Eligible civil servants to receive SGD 500 annually from Oct as PSD announces enhanced medical and dental benefits

Eligible civil servants will receive an SGD 500 annual benefit from October this year, Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing announced on July 10. The scheme was announced during the kickoff of Public Service Week 2024.

“From October 2024 onwards, eligible officers in the Civil Service will receive a $500 annual “FlexiGrow” benefit which can be used flexibly to support officer’s health, well-being and individual growth,” an official release stated.

Additionally, all public servants will be eligible to avail enhanced medical and dental benefits from 1 January 2025 onwards.

Civil servants currently enjoy outpatient medical subsidies of up to SGD 500 per year, with outpatient expenses at private clinics capped at SGD 20 subsidy per visit.

The cap has been revised and increased to SGD 50, effective from 1 January 2025. “With this, the officers eligible for Healthier SG can also better adhere to their personalised health plans with their registered Healthier SG clinic,” said the official release.

For dental expenses, officers currently enjoy subsidies of up to SGD 120 per year. This will be increased to SGD 250 from 1 January 2025 to encourage officers to visit a dentist regularly and maintain dental health.

The government said that they hope the “enhanced medical and dental benefits will encourage officers to proactively manage their health, in line with the national focus on preventive care”.

Meanwhile, the Public Service Division also announced that it will raise the retirement and re-employment ages to 64 and 69, respectively. The rule will become effective from 1 July 2025.

“To support officers who wish to continue serving Singapore and Singaporeans, the Public Service will also take the lead to raise the retirement and re-employment ages to 64 and 69 respectively from 1 July 2025, one year ahead of the national timeline. This is in recognition that with higher life expectancy, many older officers may wish to stay active, including being meaningfully engaged at work for longer in different ways,” it said.