http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/hones...oices-needed-good-health-care-pm-lee-20150211
Published on Feb 11, 2015
[h=2]'Honest conversation, hard choices' needed for good health care: PM Lee[/h]
SALMA KHALIK
HEALTH care has always been both an emotional and political issue, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and "it is always tempting to say we will do more, we will do better and it will cost less" and "maybe even free".
But governments have to be trustworthy stewards and present the trade-offs as they are to citizens and not sacrifice tomorrow for today's political gain, he added.
Every dollar the Government spends on health care is a dollar taken from taxpayers.
It is "a dollar we cannot spend on education, housing, defence, or on personal needs of our people", Mr Lee noted.
=> How about the millions of dollars awarded to the incompetent and traitorous FAP Ministars? How about the hundreds of millions of dollars given FTrash in freebies to replace SGs? How about the billions of dollars gambled away by GeeAyeSee and Temasick? 60%, song bo?
Opening the Ministerial Meeting on Universal Health Coverage yesterday, he said providing good health care is one of the most important responsibilities of any government - but it is very challenging to achieve.
"It requires an honest conversation amongst ourselves, and hard choices made."
He gave a 30-minute summary of Singapore's health-care evolution, from the days of night soil collectors just 40 years ago to the setting up of MediShield Life, the compulsory all-inclusive catastrophic health insurance to be introduced later this year.
The two-day meeting at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel is organised by the Health Ministry.
When it comes to health care, the usual economic models do not work, Mr Lee told the 300-strong audience, including health ministers from Bangladesh, Brunei, Finland, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Expanding capacity for future needs may stimulate a supply-induced demand.
Because doctors know far more than patients, a willing-buyer-willing-seller model does not work. And protecting patients from financial consequences could lead to over-treatment.
So a variety of tools are needed, Mr Lee said, from pricing and regulation to incentives, exhortation and, sometimes, even compulsion, "to shape behaviour by doctors, patients, administrators, drug suppliers, in order to produce good collective outcome".
Giving the keynote address, Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) praised Singapore for achieving a good health-care system at relatively low cost.
"In terms of return on investment, you are No. 1 in the world," she said, pointing to the 4.2 per cent of gross domestic product spent on health care here, compared to the 18 per cent of the United States.
[email protected]
Published on Feb 11, 2015
[h=2]'Honest conversation, hard choices' needed for good health care: PM Lee[/h]
SALMA KHALIK
HEALTH care has always been both an emotional and political issue, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and "it is always tempting to say we will do more, we will do better and it will cost less" and "maybe even free".
But governments have to be trustworthy stewards and present the trade-offs as they are to citizens and not sacrifice tomorrow for today's political gain, he added.
Every dollar the Government spends on health care is a dollar taken from taxpayers.
It is "a dollar we cannot spend on education, housing, defence, or on personal needs of our people", Mr Lee noted.
=> How about the millions of dollars awarded to the incompetent and traitorous FAP Ministars? How about the hundreds of millions of dollars given FTrash in freebies to replace SGs? How about the billions of dollars gambled away by GeeAyeSee and Temasick? 60%, song bo?
Opening the Ministerial Meeting on Universal Health Coverage yesterday, he said providing good health care is one of the most important responsibilities of any government - but it is very challenging to achieve.
"It requires an honest conversation amongst ourselves, and hard choices made."
He gave a 30-minute summary of Singapore's health-care evolution, from the days of night soil collectors just 40 years ago to the setting up of MediShield Life, the compulsory all-inclusive catastrophic health insurance to be introduced later this year.
The two-day meeting at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel is organised by the Health Ministry.
When it comes to health care, the usual economic models do not work, Mr Lee told the 300-strong audience, including health ministers from Bangladesh, Brunei, Finland, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Expanding capacity for future needs may stimulate a supply-induced demand.
Because doctors know far more than patients, a willing-buyer-willing-seller model does not work. And protecting patients from financial consequences could lead to over-treatment.
So a variety of tools are needed, Mr Lee said, from pricing and regulation to incentives, exhortation and, sometimes, even compulsion, "to shape behaviour by doctors, patients, administrators, drug suppliers, in order to produce good collective outcome".
Giving the keynote address, Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) praised Singapore for achieving a good health-care system at relatively low cost.
"In terms of return on investment, you are No. 1 in the world," she said, pointing to the 4.2 per cent of gross domestic product spent on health care here, compared to the 18 per cent of the United States.
[email protected]
