(Contd) cover more treatments and conditions?

Registration is a once-off process.

Please click here to register for CHAS

After you have registered for CHAS and the application has been approved, the assigned polyclinic administrator will follow-up directly with you to sign the CHAS contract.

Patients who hold a valid CHAS, Pioneer Generation (PG) or Public Assistance (PA) card are eligible to receive subsidies for medical/ dental treatment under CHAS. For patients with the Public Assistance (PA) card, there will not be any patient payable amount, and the cost of the bill will be reimbursed in full to the clinic.

From 1 November 2019, Merdeka Generation seniors will receive special CHAS subsidies at CHAS clinics. However, CHAS dental subsidies will not be applicable for CHAS Green cardholders. 

You can direct them to the nearest CDC, Community Centre/Club (CC), Polyclinic or Public Hospital to apply for the card. If you wish to keep some copies of the CHAS application form and brochures in your clinic to give to needy patients, please contact AIC at dental@chas.sg or 6632 1199 to request for the materials to be delivered to your clinic. 

Alternatively, these can be downloaded here. 

For visits on/after 1 January 2017, you and your patient no longer need to sign the PCF. This is because your patient will be deemed to have given their consent for your clinic to disclose their information with the Ministry of Health and its authorised agents, when they use the Health Assist or Pioneer Generation card at your clinic.

For your existing signed PCFs, please retain them for at least 6 years from the time they were signed, as per the 2015 National Guidelines for Retention Periods of Medical Records. Original paper records may be destroyed upon digitisation of medical records, as long as the copies are accurate and satisfy the legal requirements for admission as seconday evidence in court.

Dentists have the autonomy to determine the reasonable rate to be charged to their patients. CHAS patients are expected to co-pay for their treatment under CHAS. However, for patients on the PA scheme, no fees should be collected directly – the full visit cost will be reimbursed by the Government. Clinics have 30 days from patient’s visit date to submit a claim.

Amount chargeable = Total bill - CHAS subsidy¹  

¹ Please refer to the dental subsidy schedule  here for more information on the CHAS dental subsidy. 

You will be reimbursed within 1 month from the receipt of your claim if there are no queries. If there are queries relating to your claim, payment will be made to you within 7 days after the resolution of all such queries.

(Cont'd) or 3-yearly limits (e.g. dentures)?

 You will be able to check via the MOH Healthcare Claims Portal (MHCP) on the patient’s eligibility for each procedure. You will also be able to find out when the patient will be eligible for a next claim, if the patient has already exhausted the claim limits. 

Itemised bills will help your patient better understand the charges for the services and medication received, and know how much CHAS subsidy the clinic is claiming for him/her.

All CHAS clinics are required to issue an itemised bill to all CHAS (including PG and Public Assistance) patients. This includes patients whose charges are covered fully by CHAS subsidies and do not make any out-of-pocket payment. The itemised bill must at least state the following:  

• the total charges before CHAS subsidy (with a breakdown into Consultation, Medication, Investigation and Others);  
• the total CHAS subsidy given; and  
• the remaining amount that the patient pays.

Please note that if your clinic already issues bills that are more detailed, you do not need to make any changes to your bill format.  

Minimum level of bill itemisation required:   

You may contact your clinic’s AIC account manager to seek any clarification or help if needed. 

CHAS patients referred by a participating CHAS dentist will be considered a subsidised patient at NDC/National University Centre for Oral Health, Singapore (NUCOHS). However do note that this must be an unnamed referral. In addition, please complete the CHAS Referral Form for subsidised care at NDC/NUCOHS and attach it to your referral. When calling NDC/NUCOHS for an appointment, please inform NDC/NUCOHS of the patient’s CHAS status. Patients have to produce these documents, his CHAS / PA card and NRIC upon registration at NDC/NUCOHS.

Please note that referrals to NDC/NUCOHS is not applicable for CHAS Green cardholders.

The subsidised referral must be made to NDC and not directly to the laboratory, to ensure that the test ordered is necessary for the patient’s condition.

The polyclinic administrators may conduct operational and clinical audits on your clinic to check for compliance with the CHAS guidelines. The following table summarises the areas of compliance that may be audited:-

For the purposes of meeting the above audit requirements, dentists and the clinics are minimally required to keep the following set of documents:-

a) Patient Consent Forms are required to be submitted for audit, for visits before 1 January 2017. For visits on/after 1 January 2017, clinic would no longer need to submit the PCFs for audit.

b) Prescription or clinical notes detailing medication prescribed to the patient, if any;

c) Records of laboratory tests carried out for diagnosis and follow-up, if any; and

d) Records showing the itemised breakdown of the bills submitted for CHAS claims, including a record of the amount paid by the patient.

In the event that discrepancies are found during the audit, the polyclinic administrators/MOH reserves the right to hire an independent party to conduct further investigations into the matter if need be. If non-compliance is determined, the polyclinics/MOH may issue a warning letter and/or terminate a clinic’s CHAS approved status as provided for in the CHAS contract. 

If it is found that improper claims were made, dentists will be required to reimburse to the polyclinic any subsidy that was wrongfully received. 

If you have a question on CHAS which is not covered in this FAQ, kindly contact AIC at gp@chas.sg or 6632 1199.