IN HIS letter ("Chas criteria not clearly explained"; Feb 23), Mr Francis Cheng asked for greater clarification on the "household monthly income per person" criterion under the Community Health Assist Scheme (Chas).
The income criterion allows the Ministry of Health (MOH) to better target health-care subsidies to benefit lower- to middle- income households.
For the majority of cases, taking the average monthly income over the past 12 months for each household member provides a good reflection of the household's financial circumstances.
That said, there are some applicants who face a recent significant change in income, due to reasons such as retirement or loss of employment.
For such cases, we understand that the 12-month average may not be a good representation of the household's latest financial circumstances, and we do reassess applications on a case-by-case basis, based on the updated income information provided by applicants.
To help applicants better understand how the household monthly income per person is calculated, this information has been included in the Chas application forms since October last year.
Such information is also available on www.chas.sg
We thank Mr Cheng for his feedback, and have already assisted him with his appeal.
Lim Bee Khim (Ms)
Director
Corporate Communications
Ministry of Health
Andy Seet
Director
Corporate and Marketing Communications
Agency for Integrated Care
This article was first published on March 03, 2015.
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