Tag Archives: Subsidies
Why a ‘fat tax’ won’t work in Singapore- TODAY 12 Nov 2013
I’ve been pretty quiet recently and I apologize to readers. After my book “Myth or Magic: The Singapore Healthcare System” was published in September, I decided to take a short break from writing. The last 2 months have been intellectually invigorating. They were spent traveling around the region, looking at different models of care, new […]
How should Singapore’s Healthcare System Change (Straits Times 7 Sept 2013)
It was hard to offer excerpts from my upcoming book ‘Myth or Magic: The Singapore Healthcare System’ within the word limit constraints of a newspaper. The Straits Times editors chose the chapter ‘How should Singapore change?’ and asked initially for the over 10,000 words to be condensed into 1,500 words. I tried but could not […]
Are Singaporeans being set up for disappointment?
“More help for pioneer generation soon: Tharman”, “A new social compact between the people and the government will also have to be forged”… The traditional build up to the National Day Rally (scheduled this year for 18 Aug 2013) seems to be in overdrive this year. I am worried. Looking at a couple of letters […]
Bilateral Cochlear Implants- A heartless, bureaucratic MOH? Not quite…
The 24th May 2013 letter in the Straits Times Forum pages appealing for the government to “Allow Medisave use for daughter’s ear implant” has elicited severe criticisms of the authorities for being unsympathetic, bureaucratic and the like. Some comments from the Real Singapore website which publicized the letter: A very cold and uncompassionate govt & […]
New PAP or Party returning to roots?- Relevance to healthcare
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-pap-or-party-returning-its-roots Interesting and balanced analysis by Amir Hussain in ‘Today’ on whether the PAP is truly transforming. Guess it all boils down to the balance- How to be popular enough to remain in power. I am not sure that the PAP has not misunderstood the people though. My sensing is that people do NOT want […]
Healthcare Financing Reform: Only One ‘Right’ Question
“What are you trying to achieve?” is the question we would ask clients embarking on new initiatives. Similarly, when we undertake a ‘fundamental’ review of the healthcare financing system, we have to go back to basics. Dr. Daniel Kim, whom I studied under in an intense series of workshops on systems thinking when I was […]
Presentation at Tembusu College on Changing Political Philosophy in Singapore Healthcare
Below is the text of a presentation prepared for the Tembusu Forum 18 Feb 2013 [To check against delivery]. CHANGING POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES- IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF SINGAPORE HEALTHCARE Friends and colleagues, It gives me great pleasure to be here today. My thanks to Prof Tommy Koh for his kind invitation to come and share […]
Co-payments in healthcare (Commentary in ‘Today’ 28 Jan 2013)
A friend and respected colleague in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy once commented, “Singapore policy makers worship at the altar of moral hazard”. While co-payments are a powerful tool, I sometimes feel we have gone overboard and mistaken the means for the end. And like all tools, they are appropriate in some […]
Who Shall Live?
Who should be subsidised? 04:45 AM Jan 14, 2013, Today newspaper by Jeremy Lim “Who shall live?” is the dramatic title of Victor Fuchs’ classic text on health economics. The melodrama is unfortunately not over-stated. Healthcare is marked by finite resources and infinite demand. There can never be enough doctors, nurses, hospital beds and medicine […]
Insights Health Associates 
Community Health Assist Scheme and Polyclinic Volumes
I was asked by a journalist to comment on the Singapore Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) and the impact on polyclinic consultation volumes. Below are the queries and responses. Queries: Other than providing subsidised care in the community, another purpose of CHAS is also to ease the patient load of polyclinics. However, despite the significant […]