Subsidies and grants for some 20,000 people miscalculated due to processing issue: MOH, Singapore News
The Ministry of Health (MOH), which manages the Household Means Eligibility System (Homes), said on July 21 that corrections to the subsidy and grant levels of those affected are in progress.
The ministry added that it has completed a reassessment of the affected individuals' subsidy tiers.
The majority of those affected received more subsidies and grants than they were entitled to, said the ministry.
They will not have to return the excess subsidy or grant amounts that have already been paid out.
Those who received less than they were entitled to will have the difference topped up by government agencies, said MOH. They will receive the reimbursement payments by November.
MOH said it will adjust the means-test and subsidy tiers of affected individuals to the intended levels from July 21.
Homes uses income information from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore to means-test individuals with business income.
It provides means-testing results for selected subsidy schemes across the Government.
Explaining the processing issue, MOH said that, in January, Homes could not appropriately account for the business income of some people after changes to data processing timelines.
This caused miscalculations in the means-test results of these individuals and members of their households between Jan 1 and 27, said MOH.
It added that the roughly 20,000 affected people represent less than 3 per cent of all individuals means-tested during this period.
MOH said about 19,000 people were affected for schemes under MOH, while around 1,000 individuals were affected for other schemes under the Early Childhood Development Agency, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Ministry of Education and Infocomm Media Development Authority.
The MOH schemes affected by the processing issue are: Health Assist Scheme (Chas)
Subsidies for CareShield Life or MediShield Life premiums and Additional Premium Support
Subsidies for long-term care services
Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund
Equipment Rental Scheme
Home Caregiving Grant
ElderFund
Subsidies at public healthcare institutions for day surgery, inpatient services, specialist outpatient clinics, polyclinic drugs/vaccines and community hospital services
Schemes by other government agencies affected by the processing issue are: Early Childhood Development Agency's pre-school subsidies and early intervention schemes
Infocomm Media Development Authority's DigitalAccess@Home Scheme
Ministry of Education's Higher Education Bursaries and Kindergarten Care Additional Subsidies
Ministry of Social and Family Development's Enabling Transport Subsidy, Taxi Subsidy Scheme and Assistive Technology Fund
Agencies will reach out to inform those impacted by the processing issue progressively. These individuals do not have to take any action on their part, said MOH.
In a similar incident in 2019, about 7,700 people who applied for and renewed their Chas cards in September and October 2018 received inaccurate subsidies after a computer system miscalculated their means-test results.
about 7,700 people who applied for and renewed their Chas cards in September and October 2018 received inaccurate subsidies
The Straits Times has contacted MOH for more information.
This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
6 days ago
- Business Times
MOH, HDB award S$18,000 bid to rent Bidadari clinic under pilot tender evaluation approach
[SINGAPORE] A government tender for a clinic in Bartley has been awarded to a bid of S$18,000 in monthly rent under a pilot tender evaluation framework that considers quality and price, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Housing and Development Board (HDB). Under the new price-quality method (PQM) for evaluating tenders, a proposal's quality and price account for 70 per cent and 30 per cent of its evaluation, respectively, said MOH and HDB on Friday (Aug 1). The HDB earlier noted that general practitioner (GP) clinic tenders were previously awarded based on tendered price – such as the Tampines clinic tender awarded to a record bid of S$52,188 in monthly rent, that made news in June. The tender for the clinic space at Bartley Beacon, a Build-to-Order (BTO) project in the Bidadari housing estate, opened on May 8 and closed on May 29. It received 18 bids and was awarded to BridgePoint Health. The 100 square metre (sq m) clinic space is about double the size of a typical clinic, MOH and HDB said. The rent works out to S$180 per sq m, which is lower than the average bid rent of S$382 per sq m for GP clinic tenders in new housing projects awarded from 2022 to 2024, they noted. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up In comparison, the 'unusually high' rent for the Tampines clinic tender, which closed in January, worked out to around S$1,000 per sq m, MOH and HDB said. That prompted Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung to express dismay about the Tampines clinic's tender price in a June Facebook post, where he said that the record-high rent would translate into higher healthcare costs and negate the MOH's efforts to keep costs of primary healthcare affordable. MOH and HDB said that they are working together to provide residents with quality and affordable healthcare services. 'Through adopting the PQM method for essential services such as supermarkets and coffee shops, HDB is committed to ensuring residents have access to affordable and quality goods and services in the heartlands,' the authorities said. Three more GP clinic tenders will be launched under the pilot PQM tender evaluation framework this year, with the next one to be launched at Costa Grove, a BTO project in Pasir Ris. Two more tenders at Parc Point and Toh Guan Grove will be launched by end-2025. Commitment to providing quality services MOH will monitor and review BridgePoint Health's compliance with the tender commitments, the authorities said. 'MOH will also continue to review how 'quality' is assessed under such PQM tenders to ensure that GP clinics in HDB estates can offer better quality healthcare for residents near their homes and support chronic disease management under Healthier SG,' said MOH and HDB. To ensure the quality of GP services provided, the tender requires BridgePoint Health to be onboarded to Healthier SG as part of the primary care network. It will also have to be accredited with the Community Health Assist Scheme. Additionally, BridgePoint Health has committed to focusing on providing primary care services and steering away from providing aesthetic services, MOH and HDB said. The healthcare company has committed to work with community partners, such as Community Health Posts in Active Ageing Centres, to strengthen preventive and chronic care for residents. This includes providing basic ancillary services on site, such as diabetic retinal photography, diabetic foot screening and nurse counselling for diabetic patients. As BridgePoint Health is part of the Mental Health General Practitioner Partnership programme, which supports doctors in dealing with individuals who face mental health conditions, it will manage patients with more complex mental health conditions in the community, MOH and HDB said. It will also collaborate with the healthcare clusters to provide more integrated and seamless care for residents. Most of BridgePoint Health's services will be offered on site to minimise the need for referrals, as the unit is larger than typical clinics, the MOH and HDB said.
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Straits Times
BridgePoint Health awarded tender for Bidadari clinic with $18,000 rental
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A staggered rent structure will be implemented to help tenants of newly-constructed shops in new estates. SINGAPORE - Bridgepoint Health has been awarded the tender for a General Practitioner (GP) clinic at the newly completed Bartley Beacon, a Build-To-Order (BTO) project in Bidadari. In a joint statement on Aug 1, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Housing & Development Board (HDB) said the tender was awarded under the new Price-Quality Method (PQM), where tenders are evaluated based on both price and quality factors. Bridgepoint Health's care teams consist of family physicians, administrators, other health professionals, and specialists. It works with Northeast Medical Group, with a total of 20 clinics planned and in operation island-wide. A total of 18 bids were received for the tender which opened on May 8 2025 and closed on May 29. Under the pilot, the tender price – or the rental bid – accounted for 30 per cent of the scoring criteria, and was evaluated by HDB. The quality of the tender proposal accounted for the remaining 70 per cent, and was assessed by MOH. The awarded monthly rent is $18,000 for the clinic space of about 100sqm, which is twice the size of a typical clinic. The cost per square metre is $180, lower than the average awarded bid of $382 per sqm for GP clinic tenders awarded in new housing projects in the last three years, said MOH and HDB. This comes after the monthly rental bid for a GP clinic in Tampines was reported at $52,188 for a 52sqm ground-floor unit, bringing the cost per square metre to about $1,003.60, in early June. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Tech Reporting suspected advanced cyber attacks will provide a defence framework: Shanmugam Singapore Tanjong Katong sinkhole: Road will progressively open to motorists from Aug 2 noon World Trump modifies reciprocal tariffs ahead of deadline; rate on Singapore likely to remain at 10% Business Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet Singapore NUS launches S'pore's first nursing practice doctorate to meet evolving healthcare needs Singapore Data breach involving 147,000 Cycle & Carriage Singapore customer records under probe Business CAD probing Tokenize Xchange operator; firm's director charged with fraudulent trading Singapore PM Wong to deliver National Day message on Aug 8 Then, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung expressed his dismay at the bid , and said that the monthly rental for the clinic would translate into higher healthcare costs one way or other, and negate MOH's efforts to keep the cost of primary healthcare affordable. He also noted that higher rental bids do not necessarily translate to the best healthcare that the community needs. Bridgepoint Health will have to be onboarded by Healthier SG as part of the Primary Care Network, and will have to be Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) accredited. Additionally, the clinic will have to refrain from providing aesthetic services and instead focus solely on providing primary care services, said MOH and HDB. The clinic will also be able to provide basic ancillary services such as Diabetic Retinal Photography (DRP), Diabetic Foot Screening (DFS), and nurse counselling for diabetic patients. It will remain part of the Mental Health General Practitioner Partnership (MHGPP) and manage patients with more complex mental health conditions, while offering most of their services onsite to reduce the need for referrals. Three more GP clinic tenders are to be launched under the pilot PQM framework in 2025. The next PQM tender will be launched at Costa Grove, a BTO project in Pasir Ris. Another two PQM tenders, at Parc Point and Toh Guan Grove, will be launched by the end of 2025. To help tenants of newly-constructed shops in new estates, HDB has a staggered rent structure in place over the first three-year tenancy term, said the statement. Tenants will be required to pay 80 per cent of tendered rent in the first year, 90 per cent in the second year, and the full tendered rent in the third year.
CNA
6 days ago
- CNA
Clinic gets Bidadari space at S$18,000 a month under new tender scheme factoring in quality
SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Housing & Development Board (HDB) have awarded the first tender under a new approach for general practitioner (GP) clinics at a new public housing project in Bidadari estate. Under the pilot Price Quality Method (PQM), quality of care accounts for 70 per cent of the tender evaluation, while price plays a factor in the remaining 30 per cent. The tender, which opened on May 8 and closed on May 29, was awarded to BridgePoint Health, said MOH and HDB in a joint press release on Friday (Aug 1). 'The awarded monthly rent is S$18,000 (US$13,900) for the clinic space of about 100 sq m, which is twice the size of a typical clinic,' they said. Eighteen bids were received for the tender at Bartley Beacon, a Build-To-Order (BTO) project which was completed in July. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung spoke about the new tender approach in June when he expressed dismay at a healthcare company's S$52,188 monthly rental bid for a clinic in a HDB estate in Tampines. Mr Ong said in a Facebook post then that higher rental bids do not necessarily translate to the best healthcare that the community needs. 'Through this Price-Quality evaluation Model (PQM), we can shift the competitive focus away from rental rates, to better care models, including preventive care, chronic disease management and mental health,' he said. The awarded monthly rent for the tender at Bartley Beacon works out to S$180 per sq m. This is lower than the average awarded bid of S$382 per sq m for GP clinic tenders in new housing projects awarded from 2022 to 2024, said MOH and HDB. 'In comparison, the unusually high tendered rent for the recent clinic in Tampines GreenGem was about S$1,000 per sq m,' they added. SHIFT AWAY FROM AESTHETIC SERVICES Under the tender requirements, BridgePoint Health will have to be onboarded to Healthier SG as part of the Primary Care Network, and will need to be Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) accredited. According to MOH and HDB, the health company has committed to focusing on the provision of primary care services and steering away from the provision of aesthetic services. 'They have also committed to work with community partners, such as the Community Health Posts in Active Ageing Centres, to strengthen preventive and chronic care for residents,' said MOH and HDB. This includes providing basic ancillary services onsite, such as Diabetic Retinal Photography (DRP), Diabetic Foot Screening (DFS) and nurse counselling for diabetic patients. BridgePoint Health will continue to be part of the Mental Health General Practitioner Partnership (MHGPP) and manage patients with more complex mental health conditions in the community, said MOH and HDB. 'They will also collaborate with the healthcare clusters to provide more integrated and seamless care for residents,' they added. 'With a larger clinic space of about 100 sq m, the awarded tenderer will also offer most of their services onsite, minimising the need for referrals.' The health ministry will follow up with BridgePoint Health to monitor and review its compliance with its tender commitments. The new GP clinic will not pay the full rental in the first two years, under a staggered rent structure to ease the transition for tenants of newly-constructed shops in new estates as residents move in, said MOH and HDB. The structure applies for the first three-year tenancy term: 80 per cent of the tendered rent in the first year, 90 per cent in the second year, and the full tendered rent in the third year. UPCOMING GP CLINIC TENDERS Three more GP clinic tenders will be launched under the pilot PQM framework in 2025, said MOH and HDB. The next tender will be launched at Costa Grove, a BTO project in Pasir Ris. Another two tenders will be launched at Parc Point and Toh Guan Grove at the end of the year. 'MOH and HDB are working closely to bring value healthcare services that are of quality and affordable, to residents,' said the health ministry and housing board. 'MOH will also continue to review how 'Quality' is assessed under such PQM tenders to ensure that GP clinics in HDB estates can offer better quality healthcare for residents near their homes and support chronic disease management under Healthier SG,' they added.
