Update on Community Health Assist Scheme's Inclusion of GP clinics and Dental Clinics

34 Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Health if he can provide an update on the review of the Community Health Assist Scheme to include all GP clinics and dental clinics.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Currently, with 900 Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) general practitioner (GP) and 650 CHAS dental clinics islandwide, Singaporeans enjoy good access to subsidies at CHAS clinics. On average, each constituency has around 30 GP and 20 dental clinics under CHAS. Over 96% of CHAS cardholders and Pioneers have a CHAS clinic within 15 minutes by public transport from their homes.

Since the introduction of CHAS in 2012, the number of clinics participating in CHAS has increased significantly. Today, 70% of our primary care GP clinics are already participating in CHAS. We will continue with our targeted engagement efforts to bring on board more GP and dental clinics to participate in CHAS and to play a bigger role in providing appropriate and affordable primary care to our residents.