Not for love of money, but of Humanity. "Greater is he who works for the good of all, then he who works for the good of himself only" ~ Matthew 25:40: "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"- (NIV). I live in Singapore where the Emperor must not be disturbed.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Greedy and Lazy Singaporeans cause healthcare to be unaffordable to themselves.

[pict source][backup pict]
Singaporeans consider healthcare in Singapore expensive because Singaporeans have not only neglected their health (Feb2012: 'Health alert: One in 3 will develop diabetes'May 2015: 'A new dialysis patient every 5 hours in S'pore'), but are also unnecessarily KIASU and KIASI where hospitalisation is concerned with a vast majority (67.9%) of current medishield members (2.404M/3.593M members (FY2013) quandering $ on private integrated shield plans), out of aFY2013 resident population of 3.8448M. Even as a proportion of the total resident population (2013) of 3.8448M, the proportion of Singaporeans expecting to seek private (B1 and above class ward treatment in gahmen and private hospitals) is still 2.404/3.8448 = > 62.5% which shows that a vast majority of Singaporeans DO NOT ACCEPT SUBSIDISED PUBLIC C or B2 class ward treatments.

According to MOH on its website 'Healthcare Made Affordable'"You will get the same good quality medical care, no matter which ward class you choose.": thus the conclusion can only be that either: there is INSUFFICIENT reassurance given to the Singapore resident population that subsidised C and B2 class wards provide equally good treatments, or else rumours that B2/C class ward treatments are inferior/ service poor is true (which is then a betrayal of once-upon-a-time good government social policy).

In regard of the early adoption of a healthy lifestyle, it has since been proven that 'Healthy Lifestyle May Prevent 86% Of Heart Attacks' [Ã…kesson, A et al “Low-risk diet and lifestyle habits in the primary prevention of myocardial infarction in Men” J Am Coll Cardiol 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.06.1190.] unfortunately, Singapore seems to be a non-adopter of preventive medicine, with the Minister of Health betraying as much: “If you look around, our investments in health promotion and diseases prevention, I think... it is actually significantly lower than the amount of money we spend on treating diseases,” he (Minister Gan Kim Yong) said. [TDY, 11Feb2015: 'Empower consumers with holistic approach to healthcare: Gan Kim Yong']

In short, it is both the overconsumption of healthcare resources through unnecessary ward luxuries as well as the early onset of chronic disease due to prolonged unhealthy lifestyle that has caused a majority of the Singapore resident population to experience ill-health and the burden of high healthcare costs.

Perhaps the Ministry Of Health Singapore can act in this regard by (1) ensuring and auditing the quality standards of treatment in no-frills subsidised wards, (2) investing more in preventive healthcare and lifestyle change (e.g. through medishield-life premium discounts for those who pass requisite fitness tests etc).

As an eminent medical specialist has advised: "'Food cannot be the centre of our existence,' she (Prof Vathsala) said. " [May 2015: 'A new dialysis patient every 5 hours in S'pore']

The threat to our national security of Singaporeans gorging themselves to illness/ bankruptcy is immediate and real.
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MOH: 'Healthcare Made Affordable' website: (https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_w...y-surgery.html)
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