The U.S. spends nearly 17 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, while Singapore spends about 4 percent of its own GDP. According to the World Health Organization, Singapore has one of the best health care systems. The country’s 4 million people are required to save a portion of each paycheck, which then goes into an interest-bearing savings account used to pay future medical bills.
Worldfocus special correspondent Daljit Dahliwal and producers Mary Lockhart and Ara Ayer report from Singapore’s hospitals.
Watch an extended interview with Singapore’s Minister of Health on the fundamentals of Singapore’s world-renowned health care system.
Below, bloggers compare Singapore’s health care to other global systems.
An American blogger at “Everday Singapore” compares her experience going to the doctor in the U.S. and Singapore, saying that she receives more attention in Singapore because there are less patients.
The “Health Beat” blog writes that Singapore’s health system is a valuable example for other nations, though such a system might not be sustainable were it transported to the United States for economic reasons.
Blogger “Bryan Caplan” examines the statistics and concludes that Singapore has achieved American health outcomes for about a quarter of the cost.
Blogger “cbernard” analyzes the Medisave system’s effectiveness.
A blogger at “Dissidia” describes her stay at Singapore General Hospital and posts images.
The “Singapore Life and Times” blog writes that locals feel hospital charges are too high, and that the hospitals seem to be purchasing overly-expensive items.
01/26/2010 :: 12:36:14 PM
singapore doctor Says:
As a doctor currently working in a Singaporean hospital (having recently returned from working in the Australian health care system) - I can definitely attest the system in Singapore, for all its meeting perfomance targets, is certainly not patient-oriented or in the best interest of the average patient unless you happen to be middle-class & have family and sufficient CPF/Medisave. Patients in Singapore have access to little, if any, support at all from the state).
In the hospital system’s daily workflow, discharging patients is a priority (often at the expense of ensuring the individual patient’s well being before discharge). I have seen countless patients’ initial medical issues being inadequently investigated or treated due to the greater priority on patient discharge rate to ensure turnover rate (hence “key perfomance indicators” are met for economic analyses).
And make no mistake - unless you have family or savings to support you, there’s only paltry (if any) support for critical illnesses (e.g. cancer, etc) from the government due to their strict anti-welfare state mentality.
In short, despite the widespread claims and shiny new buildings - Singapore’s health care system is definitely NOT anywhere near that of a first world standard. At least not to the average patient in the public health system - those in the lower income earning strata- whose needs are very marginalised and largely ignored.