[SINGAPORE] About 20,000 people received the wrong subsidies and grants owing to a processing issue in a government means-testing system.
The Ministry of Health (MOH), which manages the Household Means Eligibility System (Homes), said on Jul 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.
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MOH said it will adjust the means-test and subsidy tiers of affected individuals to the intended levels from Jul 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:
Community 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.
The Straits Times has contacted MOH for more information. THE STRAITS TIMES
