Singapore's Health Care System
By Admin | October 18, 2017
At birth, citizens of Singapore can expect to live almost three years longer than in Britain or the US, not to mention infant mortality is far lower. The population also pays far less for healthcare than the US, ranking sixth in the world in quality where we rank 37.
But why? Some point out it’s because Singapore uses a mix of health savings accounts and cost sharing. However, that’s only part of the reason.
Singapore offers citizens a tiered system of healthcare, allowing them to pick, for example, how much privacy they get in a hospital. The better amenities cost more and visa versa. However, after initially launching this model, the country discovered that costs skyrocketed, because hospitals were investing in new technologies and offering only the expensive services in order to attract business.
The government stepped in and highly regulated everything from approving new equipment to even monitoring doctor’s salaries. They discovered that when healthcare was treated like an ordinary, for-profit business, the product--health--suffered greatly.
To understand how Singapore has managed to possess one of the best health care systems in the world, read “What Makes Singapore’s Health Care so Cheap?” by the New York Times.
