One year ago we helped a relative with the paperwork to pay for his monthly consultation bills via Medisave. There were "packages" to choose from, which determined how much could be drawn down within one year; the bigger the sum, the higher the cash co-payment attached to each application. First frustration encountered was the administration fee - he had to pay to access his own money. Obviously enough brickbats were received to make them cancel that charge months later. Recently, the scheme has been cancelled altogether. Now it's a cash co-payment upfront if Medisave is to be used for payment at each visit. No cash, no medical attention, even if money is sitting pretty at the Medisave account.
World Bank President Jim-Yong Kim would be less effusive in singing the praises of the Singapore’s healthcare system if he had a better grasp of the chicanery in the system that makes sure Singaporeans pay for their own bills. There's nothing to be proud about when he crowed, “I don’t think there’s a single system in the world that spends as little as Singapore does in terms of percentage of GDP (in healthcare) and gets the outcomes that it gets." Especially when the outcome is that an elderly woman would rather take her own life rather than burden her family with huge medical bills.
According to World Health Organisation statistics, the total health expenditure (the sum of public and private health expenditure) for Singapore as a percentage of Gross domestic product (GDP) is only 4.7 percent, compared to Australia's 9.1. Singapore's GDP (nominal) per capita is US$78,744 (2013), Australia's is US$43,550. Either Singaporeans are super healthy, or the Singapore government is super stingy.
Tattler
*The writer blogs at http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/