PRIMARY CARE PARTNERSHIP SCHEME

Mr Andy Gan Lai Chiang asked the Minister for Health (a) how many Singaporeans have qualified under the Primary Care Partnership Scheme since it was implemented on 1st October 2000 as a pilot scheme and extended on 1st March 2002; (b) how much has the amount of Government subsidy increased as a result of this scheme; and (c) what are the plans to expand this scheme to cover more people in need.

Mr Gan Kim Yong asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Primary Care Partnership Scheme has been effective and, if so, (b) whether his Ministry will consider expanding the Scheme so that more residents may be eligible to benefit from it.

The Minister for Health (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mr Speaker, Sir, can I be permitted to take Questions 8 and 9 together?

Mr Speaker: Yes.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: The Ministry introduced the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS) in October 2000 to make subsidised medical services more accessible for lower income elderly Singaporeans. The scheme was implemented in four areas and subsequently extended to five other areas in July 2001. It offers needy elderly Singaporeans the added convenience of receiving subsidised primary care at private clinics near their home instead of travelling to polyclinics.

The PCPS is open to Singaporeans aged 65 years and above with per capita household income of $700 per month or below. Between October 2000 and February 2002, some 700 elderly poor have signed up for the scheme. They were served by 87 GP clinics and made more than 3,000 attendances.

On 1st March 2002, the Ministry extended the PCPS to all constituencies in Singapore and widened the scope to include basic dental services. An additional 900 elderly have signed up for the scheme since March bringing the total to 1,600 elderly. There are currently over 500 GP and 200 dental clinics under the PCPS. The PCPS is expected to cost the Government $8 million a year.

The Ministry will continue to work with grassroots organisations to promote the scheme to the elderly. The Ministry has no plans currently to extend PCPS to other segments of the population.

Mr Andy Gan Lai Chiang: Can I ask the Minister how do the doctors accept this scheme? Do they find it very convenient to use or very cumbersome for them to administer?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Speaker, Sir, we have tried to make the administrative arrangements as convenient as possible, but it incurs extra administrative work by the GP clinics. I am happy to note that more than one-third of the total GP clinics in Singapore and nearly half of the dental clinics have signed up for this scheme. I think for many of the GPs and the dentists, they see this not as just a commercial service. They see this as extending community service to the elderly. So we are very happy to welcome them on board.

Mr Gan Kim Yong (Holland-Bukit Panjang): Sir, can I ask the Minister whether he would consider extending the scheme to allow disabled patients to be treated at GP clinics rather than polyclinics? Secondly, would he also consider extending the scheme to allow patients who require long-term regular treatment to be under this scheme? And, thirdly, would he consider allowing the low-income groups who have not achieved the age of 65 years old to also benefit from this scheme, so that they would be able to save on their travelling cost?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Speaker, Sir, we have made quite a quantum leap from serving less than 10 constituencies to serving all constituencies now. So this is already putting quite a heavy burden on the administrative arrangements in the CDCs, getting the cards out to the elderly. We will consider extending to other areas when we gain more experience with the present scheme.

But I must say that if we extend it, it means an increasing proportion of Singaporeans will come under means testing. So we have to be quite sure of the pros and cons of extending this scheme.