Public raises concerns over healthcare costs, manpower
capacity
By Sara Grosse | Posted: 18
March 2012 2056 hrs
SINGAPORE: Healthcare initiatives raised during the
recent Budget debate were mostly well-received by the public but
some lingering concerns remained over rising costs and manpower
capacity.
Over 100 participants took part in a dialogue session on Sunday,
chaired by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and Minister of State Amy
Khor.
Better health insurance coverage and more subsides are the focus of
the Healthcare 2020 Masterplan.
But while the government makes efforts to provide relief to those
who need it, there are concerns this may lead to higher costs in
the long-term.
"You are giving benefits on one side but it might come back and
haunt citizens again through the insurance companies in terms of
higher premiums," said one participant.
Another participant said: "The government might feel a little bit
of a pinch giving out more and more. But how far can you go by
giving out more and more and more?"
Mr Gan responded: "Firstly, we change the way we do things to make
sure the cost maybe will still go up, but slower than what it would
have been had we not done it. Secondly, we want to make sure that
we encourage people to use the right level of medical care so that
you don't consume medical services that are unnecessary."
Mr Gan added there are measures in place to help off-set premium
increases on MediShield, such as GST vouchers for the
elderly.
Manpower capacity was another concern raised by participants, made
up mainly of healthcare workers and grassroots volunteers.
"If the government wants to lower the number of foreigners who come
in, how do we then manage and calibrate it so we have good nurses
and other healthcare professionals who want to come in and boost
our healthcare system," asked one participant.
Dr Khor replied: "We will increase the local intake here but we
will also try and get more of our Singaporeans who are studying
overseas to come back. That itself may still not be sufficient,
especially in the short to medium term. We will still have to
continue to attract some of the foreigners who are trained in
recognised universities to come to Singapore to provide
services."
In conjunction with this feedback exercise, REACH also conducted a
telephone poll to assess Singaporeans' reactions to Budget 2012.
And when it came to healthcare, the policy that was most
well-received was increasing subsidies in the Intermediate and
Long-Term care sector.
Other issues raised at Sunday's dialogue session included more
public education on healthy eating habits, better communication
between hospitals and patients and making inter-hospital transport
wheel-chair friendly.
- CNA/fa
