[SINGAPORE] Companies that employ migrant workers here will soon be able to buy primary care plans to cover the workers' healthcare costs.

The plans, ranging from S$108 to S$145 per worker per year, will be offered by four healthcare providers that have been appointed to run six regional medical centres here as part of a new primary healthcare network that was announced earlier this year.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Monday (Nov 29) that employers will buy the plans directly from the operators, and can pay for them in monthly instalments. This money will be used to cover the cost of medical examinations for work pass purposes, medical consultations and treatments, annual health screening and telemedicine, and other services for the more than 250,000 migrant workers here.

The prices of the plans will depend on where the workers live, and are based on the competitive bids submitted under a tender that was put out in September.

To encourage prudent use of medical resources and instil personal ownership of their own health, migrant workers will also need to pay S$5 for each visit to the medical centre as co-payment and S$2 for each telemedicine session, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said.

Under the new system, which is expected to be implemented in the second quarter of next year, going by the MOM's September tender, healthcare will be delivered in six geographical sectors, each housing at least 40,000 migrant workers both in and out of dormitories.

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Each sector will be anchored by a regional medical centre, complemented by four on-site medical centres in larger dorms, at least two mobile clinical teams per sector and round-the-clock telemedicine consultations.

Dr Tan had previously described it as a "hub-and-spoke" model.

Five of the six sectors will be managed by private healthcare providers - 14 had submitted proposals - and one has been set aside for a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with medical expertise and support from philanthropy funding.

Fullerton Healthcare Group, Sata CommHealth and StarMed Specialist Centre were on Monday appointed to operate the five sectors allocated to private healthcare firms. The NGO-run centre, operated by St Andrew's Mission Hospital (SAMH), is already up and running at a temporary site in Penjuru.

The new centres will succeed 13 existing centres that have been up and running since August last year.

Tender documents had said that healthcare should be provided in a way that minimises any cultural and language barriers. This may include having onsite doctors from the workers' home countries and having multilingual translation capabilities. In addition, operators must ensure that they charge below or the same for services as prescribed by MOM.

For instance, consultations should cost between S$9 and S$20, while standard medication or treatment for complex chronic conditions should cost no more than S$55.

THE STRAITS TIMES