By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 18: The Senior Citizen Health Benefit (SCHB) assistance initiative, which offers a yearly aid of RM500, will benefit 75,137 senior citizens in Sarawak starting July 22.
Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development (KPWK) Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah emphasised that the Sarawak government has allocated a total of RM50 million for the initiative.
“The recipients consist of those categorised as poor registered under Sarawak Welfare Assistance Management (SWAM) and E-Kasih database.
“Of the figure, 26,096 recipients are from SWAM and 49,041 are under E-Kasih,” she said in a statement today.
Fatimah disclosed that 13 private hospitals have been appointed as panel hospitals in addition to the 95 clinics appointed as panel clinics for SCHB previously.
Appointment letters to clinics and hospitals that have been listed as panels will be issued by Sarawak Social Welfare Department (JKMS).
“A list of eligible seniors will be submitted to panel clinics and hospitals and will be available in the system,” she said.
Those eligible must be Malaysian citizens with a ‘K’ status identity card, are aged 60 and above, have a monthly household income of RM7,000 and below, and does not receive funding for outpatient treatment from any other agencies.
The SCHB programme covers outpatient medical services for common health issues such as fever, cold, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, sprains, minor skin irritations (allergic/itchy), gout, and minor trauma like light wounds.
It also includes dental services such as extractions, fillings, and dentures with a minimum charge for denture making set at RM250. The scope of service for private dental clinics is capped at RM500.
However, it does not cover follow-up treatments for routine noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension and diabetes, follow-up treatments for chronic diseases, health screenings that require samples to be sent to a laboratory, telemedicine or virtual health care services, aesthetic treatments for beauty, or ambulance services. — DayakDaily
