Before the advent of the internet, the best modes of spreading news were telephone, telegram and tell-a-girl. Latter must still work, since Senior of State for Finance Josephine Teo and Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor have just been charged to explain the details of the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP).
Sure, everybody knows about the PGP, thanks to the close resemblance to the other hated acronym, PWP. 7 in 10 have heard of it, but 2 out of 5 could not name a single benefit. One plausible cause is that, according to the original roll-out plan, letters informing the eligibles will be sent out only in August 2014, a date closer to the rumored up-coming general election. The other reason could be because there are no real benefits of speak of.
To recap, the PGP has three main prongs:
a) Subsidy for bills at hard-to-find Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOC);
b) Medisave top-ups, which are useless if you don't have real hard cash for the co-payment;
c) MediShield Life, which is yet to be fully defined, but guaranteed to raise health care cost with higher than existing premiums for PGP and non-PGP types.
Teo and Khor may explain it differently, but they really should consider packaging free chicken-rice during their exhortation plan. Packet meals - like those distributed to boost supporter turn-outs at election rallies - fill an empty stomach, not indigestable subsidies.
That's the easy part. The difficulty will be explaining why those born one day after 31 December 1949, or obtained citizenship one day after 31 December 1986, are entitled to zilch. Not even a cheap consolation prize like the Gift Pack they are doling out to babies born next year. For a senior citizen's rumbling stomach, even baby food will suffice.
Sure, everybody knows about the PGP, thanks to the close resemblance to the other hated acronym, PWP. 7 in 10 have heard of it, but 2 out of 5 could not name a single benefit. One plausible cause is that, according to the original roll-out plan, letters informing the eligibles will be sent out only in August 2014, a date closer to the rumored up-coming general election. The other reason could be because there are no real benefits of speak of.
To recap, the PGP has three main prongs:
a) Subsidy for bills at hard-to-find Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOC);
b) Medisave top-ups, which are useless if you don't have real hard cash for the co-payment;
c) MediShield Life, which is yet to be fully defined, but guaranteed to raise health care cost with higher than existing premiums for PGP and non-PGP types.
Teo and Khor may explain it differently, but they really should consider packaging free chicken-rice during their exhortation plan. Packet meals - like those distributed to boost supporter turn-outs at election rallies - fill an empty stomach, not indigestable subsidies.
That's the easy part. The difficulty will be explaining why those born one day after 31 December 1949, or obtained citizenship one day after 31 December 1986, are entitled to zilch. Not even a cheap consolation prize like the Gift Pack they are doling out to babies born next year. For a senior citizen's rumbling stomach, even baby food will suffice.