FREE MEDICALS IN SINGAPORE !

FREE MEDICALS IN SINGAPORE !

Healthcare in Singapore is mainly under the responsibility of the Singapore Government's Ministry of Health. Singapore generally has an efficient and widespread system of healthcare. Singapore was ranked 6th in the World Health Organisation's ranking of the world's health systems in the year 2000.[1] Bloomberg ranked Singapore’s healthcare system the most efficient in the world in 2014.[

Overview[edit source]
The Bowyer Block at the Singapore General Hospital now houses the SGH Museum which was officially opened in May 2005.
Singapore has a non-modified universal healthcare system where the government ensures affordability of healthcare within the public health system, largely through a system of compulsory savings, subsidies, and price controls.

The Bowyer Block at the Singapore General
Hospital now houses the SGH Museum
which was officially opened in May 2005.

Funding[edit source]
A key principle of Singapore's national health scheme is that medical service is provided free of charge, regardless of the level of subsidy, even within the public healthcare system. As per 2018 STC Health Index [3], Singapore provides Free and Universal Health care and ranks 16 globally. This mechanism is intended to reduce the over-utilisation of healthcare services. Out-of-pocket charges vary considerably for each service and level of subsidy. At the highest level of subsidy, although each out-of-pocket expense is typically small, costs can accumulate and become substantial for patients and families. At the lowest level, the subsidy is in effect nonexistent, and patients are treated like private patients, even within the public system.
Singapore's system uses a combination of compulsory savings from payroll deductions to provide subsidies within a nationalised health insurance plan known as Medisave. Within Medisave, each citizen accumulates funds that are individually tracked, and such funds can be pooled within and across an entire extended family. The vast majority of Singapore citizens have substantial savings in this scheme. One of three levels of subsidy is chosen by the patient at the time of the healthcare episode.
Medishield is a low cost insurance scheme intended for those whose savings are insufficient to meet their medical expenses. Premiums can be paid out of Medisave accounts. A new scheme, Medishield Life, was agreed by parliament in January 2015. Co-insurance payment rates are to be reduced from 10–20% to 3–10% and the lifetime claim limit is to be removed. Eldershield is part of the Central Provident Fund which insures against the cost of private nursing homes and related expenses. It already has more than a million policy holders. Medifund is a safety net for those who are unable to meet their assessed contribution. Risks are not pooled, so an individual may be exposed to catastrophic expenses. [4]
See also Central Provident Fund.
Government funding[edit source]
Government spending on healthcare was planned to rise from SG$5.8 billion in 2013/4 to SG$7.1 billion in 2014/5, an increase of 22%.[5]
Private healthcare[edit source]
The increasingly large private sector provides care to those who are privately insured, foreign patients, or public patients who are able to afford what often amounts to very large out-of-pocket payments above the levels provided by government subsidies.
The government uses the capacity of the private sector to reduce waiting times in the public sector. In 2015 it plans to use the Raffles Medical Group to receive non-critical ambulance cases. [6]
Statistics[edit source]
Approximately 70–80% of Singaporeans obtain their medical care within the public health system. Overall government spending on public healthcare amounts to only 1.6% of annual GDP. This amounted to an average of $1,104 Government Health Expenditure per person,[7] partly because government expenditure on healthcare in the private system is extremely low. According to Mark Britnell total expenditure on healthcare is 4.6% of GDP and has stayed almost constant since independence.[8]
Healthcare today in Singapore[edit source]

National University Hospital

Singapore has "one of the most successful healthcare systems in the world, in terms of both efficiency in financing and the results achieved in community health outcomes," according to an analysis by global consulting firm Towers Watson.[9] The government regularly adjusts policies to actively regulate "the supply and prices of healthcare services in the country" in an attempt to keep costs in check. However, for the most part the government does not directly regulate the costs of private medical care. These costs are largely subject to market forces, and vary enormously within the private sector, depending on the medical specialty and service provided.

Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution

The specific features of the Singapore healthcare system are unique, and have been described as a "very difficult system to replicate in many other countries." Many Singaporeans also have supplemental private health insurance (often provided by employers) for services not covered by the government's programmes.[9]
Patients are free to choose the providers within the government or private healthcare delivery system and can walk in for a consultation at any private clinic or any government polyclinic. For emergency services, patients can go at any time to the 24-hour Accident & Emergency Departments located in the government hospitals.
The Agency for Integrated Care was established in 2009 to improve services in the community and in nursing homes. Regional health systems have been established to link hospitals with rehabilitation centres and primary care. Many of its initiatives have been supported through Temasek Cares.
The National Electronic Record Programme was launched in 2011 and is used by more than 280 institutions to support telehealth and telemedicine. [10]
Singapore's medical facilities are among the finest in the world. As of 2012, Singapore had a total of 10,225 doctors in its healthcare delivery system. This gives a doctor to population ratio of 1:520. The nurse (including midwives) to population ratio is 1:150, with a total of 34,507 nurses. There are 1,645 dentists, giving a ratio of 1 dentist to 3,230 people.[7][11]
Hospitals in Singapore[edit source]
Main article: List of hospitals in Singapore
In 2012, there were a total of 10,756 hospital beds in the 25 hospitals and specialty centres in Singapore. The 8 public hospitals comprise 6 acute general hospitals (SGH, NUH, CGH, TTSH, KTPH & NTFGH), a women's and children's hospital (KKH) and a psychiatry hospital (IMH).[12] In addition, there are 8 national specialty centres for cancer (NCCS), cardiac (NHCS), eye (SNEC), skin (NSC), neuroscience (NNI), dental care (NDCS) and a medical centre for multiple disciplines (NCIS and NHCS).[12]
The Singapore General Hospital is the largest and oldest hospital in Singapore, of which the foundation of its first building was laid in 1821.
The Tan Tock Seng Hospital is the second largest hospital in Singapore after the Singapore General Hospital, but its accident and emergency department is the busiest in the country largely due to its geographically centralised location. Set up in 1844 by an entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tan Tock Seng, the hospital came into the international spotlight when it was designated as the sole treatment centre for the SARS epidemic which struck the country in 2003.
Mental health[edit source]
There is one psychiatric hospital in Singapore, the Institute of Mental Health, previously known as Woodbridge Hospital after its old location near a wooden bridge in Yio Chu Kang. It is now located in Hougang.
Obstetrics and gynaecology[edit source]
Singapore Medical Group Ltd acquired six obstetrics and gynaecology clinics in 2016 for $60m in October 2016.[13]
Restructuring in 1990s[edit source]
In the 1990s, all public hospitals were "restructured" which means that they have been operated as government-owned corporations rather than the typical model of public hospitals in other countries.
There are six healthcare groups operating public hospitals and national specialty centres:

Alexandra Health System
Eastern Health Alliance
JurongHealth
National Healthcare Group
National University Health System
SingHealth
However, MOH is currently reorganizing these healthcare groups from six to three.[14]