee said Singapore “can do better” in outpatient care.

Explaining why the qualifying age for PCPS was lowered, Mr Lee said: “Because when you have high blood pressure or cholesterol or diabetes, by the age of 40, it’s beginning to show up, particularly if you haven’t looked after yourself.”

Mr Lee also drew attention to patients – young and old – with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Said Mr Lee: “The pills can be expensive, particularly over a long period of time. The low income patients sometimes … may skip an appointment because they fear they can’t afford the pills.”

Mr Edward Leong, 55, welcomed the Government’s moves. Mr Leong, who has hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and kidney problems, spends about S$1,000 a month on medication as well as dialysis.

He said that his medical bills are due to go up once his daughter starts working, as the provider charges him according to the household’s financial ability. Mr Leong, who is also partially blind, added that he had been worried about his situation prior to yesterday’s announcements.

Mr Lee reiterated in his Mandarin speech that the Government will increase capacity and support for nursing homes.

He acknowledged that Asian families tend not to send their parents to nursing homes. However, quoting a New York Times article, he said that in recent years, old folks’ homes are sprouting up in many cities in China.

The Prime Minister noted that such a trend indicates an ageing population as well as changing traditional values. Singapore may face the same challenges, said Mr Lee. But he stressed that the issue must be handled carefully in order to avoid a situation where families “dump” their parents in hospitals or nursing homes.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Residential sites up for sale by tender »« US downgrade a boost for Singapore

Top priority is to improve lives of Singaporeans: PM

Top priority is to improve lives of Singaporeans: PM

by S Ramesh 04:46 AM May 10, 2011

SINGAPORE – During the 2009 financial crisis, the Government had to use, in some instances, potentially the entire quantum of Singapore’s financial reserves to back the Singapore dollar. The strategy worked and Singapore was able to weather the financial storm, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

“We relied on them (the reserves) to give confidence and to back our guarantees and our support for the Singapore Dollar and the banking system – not just with a few billion dollars but tens of billions of dollars or, in some cases, potentially with all the reserves that we had, so that nobody would be tempted to give it a try and see whether we would run out of ammunition before they did,” Mr Lee said in a speech at the 30th anniversary of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) yesterday.

It was his first public function after the May 7 General Election, which saw the People’s Action Party returned to power with 60.1 per cent of the vote, the lowest ever for the party.

During the election campaign, some Opposition parties had suggested drawing down billions of dollars of the reserves so that Singaporeans could enjoy more subsidies on transport, health care and housing, among other areas.

In a signal that maintaining strong reserves will continue to be a key pillar of the Government’s strategy, Mr Lee said: “We need to hold fast to these prudent policies and to maintain and continue gradually to build up these reserves for a rainy day. What reserves we have accumulated, we have to invest prudently and shrewdly with a long-term view.”

The GIC, he added, plays a key role in safeguarding and growing the reserves.

Of his newly-elected Government, Mr Lee said it has its work cut out for it. Noting that the Government’s overriding priority is to improve the lives of its citizens, Mr Lee outlined some ways in which his Government plans to go about doing it.

The first is to grow the economy by staying plugged into the world. This will be done by attracting investments and talent to Singapore and encourage Singaporean enterprises to diversify, expand and move abroad, Mr Lee said.

The second target is to transform and upgrade the economy. Mr Lee said: “We can’t grow just by volume, by quantity, by increasing our workforce indefinitely. There has to be some growth in the workforce over time … but our objective is also to improve incomes across the board.

“We are interested in per capita GDP and not just total GDP, and we want to improve incomes across the board and that includes the middle-income households and the lower-income households at the lower end …”

To achieve this, the workforce must upgrade its productivity. “… That means very challenging tasks in the next 10 years, to retrain workers now in the workforce so that they can be more productive and do better jobs, to educate future workers for the new economy so that when they come out of the education system, they are job ready and deployable,” Mr Lee said.

Another key challenging task is to restructure Singapore’s industries so that the country is not frozen in an economic or industrial structure adapted to the world of five or 10 years ago.

The Prime Minister stressed that inclusive growth is needed. “We have many different forms of assistance for vulnerable groups, but it goes beyond specific items where you can calculate dollars and cents, to a sense of reassurance, concern and empathy and a sense that we are in the same boat together, we will take care of one another and we are going to make this together, sink or swim,” Mr Lee said.

Mr Lee said he is upbeat about Singapore’s prospects over the next 10 years. However, he added global uncertainties will be the “new norm”, and Singapore has to be cautious since there is no magic formula for success.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Residential site opposite Parkway Parade up for sale »« Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC

Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC

Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC

by Neo Chai Chin 04:47 AM May 10, 2011

SINGAPORE – The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) must eschew the impetus to follow convention as it grows larger and more established, as this could lead to mediocrity, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (picture) said yesterday.

Instead, the sovereign wealth fund must continue to develop the courage and capacity to make the right decisions, even if they are at times unconventional, he said at the GIC’s 30th anniversary dinner last night at Shangri-La Hotel.

The GIC was an “early investor” in real estate and an early mover in emerging markets. And when it was established in 1981, some even considered it irresponsible to invest Singapore’s foreign reserves in risky assets such as equities, Mr Lee noted.

“GIC must have the courage and conviction to take original, bold, strategic and forward-looking decisions. It must continue to be resourceful and adaptable,” Mr Lee said. “As GIC grows larger and more established, the impetus to follow conventional practices will grow stronger. This could lead to mediocrity.”

The GIC now has more than 1,000 staff in nine offices worldwide. Its returns have outpaced global inflation by a “comfortable margin” and are comparable to the 10.2-per-cent annual returns (in nominal US dollar terms since 1981) by high-return asset class equities, despite less risk taken, said Mr Lee.

The next 30 years look challenging, and investment outlook could be “less benign”. But “in uncertain times, we must maintain certainty of purpose and thoughtfulness in direction, remaining true to our core values”, he said.

Besides the courage to be unconventional, the GIC must continue to hire and retain the best talent, maintain the highest reputation for itself and capitalise on its global reach, multi-asset class capabilities and long-term perspective, he added.

The economic and investment environment of the future appears “unusually uncertain” – global financial markets grow more complex and the rise of emerging economies such as China and India will change geopolitical dynamics and put immense pressure on natural resources and the environment.

These will drive policy and technological changes that will create new long-term investment opportunities and risk, Mr Lee said.

Reminding the audience why GIC is important to Singapore, Mr Lee said national reserves are a buffer for Singapore in downturns like in 2009, and a strong national balance sheet fosters investors’ confidence and enhances stability of the Singapore dollar. Income from the reserves also supplements Government revenues, he noted.

When GIC was established, it reflected the high priority by the Government, especially then Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee, to manage the Republic’s reserves “more rationally, strategically and professionally”.

Said Mr Lee: “Nobody knows what the future holds. GIC has done well over the last 30 years and, if it stays true to its original vision and values, GIC can continue to do well over the next 30 years.”

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Top priority is to improve lives of Singaporeans: PM »« Osama shot dead

Osama shot dead

Osama shot dead

Death a boost to global anti-terror fight but …

04:46 AM May 03, 2011

WASHINGTON – The sound of a big explosion at the three-storey, fortress-like house in Abbottabad, a popular summer resort in Pakistan, jolted residents from their slumber at 1.15am (local time) on Monday. “We rushed to the rooftop and saw flames near that house,” said a man who lives nearby.

Another resident, Mr Nasir Khan, said commandos encircled the compound as helicopters hovered overhead.

“All of a sudden, there was firing towards the helicopters from the ground. There was intense firing,” said Mr Khan.

It was only later that they realised what had happened: Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaeda terror network and mastermind behind the worst terrorist attack on American soil on Sept 11, 2001, had been killed by United States special forces and CIA operatives during a 40-minute gunfight.

US officials said Osama, 54, was shot in the head after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault. One official told CNN that the “targeted operation” was designed to kill Osama, not to take him alive.

A son of Osama and three other people were killed, said Pakistani officials.

In Washington, US President Barack Obama took the unusual step of making a televised address at around 11.30pm on Sunday (local time) to tell Americans what they had long been waiting to hear: Osama is dead.

“Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties.

“After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body,” Mr Obama said.

According to reports, Osama’s body had been buried at sea. Muslim tradition requires burial within 24 hours of death but, by doing it at sea, American officials presumably were trying to avoid creating a shrine for Osama’s followers.

The President said: “Justice has been done.”

But, even as Americans rejoiced at a triumphant end to a near-decade-long manhunt – in New York, crowds had flocked to Times Square and Ground Zero, where the twin towers fell almost 10 years ago, some shouting “USA, Yes We Can!” – Mr Obama cautioned that the fight against terrorism hasn’t ended.

“‘There’s no doubt that Al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad,” he said.

While Osama’s death represents a defining moment in the American-led fight against terrorism, it remains to be seen whether it galvanises his followers by turning him into a martyr or serves as a turning of the page in the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s neighbour, and gives further impetus to President Obama to bring American troops home.

The killing of Osama deep inside Pakistan in an American operation is also likely to further inflame tensions between the US and Pakistan and raise significant questions about whether elements of the Pakistani spy agency knew his whereabouts.

How much Osama’s death will affect Al Qaeda itself remains unclear. For years, as they failed to find him, American leaders have said that Osama was more symbolically important than operationally significant because he was on the run and hindered in any meaningful leadership role.

And yet, Osama remained the most potent face of terrorism around the world.

Given his status among radicals, the US government braced itself for possible retaliation. The State Department issued a worldwide travel warning, urging Americans in volatile areas “to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations”.

Retaliatory attacks against the US and Western targets could come from Al Qaeda franchises in other countries or radicalised individuals in the US with Al Qaeda sympathies.

Mr Roger Hardy, an Islamic affairs expert, said Osama’s death will be seen as confirming the trend that Al Qaeda has become irrelevant following the uprisings in the Arab world in recent months.

“But the root causes of radical Islam – the range of issues that enabled Al Qaeda to recruit disaffected young Muslims to its cause – remain, for the most part, unaddressed. The death of Osama will strike at the morale of the global jihad, but is unlikely to end it,” Mr Hardy told BBC. Agencies

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

Be forward-looking and bold, MM Lee tells GIC »« COV down 9% in Q1

WHY BUDGET GOODIES KEPT SIMPLE

WHY BUDGET GOODIES KEPT SIMPLE

Minister responds to suggestions to take specific family circumstances into account

by Neo Chai Chin

SINGAPORE – Suggestions to further improve the lot of Singaporeans came thick and fast at the first ministerial community dialogue held post-Budget.

Instead of basing growth dividends on the annual value of Singaporeans’ homes, how about giving more to recipients who look after their aged parents, even if they live in bigger flats? Should seniors taking care of their grandchildren be given Workfare bonuses? Could earned income relief be increased?

Information, Communications and the Arts Minister Lui Tuck Yew tackled these questions in a dialogue when he visited Tampines West, two days after Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced that eight in 10 Singaporeans will get S$600 to S$800 in growth dividends as part of the Grow and Share package.

While Mr Lui agreed that the current payout criteria, which is based on income and type of home, “isn’t always the best in terms of being as targeted as possible”, it kept things simple and understandable.

Rather than the Government run the risk of being too intrusive when distributing Budget goodies, by inquiring about family situations, those with more specific needs can approach their local constituencies for help, he added.

Budget 2011′s measures for the elderly, low-income and sandwiched class did not go unnoticed by dialogue participants. But a Tampines West resident asked if seniors looking after their grandchildren could also receive the Workfare bonus – amounting to 50 per cent more Workfare Income Supplement payouts for work done last year and 25 per cent more for work done this year and next.

Mr Lui noted that while there was a way to get around the rules – for seniors to declare themselves self-employed and make contributions to their Medisave – the “larger question” was whether “we cheapen love and care and affection by putting a price to it”.

The Government helps the elderly where it can – through Medisave top-ups, for instance – without upsetting “social norms and long-standing values”, he said.

On the issue of raising earned income relief – which now ranges from S$1,000 to S$6,000, depending on age or disability – Mr Lui said it would be considered.

He said, however, that income tax rebates and the lower income tax rates announced by Mr Shanmugaratnam would be “far more beneficial”. Said Mr Lui: “My feel is that is probably better than whatever changes (the Finance Minister) can make to earned income relief.”

Asked by reporters after the dialogue about the impact that the abolition of television and radio licence fees would have on public service broadcasting, Mr Lui said the Government would “make up” the sum of money previously collected from the fees, which was about S$120 million annually.

Seven to eight of the top-10-rated programmes now are Public Service Broadcast funded and the Government will continue its support of such programmes, he said.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

LUXURY PROPERTY FUND EYES S’PORE APARTMENTS »« A BUDGET MORE FOR SMES THAN FOR BIG BUSINESS

A BUDGET MORE FOR SMES THAN FOR BIG BUSINESS

A BUDGET MORE FOR SMES THAN FOR BIG BUSINESS

by Paul Cornelius and Tan Tay Lek

The business community had high hopes that this year’s Budget would see the Singapore Government cut the corporate income tax rate to compete with Hong Kong’s 16.5 per cent tax rate and introduce incentives to drive down business costs.

To the disappointment of many, Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam left the headline corporate income tax rate unchanged. Instead, he handed out a one-off 20 per cent corporate tax rebate which may be claimed in the form of a cash grant instead of an offset against a company’s tax liability.

This reinforces the Government’s fiscal prudence since the Budget has only just been balanced. While the general economic outlook is still rosy, Singapore cannot be too complacent.

The focus of this year’s Budget was clearly on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with even the one-off corporate tax rebate capped at S$10,000, clearly designed to alleviate their tax burden.

Enhancements to the Productivity and Innovation Credit tax incentive, to offer a greater scope of deductions, are also designed to afford SMEs the greatest benefit. Such measures will go a long way towards enhancing the competitiveness of Singapore’s SMEs, which is a big aim of this Budget.

However, increase in employer Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rates will go up to 36 per cent and further increases in the foreign worker levies will not be welcome news for either the SMEs or the multinationals, and will offset, in part, the tax benefits granted.

The Budget measures for “big businesses” such as the financial services and the maritime industries are generally made to facilitate the business operations of companies in these sectors.

For example, the expansion of the withholding tax exemption for banks and financial institutions will facilitate their cross-border activities. It is not expected that any significant boost to these sectors will be achieved and this is rightly so, since there is nothing pressing that needs to be done to encourage their growth at present.

As a step towards easing the tax administration burdens of taxpayers and improving the tax system, changes were made to the foreign tax credit claims regimes and tax deduction rules for pre-commencement expenses and equity-based remuneration payments.

If implemented appropriately, these measures should generally be welcomed by taxpayers as they could potentially go a long way towards resolving contentious arguments with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

Other than the SMEs, the main beneficiary of the Budget is the man in the street, with the Government sharing and re-distributing the benefits of growth with a cut in the marginal income tax rates for low- and medium-income earners and by giving out higher rebates and payouts in the form of additional Growth Dividends, for instance.

While such measures may not directly impact businesses, they are nevertheless crucial in enhancing social cohesion and reducing tensions, promoting an environment where business can be conducted.

This year’s Budget again bears the hallmark fiscal prudence of the Singapore Government. The measures are designed as part of a comprehensive package to share the fruits of the stellar economic growth of the past, while promoting investment in the future through higher productivity and innovation, while at the same time trying to control inflationary pressures.

Paul Cornelius is a tax partner with PwC Services LLP and Tan Tay Lek is associate director, Corporate Tax Advisory Services, PwC Services LLP.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

WHY BUDGET GOODIES KEPT SIMPLE »« MORE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR YOUNG FAMILIES

MORE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR YOUNG FAMILIES

MORE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR YOUNG FAMILIES

by Teo Xuanwei

SINGAPORE – Over the years, the support for families with young children has been growing. Budget 2011 has added another form of help for this group.

While there were handouts for schoolchildren of all age groups, the centrepiece was a new Child Development Credit scheme that will receive injections of funds from the Government when it has surpluses to share.

This year, the Government will pump in a total of S$90 million, benefitting 220,000 Singaporean children aged six and below.

Each child’s Children Development Account will receive S$300 or S$400, depending on the annual value of the family home as at Dec 31 last year. For homes valued at up to S$13,000, the child will receive S$400, while for homes valued at more than S$13,000, the credit will be S$300.

The money can be used to pay for his preschool, childcare and medical costs.

Taking into account the existing childcare subsidy at S$300, another S$400 would cover more than one month’s worth of NTUC childcare fees, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced on Friday.

The income ceiling for the existing Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) and the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC) will also be raised to provide “additional support” for more low-income families.

The monthly household income limit of S$1,800 for the two schemes will be increased to S$3,500, which will double the number of children who will benefit to 24,000.

This means a family earning S$2,500 a month will pay S$90 instead of S$300 a month in childcare fees, or S$33 a month in eligible kindergartens.

Those from low-income families, Mr Shanmugaratnam pointed out, will pay “far less” – less than S$10 a month for childcare.

While some parents described the initiatives as a “surprising bonus”, others wanted more.

Executive assistant Valerie Lee has three children aged six, nine and 11, and the youngest will get S$300 under the Child Development Credit scheme. But Ms Lee, 43, said the amount is “not even enough for what we spend in one month”.

Site supervisor John Goh, 44, whose household income of S$3,000 supports three children, however, welcomed the help.

Said Mr Goh: “With rising inflation, at least we won’t have to worry so much about my child’s education.”

Meanwhile, bursaries for diploma students and undergraduates from families up to the 66th-percentile income group will be increased “significantly, to ensure that no student is discouraged from taking his education as far as he can”, said Mr Shanmugaratnam.

The increased bursaries will cost an additional S$120 million a year.

Bursaries for undergraduates from the bottom one-third of households will be bumped up by 80 per cent to S$2,900 a year.

This will cover 40 per cent of their fees, said Mr Shanmugaratnam.

Diploma students from polytechnics, NAFA and LASALLE belonging to the bottom third of households will also get bursaries, enough to cover 80 per cent of their fees.

Sheraine Lim, 20, who is a first-year visual communications student at Nanyang Polytechnic, said: “It will spur me to work harder and ease the burden on my parents.”

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

A BUDGET MORE FOR SMES THAN FOR BIG BUSINESS »« SPECIAL HOUSING GRANT TO HELP LOWER INCOME FAMILIES BUY FLATS

Govt Reviewing Baby Bonus

Govt Reviewing Baby Bonus

by Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid

SINGAPORE – The Government is reviewing the Baby Bonus scheme, which helps married couples to defray the financial costs of having more children.

MediaCorp has learnt that a survey of some 3,000 beneficiaries is in the works, coming at a time when Singapore’s fertility rate is at a record low.

The Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry will undertake the survey between April and June to learn how satisfied parents have been with the operational processes and implementation of the scheme, which was introduced in 2001 and enhanced twice in 2004 and 2008.

Observers welcomed the move, but said there should be more comprehensive processes and stronger provisions.

For instance, Professor Gavin Jones, research leader of Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, would like the survey extended to singles and couples without children yet, to get their perceptions of whether such a scheme would make any difference to marriage or child bearing.

Under the Baby Bonus scheme, which is part of the enhanced Marriage and Parenthood Package that aims to encourage couples to get married and have children, parents are given up to $4,000 each for the first and second child and $6,000 each for the third and fourth child.

The Government also matches dollar-for-dollar when parents contribute to their child’s Children Development Account, capped at a $6,000 matching sum each for the first and second child, $12,000 each for the third and fourth child and $18,000 each for the fifth and subsequent child.

About $230 million in baby bonus payments was given out in 2009, up from $55 million in 2004. But there was no corresponding increase in the total fertility rate, which plummeted further from the replacement rate of 2.1 to 1.16 last year.

Prof Jones said it was time to consider bolder measures, such as free childcare or paternity leave.

“Some European countries with higher birth rates and a higher proportion of women in the workforce allow paternity leave. They allow parents to choose (which spouse takes time off), quite a radical thing that hasn’t been done in Singapore – recognising the husband’s role in child rearing,” he said.

The low birth rate will feature in the upcoming Budget debate, with Government Parliamentary Committee (Community Development, Youth and Sports) chairman Seah Kian Peng set to raise the topic.

“The issue of low TFR (Total Fertility Rate) is a very serious one, so I think we need to think more out of the box, try new things. Some may work, some may not, but I think we should really venture out of the current schemes … and really adopt a whole-of-Government approach, from housing to paternity and maternity leave and certainly the baby bonus scheme,” he said.

One out-of-the-box idea, he suggested, was to give parents who have more children priority for upgrading to a bigger flat.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

URA Review To Ensure Showflats Paint An Accurate Picture »« S’POREANS SATISFIED WITH THE QUALITY OF LIFE: SURVEY

Medisave, MediShield coverage may be extended

Medisave, MediShield coverage may be extended

By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 30 January 2011

SINGAPORE: The Health Ministry will continue to explore ways to make sure healthcare remains affordable in Singapore.

This may include extending the coverage of Medisave and MediShield schemes.

The Ministry will also study how to make it easier for patients to undergo day rehabilitation programmes.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan raised these ideas at a dialogue session on the healthcare budget, at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

During the one-and-a-half-hour session — attended by about 100 members of public — questions concerning costs for the chronically ill were raised.

One of them was if Medisave could be used for outpatient post-acute care.

“We try not to prescribe what the money can be used of, so we just say (that for) every Medisave account, you can withdraw up to S$300 per year,” Mr Khaw said.

He added that some may say that S$300 is not enough because some types of medicine are quite expensive.

“… (But) in time, I’m quite sure that we will review these limits of S$300. It can be (raised up to) S$350 or $400 in due course, but I think there is some avenue of financial capacity there, which we certainly will take a look, and if indeed it is a hindrance, we can try to help out,” Mr Khaw said.

Mr Khaw also noted that many patients have difficulty getting to day care rehabilitation centres

“Transport has emerged as one major obstacle.

“In fact last week, I just discussed with my colleagues at the Ministry of Health to study more deeply into this topic of transport.

“There is no use (in having) very good day rehab centres, but (are) not well used, or which not many people are taking advantage of.

“I believe that transport is a key factor, and I certainly want to see how this problem can be eased. And if money is an issue, right now, we subvent the day centres for providing the rehabilitation, but we do not subvent for transport claims, so that is one idea that I’m very sympathetic with.

“We may decided to (give) some financial help and then we leave it to the industry to sort itself out, because there could be taxis, who are able to go back and forth. Or, we can give the money to the day rehab centres and let them distribute to the patients,” Mr Khaw said.

And to help patients manage costs better, Mr Khaw raised the possibility of extending the insurance coverage- MediShield to those with congenital diseases or mental illness.

He said: “I think at some stage, we have to review the whole MediShield, so at the next round of review, I would really like to include congenital illnesses in it… we certainly want to include mental illness as well.

“Obviously this will have an impact on premiums, so we shall cost it and see (if the plans are) viable.

“Over the next five years, I also will like to spend some time looking at some patients with uncommon conditions”.

These patients, Mr Khaw added, may not be large in number and may include those suffering from conditions that are congenital in nature.

“But their (healthcare) costs may be very high, so I wanted to actually have a closer study on the treatment for these groups of patients,” he said.

When asked if the MediShield should be extended to those above 85 years old, Mr Khaw said there is no urgent need to do so as numbers are small.

He said those who require help can already depend on Medifund. But the idea may be viable if there is a need to do so in the future.

Mr Khaw said the overall goal is for healthcare to become more home and patient centric to meet the needs of an ageing population better.

He said the direction is to upgrade the level of care outside the hospitals.

This could be within the homes, nursing homes or community hospitals.

He added that such care is traditionally left to the volunteer welfare organisations and he said they are doing a good job.

But there is still scope for the Health Ministry to offer professional knowledge and expertise, Mr Khaw said.

-CNAwk

Source : Channel NewsAsia – MediaCorp Pte Ltd Copyright

S’POREANS SATISFIED WITH THE QUALITY OF LIFE: SURVEY »« Property Price Growth Slows Property

$155 Million Injection Into Edusave

$155 Million Injection Into Edusave

Extra funds to ensure ‘schools have resources when inflation goes up’: Dr Ng

by Teo Xuanwei

SINGAPORE – As the rising cost of living shows few signs of abating, the Government has moved to insulate children from its impact – in the form of a one-off $155 million topping-up to the Edusave scheme.

All Singaporean Primary and Secondary students, including those in special education schools, will receive $130 more in their Edusave accounts this year, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen announced yesterday during a dialogue session with Bukit Timah residents.

This $54.8 million injection – the biggest since 2005, when the Government gave out $100 more to each student – will bump up students’ Edusave accounts this year to $330 and $370 at the primary and secondary levels respectively.

The money in Edusave accounts can be used to fund school enrichment programmes. It could also be used to enable students to go on local and overseas learning trips.

The remaining $100 million will go to all Government, Government-aided and Independent schools to spend on IT equipment, so that schools “can use the gadgets to improve the education”, said Dr Ng, who was on a ministerial visit to the Bukit Timah Division in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC. Speaking to reporters afterwards,

Dr Ng added: “We are doing this because … we recognise that inflation this year will go up. We want to make sure that the schools have the resources, when inflation goes up, to be able to ensure that education isn’t compromised when things are a little bit more expensive.”

Inflation in Singapore hit 3.8 per cent last November compared to a year earlier, the largest jump since January 2009. It is forecasted to reach 4 per cent before easing to 2 per cent in the second half.

Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students from lower-income families will also be given a helping hand, Dr Ng said.

The Education Ministry will increase the Community Development Council/Citizens’ Consultative Committee bursary by 25 per cent.

Recipients in households who have per capita incomes of $300 or less a month, will get $1,000 per year, compared to $800 previously.

Those with a per capita income of between $301 and $500, will get $750 a year, compared to the current $600.

During the dialogue session, Dr Ng said he had two worries this year: Inflation and its impact on education.

While he noted that prices will go up this year, Dr Ng had this reassuring message: “In Singapore, nobody who has the ability, whether it’s ITE, polytechnic or university, will be denied their education because their family cannot afford it. That is a guarantee.”

Dr Ng also made a rallying call for Singaporeans to put their faith in the Government. It has ensured the country continues to thrive in a decade which saw many difficulties, such as terrorism, biological threats and the financial meltdown, Dr Ng noted.

Said Dr Ng: “You trust us for another 10 years, we will make the difference for you.”

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

URA launches tender for land parcel in Paya Lebar Central »« HDB launches BTO projects in Bukit Batok, Yishun