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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...284523/1/.html
NTUC Club, NTUC Healthcare to absorb GST hike for 6 months
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 26 June 2007 1415 hrs
SINGAPORE: Two more social enterprises under the labour movement have announced they will help workers to cushion the impact of the GST hike.
NTUC Club and NTUC Healthcare will absorb the 2 percentage point hike for six months from 1 July.
As a result, NTUC says, workers will enjoy GST savings of up to $1.6 million from NTUC Club, and $160,000 from NTUC Healthcare on Unity Healthcare's basket of 100 essential items.
The latest move follows a similar initiative announced earlier this year by four other NTUC social enterprises - NTUC FairPrice, NTUC Foodfare, NTUC Childcare and NTUC LearningHub.
The latest inclusions bring the labour movement's total GST-Care package to an estimated $7.3 million.
Besides absorbing the GST hike, NTUC Healthcare is also adopting several measures to further help workers.
It will maintain the current medical consultation fees at all its Medicare clinics for walk-in patients, low-wage workers, taxi operators' associations and corporate clients.
And to ensure transparency, the indicative price lists of all services and procedures for dental, medical and traditional Chinese medicine at its clinics will also be displayed prominently. - CNA/ir
