The Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) is one of the Ministry of Health (MOH)'s programmes to help provide accessible and affordable medical and dental care to Singaporeans. Under CHAS, members receive subsidies for outpatient medical treatments for chronic and/or acute conditions as well as selected dental services at participating CHAS General Practitioners (GPs) and dental clinics near their homes. CHAS members will also enjoy subsidised referrals to specialist outpatient clinics when required.

The scheme will also cover treatment for the 10 chronic conditions currently covered under the Chronic Disease Management Programme. The 10 conditions are diabetes, hypertension, lipid disorders, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, major depression, schizophrenia, dementia and bipolar disorder.

From 1 Jan 2014, 5 more conditions will be added.

These 5 conditions are oteoarthritis, benign prostatic hyperplasia, anxiety, Parkinson's disease and nephritis/nephrosis.

For patients with chronic conditions, CHAS works in conjunction with the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) allowing Medisave usage for the outpatient treatment (of the same set of chronic conditions) covered under CHAS. Besides enjoying subsidies for their chronic disease treatments, the patient could also tap into their Medisave to defray part of the cost of these treatments. The Medisave withdrawal limit is $500 per Medisave account, per year. The qualifying age for CHAS is 40 years old and the qualifying income criteria is $1,800 per capita household monthly income. For instance, a family of four with a total gross monthly household income of $4,500 (per capita household monthly income = $4,500 ÷ 4 = $1,125) will qualify for CHAS, provided that they are Singapore Citizens above 40 years old.

For more information, please visit http://www.chas.sg.

Chronic diseases are a significant cause of illness and death in Singapore. This is a phenomenon common to all developed countries. However, with early detection and good management of these chronic conditions, complications can be avoided or delayed for many years.
Ministry Of Health Singapore has allowed the use of Medisave to help pay part of the outpatient cost, and reduce out of pocket payment for patients. The Medisave for Chronic Disease Management Programme was launched in Oct 2006.

We will need to certify in the Medisave Authorisation form that you suffer from one of the chronic conditions in the above list.

For each bill, patients will only need to pay the first $30 of the bill (as the deductible) as well as 15 per cent of the balance of the bill. Medisave can be used to pay for the remaining amount. This is regardless of whether the bill is for a one-off visit or a package.

Deductible: A deductible of $30 will be set on each outpatient bill. Bills below $30 will continue to be paid in cash.

Co-payment: A co-payment (in cash) of 15% on each outpatient bill in excess of the deductible will be set; and Annual withdrawal limit: Withdrawals will be subject to an annual outpatient withdrawal limit of $400 per Medisave account with effect from 1 Jan 2012. Patients can also use the Medisave of their immediate family member(s)* to pay for their treatment, up to a limit of $400 per year per account. A maximum of up to 10 accounts may be used.

* Immediate family member refers to a member's spouse; child; parent. Grandparents who are citizens or permanent residents of Singapore may use the Medisave of their grandchildren as well.

For more information on use of Medisave, please refer to here.

We will need you to sign a Medisave Authorisation form for yourself or your family member.4

There is no deductible or co-insurance. Medisave can be used to pay for the full cost of the vaccination up to the Annual Withdrawal limit.

Annual withdrawal limit: Withdrawals will be subject to an annual outpatient withdrawal limit of $500 per Medisave account with effect from 1 Jan 2012. Patients can also use the Medisave of their immediate family member(s)* to pay for their treatment, up to a limit of $500 per year per account. A maximum of up to 10 accounts may be used.

* Immediate family member refers to a member's spouse; child; parent. Grandparents who are citizens or permanent residents of Singapore may use the Medisave of their grandchildren as well.

For more information on use of Medisave, please refer to here.