SINGAPORE – About half a million senior citizens eligible for the Merdeka Generation Package can expect to receive their eligibility letter by this week, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (May 2).

Eligibility letters were mailed to these Singaporeans by end-April, said the ministry in a statement.

They can also look forward to receiving their Merdeka Generation Package welcome folder and card in the mail from late June.

The Merdeka Generation Package, announced earlier this year in Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s Budget speech, seeks to offset some of the healthcare costs incurred by ageing Singaporeans.

To qualify for the package, seniors must be born between Jan 1, 1950, and Dec 31, 1959, and have attained Singapore citizenship by the end of 1996.

Singaporeans who were born by Dec 31, 1949, or became Singapore citizens by the end of 1996 and did not receive the Pioneer Generation Package, are also eligible.

Since April, the Silver Generation Office has begun outreach efforts to engage Merdeka Generation seniors on the details of the package, as well as connect them to volunteering and learning opportunities.

Qualifying seniors can expect visits from Silver Generation Ambassadors at their homes, workplaces and community nodes where they are likely to gather, such as faith-based organisations and hawker centres, said MOH.

Singaporeans eligible for the Merdeka Generation Package will receive an annual $200 top-up to their Medisave accounts for five years, from 2019 to 2023, with the first top-up automatically credited in July this year.

The welcome folders that eligible seniors who will be getting from late June will include details on the package, such as how to redeem the one-off $100 top-up for their PAssion Silver cards.

These seniors can use the Merdeka Generation cards they will also be getting to enjoy additional outpatient care subsidies at general practitioner and dental clinics listed under the Community Health Assist Scheme (Chas) from Nov 1.

The card will also entitle them to an additional 25 per cent off their subsidised bills at polyclinics and public Specialist Outpatient Clinics.

More details on the Merdeka Generation Package can be found at www.merdekageneration.sg

Eligible Merdeka Generation seniors who have not received their letters can contact the Agency for Integrated Care on 1800-650-6060 for assistance.

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