SHAH ALAM, 20 Nov: The State Government intends to form a Critical Illness Special Medical Fund, specifically to provide assistance to the low-income group, as outlined in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

The Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, said that it is to ensure that low-income earners with critical illness receive high quality healthcare services.

“An eligibility assessment will be carried out by the Social Services Department (JPS) at selected public hospitals to avoid overlap of services from other agencies or government departments and to ensure that only those eligible will receive assistance,” he said when tabling the Selangor Budget 2014 at the Selangor State Assembly yesterday.

He said financial assistance will also be channelled directly to the hospital through respective JPS to avoid leakages of public funds for expenses that do not meet the original goal.

“It is also to enable audits to be conducted within the framework of prudent, transparent and responsible budgeting,” he said.