Budget measures to focus on building a fair and equitable society

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The Government’s push to help the less well-off continued under Budget measures unveiled yesterday, with a particular focus on healthcare, which was identified as the main driver of higher social spending by Singapore over the next 10 to 15 years.

The S$9 billion Pioneer Generation Package unveiled for seniors born in 1949 or earlier, and who became citizens before 1987, will be enjoyed by the pioneer generation for the rest of their lives.

1) Pioneers — consisting of about 450,000 individuals — will receive subsidies of 75 to 85 per cent for treatment at Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOC) through the package and enhanced SOC subsidies for the lower- and middle-income from September.

2) Every pioneer will be part of the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which subsidises visits to participating general practitioners, from next year.

3) Those with moderate to severe functional disabilities, or their caregivers, will receive cash assistance of S$1,200 each year from September — a measure that gender equality advocacy group AWARE said was a nod to caregiving being recognised as a public good, which it had called for.

4) The pioneers will receive Medisave top-ups of between S$200 and S$800 a year for the rest of their lives under the package, with those born between 1945 and 1949 receiving S$200 a year and those born in 1934 or earlier receiving S$800 a year.

5) They will also get help with MediShield Life premiums. A 65-year-old will have 40 per cent of his premiums covered by the package, with increased help for those older. The Government will fully cover the premiums of those turning 80 or older this year through the package and other schemes.

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Besides the seniors, the Government will also help lower- and middle-income Singaporeans with enhanced subsidies at specialist outpatient clinics.

1) Employers will play a role in meeting future healthcare needs by contributing one percentage point more to their employees’ Central Provident Fund accounts for Medisave from next year. They will receive help from the Government in the first year. CPF contribution rates for older workers will go up, with employers and workers co-shouldering the increase.

2) The young and individuals with disabilities were not forgotten. Children from lower- and middle-income homes will receive a hand, with the expansion of the Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme to all anchor operators and Ministry of Education kindergartens. Children with special needs, including those from middle-income households, will receive more subsidies for early intervention.

3) Students in institutes of higher learning will also receive a boost, with an increase in bursaries for those in universities, polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education.

4) Persons with disabilities will get more help to get around with transport subsidies including a new Taxi Subsidy Scheme covering up to half the cost. “Their difficulties are the greatest, and often their courage too. They deserve greater support,” said Mr Tharman.

A major plank of the Budget revolves around efforts to build a fair and equitable society, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. How resources are spent and redistributed is just as critical as how much is spent and redistributed.

“Our approach to uplifting the poor and levelling up society can only succeed if it supports a culture of personal responsibility … (but) we cannot leave people to face life’s uncertainties on their own.”