Healthcare in Singapore
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- Опубликовано: 13 июл 2024
- Singapore is a small city-state that likely isn't as well known to you as some of the other countries we've discussed before. But they've got one of the most fascinating health care systems around. It's cheap, it's pretty much universal, and it achieves some amazingly strong outcomes. It's also much different in structure than other systems we've covered before. Watch and learn - you'll be glad you did.
If you want to learn more, there's pretty much only one book you need to read. It's short, it's awesome, and it's still free in Kindle format. It's called Affordable Excellence: The Singapore Health System, and you can get a copy here: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C...
John Green -- Executive Producer
Stan Muller -- Director, Producer
Aaron Carroll -- Writer
Mark Olsen -- Graphics
/ aaronecarroll
/ crashcoursestan
/ realjohngreen
/ olsenvideo
As a Singaporean, I have to agree. We have a great healthcare system, even though locals don't always appreciate it. I don't have to worry about medical bills because of Medisave and insurance plans that allow me to use Medisave to pay the premiums, thus increasing my coverage. Some people say the govt control too much in Singapore's healthcare, I say the control has prevented healthcare providers from becoming purely profit-driven, which only hurts the people.
Drop those fuckers in America, and watch them beg for their old healthcare system. They always complain until they realize that theirs is way better. XD
Diana Peña You realize we don't all like the new system, right? And that not everyone in a country thinks the same way?
DuffinCaprous
Doesn't change the fact that 'Murica is objectively worse. More expensive, less comprehensive, and worse outcomes.
People from Singapore should be grateful for their healthcare system.
Diana Peña And your point being? Did anyone say that the US had a better system? No, you just decided to randomly bad mouth the United States in a video that had little to do with the US. I'm not inclined to care about your opinion.
DuffinCaprous
I can't say #rekt enough times dude, good stuff.
Like how they played our national anthem as the intro song. Nice touch.
Singaporean here, and thanks very much Healthcare Triage for doing this video. Frankly a lot of my fellow citizens don't fully understand our own system, so it's good to see you weigh in on it.
Holy shit. It's almost like Singapore doesn't let politics ruin everything.
I really wish the US wasn't so caught up in partisanship and fundamentalism.
i want to start a movement to make Texas:USA ratio, the opposite of
Hong Kong:china. Basicly Hong Kong is Considered part of china due to a treaty, but really is a independent city-state. I want Texas to be considered its own country, but still part of the USA military and political wise.
matt kelly I hate to break this to texans, but texas has the same damn problems that the rest of the country enjoys. Texas is no more special than any other state.
P.S. Please stop sending Bushes to Washington.
Singapore is much smaller, so it is easier to keep the government in check.
Vadix Vadexi That may be true, but it is certainly not established as the reason healthcare works so much better over there.
I would need to see something to support that correlation.
www.heritage.org/index/ranking
It is no surprise that the most economically free countries in the world are also the best and richest places in the world to live.
On the flip side, the worst places in the world to live are the ones with the most government control.
Why do all of Singapore's healthcare programs sound like they could be items in an RPG?
YOU PICKED UP: 1 MEDISHIELD
I come from Singapore we play to much LoL and Dota 2 and MOBA games I play too much CS
+Redlime i noe rite
Ya, gives you more Def, but at a cause of RNG to insurance claims, because you are thrown to a insurance company and they may or may not pay you should the need arises.
Eldershield:
Pros: Provides severe disability coverage of up to SGD$400/month for 72 months.
Cons: Can only be used at Level 40 and above. Can only be equipped if user is unable to do 3 activities of daily living.
You are wrong in one thing... Singapore is not homogeneous. It's a multicultural society with Indians, Malays and people originally from all over southern China. It also has a TON of western, Filipino and other expats.
The government works hard to promote harmony between very diverse communities.
well 7 out of 10 are ethnic Chinese so they dominate overall - but yeah that's not "homogeneous" either.
Christopher McAnally
So Singapore as no identity
Amidat Although there are more Chinese, racial harmony is still there.
Gourab Kundu Singapore is the identity of everybody. Trust me,I'm Singaporean.
Felix Chua
If anyone can be Singaporean, being Singaporean means nothing at all. It’s literally just a participation trophy.
I'm a Singaporean, and I have to say I'm extremely thankful I've been brought up in a society where we can almost take medical coverage for granted, really. I've seen my older relatives go in and out of the hospital for various conditions related to old age, but I've barely seen many financial concerns. We honestly have an amazing quality of healthcare, amazing safety nets to help the less privileged in society, and still have huge amount of flexibility in your medical coverage, while making sure nobody is left out. I interned at a financial advisory company recently, and I've really been exposed to many of the private choices for healthcare as well. I can say with confidence that I won't have to worry about my healthcare expenditure in the foreseeable future, which makes me really glad to be Singaporean. (:
It's hilarious because my grandmother is very wealthy in Malaysia but because of how shit the place is, they cannot save her. 0 doctors working on Christmas eve, entire state of Johor having 1 operating MRI. Can you believe this?
as a singaporean, this means alot. thanks healthcare triage for doing this video on singapore healthcare. and by the by there is a percentage of singaporeans who are quite ungrateful for the effective healthcare system provided for us. this is usually due to lack of exposual to other healthcare systems in other parts of the world.
and to those singaporeans reading this, please think for yourselfs and stop blaming the government for every increase in cost or policies not in your favor. there are 5.4million of us and the goverment of the main and upcoming party are doing their best. stop blaming the P.A.P, god knows where we would be without them.
only in singapore do you find a healthcare system that is analogous to a video game life bar system (health, armor, shield medkit)
i wonder if the people that made that system were gamers
MWB Gaming you are funny... LMAO
MWB Gaming dude, watch out with that profile pic. You may get someone triggered.
I almost got a mental breakdown because of the healthcare in Singapore
2:10 is the wrong way round on the script or on the screen
@Josh Alfstad फ
@Josh Alfstad ठटॅधपठनपप
@Josh Alfstad एअःअःध
As a singaporean I dont have Insurance, but that's no issue, most(almost all) common healthcare needs are covered by the government. Proud to live in a country where the government actually works for the people.
People keep saying Singapore is socialist and only one governing party runs the country. That's far from the truth, and I think people who aren't Singaporeans ought not to make such judgements without full and proper investigation. The PAP has led Singapore to success for a long time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why would the citizens want to throw in another governing party, possibly toppling the balance of the country's running?
Well, Singapore's doing quite well and I think we'll keep on doing better. We're not communist. Simple as that.
We are not communist in the sense of the Reds... but we are socialized by necessity... mostly, it is better to think in terms of needs rather than pure ideology.
+BioCapsule US is more socialized than Singapore, mind you. At least Spore does not have unemployment insurance. you name it Social security, medicare, etc in the states, just they have a implementation/systems that is sucks to the ground.
enkii82 Oh too true... it is so much less socialized mainly because of certain deeply conservative beliefs some elements of the still government held. Granted Asian conservativism is not the same as the US... but still problematic in the long run.
Some of US's problem with system while due to the corporate greed & partisan politics. Certain parts is kind of by design... mainly for the difficulty of convincing anything to be centralized. Just age of consent alone for example... it's the only country in the world with that have a set of laws for each state. While it provide a great deal of flexibility in many areas... it also creates a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy in areas which could have done better without. It certainly doesn't help when the conservative party has basically gone over the deep end.
Lyrekem what's socialist
It's worth noting that while it's not a good time being poor in Singapore, the vast majority of Singaporeans live in public housing, and there is consequently almost no homelessness. Having a roof over their heads gives Singaporeans a bedrock from which to climb back out that's more forgiving than in the US.
Had no ideea Singapore had such a good healthcare program , well done and I hope people from other countries will press their politicians to change things or go away
@Muzik21 regardless, Singapore has one of the best Healthcare system in the world. I know having experience what is overseas and in Singapore. Those who say otherwise have not seen much out of Singapore. Stayed in A&E for one night for an antibiotics drip. Half of it was subsidized and the remaining from my insurance. None OUT of POCKET except for some creams and medicine which did not amount to SGD 10.
Muzik21 I believe am in a much better system than you to know how well, Singapore’s healthcare system.
I have been living in Europe for 40 years.for me Singapore is the best. love Singapore always........
I got the shock of my life when I saw that Healthcare Triage did a video on my tiny little country! More than interesting to see our healthcare put across by someone on the outside.
@2:13-"Two thirds of spending is private" but the graph shows 2/3 being public. Please clarify :)
he added an annotation. The labels were flipped
... at approximately 2:10 you say "two thirds of healthcare spending is private, and 1/3 is public..." but the pie chart is the opposite
Yes, that messed me up. 2/3 private
The infographic shows 2/3 pulbic and 1/3 private!
Thank you for these videos. I barely knew about my own healthcare system, let alone the basic structure of other countries, which helps me form an opinion on my healthcare system and see where changes should/could be made. Thanks!
Thank you for your ongoing series. As a Canadian expat living in the US, I've found your videos to be quite accurate (though somewhat lacking in local flavor). Please keep up the great work!
Lies again? United Health Care
"and very homogenous" nooooot really. Singapore is one of the most religiously and racially diverse countries in the world. Far from homogenous. Places like Thailand, Japan, France, etc are homogenous. But definitely not Singapore.
Fals3Agent Homogeneity is hard to define define, sure Thailand may be primarily inhabited by people of the Asians race, it's quite diverse ethnically. France is no longer as homogenize due to the older immigration from North Africa and the newer economic migrants from the Middle East.
Thailand and France are not homogenous.... Japan is though
@@Amidat Majority of France(same culture same language), US, Britain(speaks English as the first language), Thailand(90% buddhist and speaks thai as first language) is more homogenous than Singapore. You could not find a more heterogenous nation than Singapore, different language, different dialect, different races, different ethnic, different religions, different culture, different way of eating(barehands, chopsticks, fork spoon), different food, different values.
enkii82 Yeah, I literally can use 2-3 different dialects/languages in a single sentence that is incomprehensible to a non-Singaporean.
Disciple of Christ There is no migrants from the Middle East in France
I'm a Singaporean student and this is quite different from what I'm learning in social studies .
I wouldn't make a sweeping statement that the "market failed". Singapore pays less and 2/3rd's is privately funded. I'm guessing you meant to say "a full laissez faire market". You did make a convincing case for the ruthless, profit-hungry market not having full control (this is coming from a Libertarian, mind you). Very interesting video, good job.
Daniel Macias The market is neither ruthless nor benevolent, it simply maximizes profit and you can't maximize profit by providing healthcare to everyone. It can, however, improve efficiency and keep costs down. Every country now has a mix of the two, Singapore is just more pro-active and nimble about striking the best balance possible, whereas others get bogged down in the politics of it.
+Daniel Macias Singapore is not a full-laissez faire market. it's the middle path!! in between free market and government intervention, they don't believe in both extremes, they believe what actually works practically.
Liberals will always try to blame something on the market. They should probably watch this: *watch?v=IBFoC1gkExI*
@@segasys1339 But to some people, 'maximizing profit' is an evil in and of itself.
Wong Tik Ki people have always maximized profit. People also have a sense of humanity and community. The key is to balance them all together, not to suppress this or that because u think it’s evil.
Cool video! Although some people don't really appreciate the CPF account, since part of your salary is ""taken"" away, this shows a nice breakdown and simple to digest infomation!
Check out PAL Network!
Oh and thanks so much for all this wonderful information!
This souds like a pretty good way to do healthcare. The biggest problem I see for the Us is that fact that most of our hospitals are not run by the government so creating different classe so service would be difficult. They are however non-profit and so their goals pretty much align with the patients.
There are various forms of national health care system that work pretty well in East Asia. The key takeaway is that the system needs to ensure hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other medical device suppliers offer competitive and high-quality services meanwhile keeping the cost under control. The greater number of private insurance companies result in higher administrative cost and less bargaining power.
I'd love to see you make a video about one of the nordic countries.
Same.
Just what I needed for my assignment. Thanks :)
I am a Singaporean. I find the healthcare system to be awesome. I had a surgery and it only cost me $100? However, I disagree with the 20% cut in our wages to be placed inside our CPF account. We have to hit a mininum sum before we are even allowed to withdraw from our CPF account when we turn 55. The sum is insane for the lower class (about SGD 200000/ USD 150000+). That is the sum increases each year to adjust for inflation, the mininum sum always get higher and more and more people are unable to hit that said amount. Imagine you are 55 and have worked for 30 years and have$170000 in your CPF account. You still are unable to withdraw any money. That is the big issue among Singaporeans in recent times.
I'm a Singaporean too and i also find the healthcare system to be awesome. As for CPF, it's a mandatory savings plan for Singaporeans and PRs. It's to help CPF members meet their basic needs during their old age. There is a minimum sum of SGD155,000 to be in CPF and you can withdraw any excess after you turn 55. If there was no minimum sum, then people will be free to use the lump sum of money they have accumulated over the years as they please when they reach 55. We read reports of sudden lottery millionaires who have lost their money within a few years or months. That's because some people don't know how to handle this new found wealth. I don't want that and if Singapore were to allow for such withdrawels, can you guarantee that there will not be a significant increase in people who are homeless and in debt? Of course there will be some people who are financially capable and skilled to grow this lump sum of money and manage it even better but the bigger concern is what Singapore needs to do if anyone is allowed to withdraw everything.
I'm happy with this savings plan. I'm grateful for the Singapore government as it truly cares for the people and is relatively responsive. Don't equate caring for people as giving them what they want always. Of course there will always be individual cases where things didn't turn out well for this person or that person. This happens in every country. What matters more is the government is learning and improving over time.
I'm proud to be a Singaporean living here in Singapore.
I thought about that when I was watching the video and thought they might have found a solution to it like allowing certain amounts to be withdrawn over certain periods of time. Has this issue been fixed since the video was released?
I was badly injured while on a trip to Singapore, I was a US green card holder and I received coverage ^-^
I really like your ending monolog. We really need to learn to be flexible in any health care system.
Yay I had suggested that you do the health care system in Singapore in the comments of one of your earlier videos and you did! Wish came true.
wow.. proud to be a Singaporean.
My god, this is a concise explanation. And I live in this country.
Singapore benefits from expensive housing. You have to be well off to live there. People that are well off generally don't have genetic disorders or other health concerns. I would love to move there someday.
"willing to change" is the key phrase. 👍
Please do one on the German Healthcare system! I'm moving there shortly, and I'd really like to be informed about it!
Singapore's healthcare system is so unique. Are there any other countries in the world that have systems similar to this? I enjoy how they cater to everyone. They offer rooms that are private and cost more, or they offer a plan that will be covered by the government. I enjoy how they make people take money out of their paychecks to go to healthcare savings plans. It makes them somewhat accountable for their own healthcare. It is also amazing that they actually encourage people to have babies- when it is a very expensive process here in America. I wonder why this plan works so well for Singapore. Would this work as well here in America?
The thing is... Singapore does have conditions & factors that are rather unique. It also effects many other issue beyond healthcare. For example... it is likely one of the most expensive places to own a car by design, to discourage car ownership and rely on public transport, because it is too small & densely populated to allow too many vehicles or heavy pollution. A lot of things that works here, will not work in other places without significant alterations. America also have the resources to cover more so a more comprehensive coverage & possibly mobile one might be better, especially for it's geographical size. There are also very significant differences between Singaporean's cultural mentality and Americans. However the most significant problem I think the US face isn't the lack of a socialized system that would work but rather getting American conservatives to agree to it.
+AQ Malaysia!
enkii82 sorry, but i don't agree. a lady from my church who was from malaysia (now a PR in singapore) fell during chinese new year in malaysia. she visited 2 clinics there who could not treat her/treated her inadequately and she had to drive all the way back to singapore to find out she broke her leg and dislocated her ankle.
If the population is relatively healthy, spending is always reduced. Singapore's approach to public healthcare is pre-emptive, multi-dimensional, almost clinical (no pun intended).
Beneficiaries are typically local and permanent residents. Foreigners pay private rates.
- Regulation of alcohol and tobacco consumption through high taxes.
- A complete ban on drugs (traffickers are often hanged)
- Pressure on manufacturers to reduce sugar content and the possible introduction of sugar taxes.
- A majority of food stalls offer at least one healthier option per stall.
- Healthier choice labelling on products carried by supermarkets.
- Almost all public schools have removed fried items and sugary drinks from the menu.
- All public schools require children with high BMI to attend a mandatory fitness programme conducted before/after school.
- Public schools offer free dental to children below the age of 19 (citizens), subsidized rates for PRs.
- Military conscription of able-bodied males and with it, an annual fitness test until the 30s (cash incentives for passing, remedial training if you fail).
- Subsidized fitness facilities (Weekday rates, Pool = 0.73 USD/visit, Gym = 1.82 USD/visit).
- Subsidized annual health screenings (Aged 40 and above pay 3.65 USD at participating family clinics).
- Community screening events (free) to raise awareness on common health issues. (E.g Diabetes, High blood pressure, Breast cancer).
- Parks within walking distance no matter where you stay. (occasional freebies, e.g. wearable devices for clocking 10,000 steps a day).
This is by no means exhaustive. Excluding genetic predisposition and age related issues, it takes plenty of poor lifestyle choices to land yourself in the hospital!
Very informative, keep these videos up.
I really hope you do a video on the Australian healthcare system. Our healthcare system seems cheap in comparison to the US healthcare system (but every healthcare system does), whilst we seem to get similar outcomes and we have a similar population distribution to the US.
Also, your views on the proposed changes to the Australian system would be interesting.
proud to be singaporean ❤
Some may see this as an advert for health care privatization but listen: "Heavily regulated, "control over salaries", "the market fails in health care", "the public system plays the dominant role", "bulk purchasing power".
Hearing an outsider view of Singapore and its system of government is fascinating...a citizen of Singapore, depending on who you ask, would have a completely different story to tell.
The grass is always greener in the other side.
Fascinating.
I can't agree more that out healthcare system is pretty good. I am practically covered for most medical bills while paying a total of less than 50 USD per month, through a combination of healthcare insurances of which I service the premiums using my Medisave account (with earns a guaranteed minimum of 4% interest by the way).
Could you do one on belgium ? There' currently a debate on whether our health care system is to expensive or not.
How about an episode at some point on the pros/cons of breastfeeding and formula during the first year or so of an infant's life. There is a lot of passion and conflicting information on the subject. It would be good to see a decent rundown of the research.
This souds like a pretty good way to do healthcare. The biggest problem I see for the Us is that fact that most of our hospitals are not run by the government so creating different classe so service would be difficult. They are however non-profit and so their goals pretty much align with the patients. In fact I am a realy big fan of singapores social seciurty system of useing mandatory saveings account
Decentralisation!!!!! We should all live in our own Singapore!
Absolutely. Let each of the 50 states regain the independence they were meant to have. More variety means more models to be tested and learned from. Instead an overly strong federal system makes rules that fit to the lowest common denominator and enforces it.
Healthcare Spending in Singapore pie chart doesn't reflect the information you verbalize sir.
Nice video and thanks for sharing.
Hi can you please do a video on the healthcare system of New Zealand? We might be small but our healthcare is amazing!!!
The pie chart is mistaken. He says two third is from private but it illustrates one third. A fatal mistake because people tend to attracted by images more than words.
Best healthcare system in my opinion.
you obviously dont know countries like taiwan, hong kong and japan
This and Germany seem like great systems
I did not know Singapore's healthcare system was that great. They spend way less than other countries (the U.S.) and achieve outcomes that are incredible. The most unique part is that they use public and private sectors in a good way. The fact that Singapore spent only $2,000 per person on healthcare, compared to $7,000 in the U.S. should tell you a lot. I'm thinking that some of the reason for their success could be due to the private and public spending throughout the healthcare system. Also, workers have to put wages into a private account, which will help them out tremendously. These are the small features that ranked them #6 in the world, so other countries take notes!
The US could never copy SIngapore directly but it could use aspects of such a system at a state level. And monies currently collected in taxation could be used on an individual collection level.
Hope u can make a vid about Second Hand smoke, thanks!
Thanks very much for making this video. Which country is next?
China? Germany, Switzerland - the land which has healthcares similar to Obamacare?
Actually the letters for the wards are only for public hospital in private hospitals all have air conditioning and maximum of 4 beds but for public hospital usually b2 and c dont have air conditioning but in some hospitals there is air conditioning for b2 and c to ( public hospital)
After seeing a few of these videos, I am curious: from a Doctor/HCA standpoint, what would the ultimate healthcare system look like, if you could cobble it together from the multiple systems shown?
France, pretty much.
I think he'd tell you that he doesn't know. All he knows is that the only way to get the best system is to try different things and see what works, rather than stubbornly holding onto something that doesn't, just because you believe in it. That's the Singapore way! If anyone is going to find the perfect system first, it'll be them.
There is no ultimate healthcare system, as each system needs to be tailored to the specific needs of a country's specific population. A country's economic system, it's population, its geographic distribution, and its gender, racial, religious, and other kinds of distributions will all serve to change how each healthcare system will affect a country.
feitocomfruta 👌
so do you have to save in all of the 3 accounts equally? let's say im from singapore, can I do 90% in my general savings for education and 10% in medisave? or is that regulated?
Came to the channel from SciShow. Now I’m wondering why I haven’t heard about this channel before
The willingness to change is HUGE like you said. However, there is NO WAY you could get a tiered system like that without an uproar of how the rich get so much better care in their A wards than the poorest do in their C wards
But it's Optional and healthcare is the same no matter what ward u choose u still get the same healthcare no matter what ward u choose plus would u rather have pepol forced to choose the most expensive ward and being forced to pay the full price or it being Optional
Thanks so much. Have been waiting for you to cover Singapore. You are spot on with all your analysis and I really appreciate that.
GOOD JOB!!!
can you do iceland plz
I love all of the comments from the Americans. Every reason and excuse how the numbers don't accurately reflect reality and how somehow their healthcare system is still number one in the world. You need to factor in culture, you need to ignore availability, there are problems with illegal immigrants.
Step one is admitting you have a problem. Yes, compared to many places I rather be in the US in a hospitable than say the middle east, but compared to other first world countries, you suck at health care. If you have coverage the US can provide great care, but the problem is that is a pretty damn big if. Stop pretending everything is great because it's past funny now, it's just getting sad.
Sure, our healthcare sucks compared to some. I just haven't seen convincing reasons that it isn't in part due to how much healthcare research we Americans end up funding.
Would the world have as good healthcare if the US didn't spend so much on it and let everyone else benefit?
And not many people here trust our government to efficiently involve itself in healthcare either.
Things are changing. We're getting closer to a one-payer system.
I AM sure that most other countries health care is provided by the government with public funds. In Singapore we are different is the monies are forced paid by us whether you like it or not. We all start paying CPF about 50 years ago and the medisave was started much later. So comparing to other country is different. Medisave is our money and to co-pay is no right as only insurance whereas it was started for our medical needs when we old. Now LHL came in and tweet it and tweet it until most people do not understand. When I told the doctors i do not need to see him as I cannot pay and I AM not sick. The doctor ask me to use Medisave and told the cashier to do it. It is only than I found out that there is co-payment.
Patrick Boo Sorry , but I'm really curious so I hope you wouldn't mind me asking you a question?
I hope you won't be offended by the question nor my poor grammar.
Just wondering, if the government in Singapore does not force the people to put money into the CPF, would the people retain sufficient funds to provide and support themselves when they retire? Also, would they have enough funds to pay for healthcare?
Because I somehow, see the government acting as a 'parent' for fear that the people would not be able to pay their bills, etc after retirement/ for their large healthcare cost.
And...Other countries have high tax systems of up to 40% where they do cover healthcare for the people. However, as the people are living longer due to medical advancement, are the government able to keep paying for the people? Wouldn't it amount to a large amount that would eat away the country reserve?
And where would they get the money to cover that and still upgrade the country? Wouldn't it result in higher tax rate? Since the population is also dwindling, would the burden fall onto the shoulder of lesser people= heavier weight to bear due to high tax rate?
And due to higher tax rate= higher cost of living= the citizens having a harder time.
Won't there be more pressure for the people instead?
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Have a nice day.
Please do not compare for there is never a comparison in any thing as we all works differently and thinks differently in every society. There is this saying, THE grass is greener at your neighbor garden and it that TRUE?
Great series! Will there be one on Taiwan at any point?
This was really interesting! But it also reminds me of how bad our system in the US is... :(
making same comment as others but can you clarify whether the script or graph is right at 2:10? I assume script for now :)
On the clipboard in the opening, it says "expires 10/01/17". Since this is American, that means we have until October first, 2017 to enjoy Healthcare Triage before it stops, or is this me overanalyzing?
Will you do an episode about the Dutch system? Because it's really interesting. It's good in its ideas, but it's so expensive, both to the government and to the people, because of all the bureaucracy and pointless rules.
Interesting note: At around 1:50 the video celebrates how low health care costs (HCC) are as a portion of GDP, but if you remember, near the start the video also celebrates how high the GDP per capita is. If the GDP per capita is higher, then HCC per person could be the same, and the HCC per GDP would be lower.
That's one way of looking at it. But their spending per person is also WAY low,
As of 2012, 4.7% of GDP and $2426 US, versus the USA at 17.9% and $8895 (source: data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.PCAP). Both metrics are important when considering health care costs, but it is spending per capita that should be of focus when comparing.
I can imagine the lower bureaucratic weight and area of coverage in Singapore is a decent portion of how they are able to both be flexible and cheap in administration costs. At the same time, governmental control over expensive acquisitions/administration is also likely a big cause for differentiation from the US (at least in terms of private care).
I would be quite curious to see an analysis of national health care costs if the top percentile of individual spending was removed. I suspect that doing so may reveal heavy biases in terms of where health care spending is going. While the argument that managing health care costs is extremely important to consider, effecting policy change is substantially more effective (particularly in the US) when a single goal is identified.
As a Singaporean living in UK, I think other policy areas also matter when it comes to healthcare. For example, Singapore has fewer drug and alcohol problems due to severe penalty for drug offences and high prices of alcohol. Unlike in UK where A&E are overwhelmed by drug and alcohol related admission during weekends!
Dr. Carroll, I'm just curious, which system, in your opinion, should the U.S. adopt if there were no political or other hurdles.
Eldershield has been replaced with Careshield which covers everyone. Time to update the video? But good job with this effort from 2014. Still mostly relevant. I could sense the frustration in seeing partisan attempts to misuse Singapore for their own politics. It is refreshing to see an outsider understand that our approach is neither conservative small government nor liberal big government.
I've always said that US two-party politics swing from thesis to anti-thesis, from liberal to conservative, from arguing over big government vs small government, but never getting to synthesis, never realising that the voters don't want big government nor small government. They want COMPETENT government - a government that works! For them! Not their politician's self interests.
But yes. Good video.
Also at 0:33, "I'm not an international Political Expert, but sources I trust do not describe Singapore as a dictatorship..." So nice to hear a foreigner taking the trouble to understand Singapore, instead of making snap judgement like "Disneyland with a death penalty".
Around 2:05 audio does not match graphic.
Jeff Rizza ye. I guess everyone has seen that and just ignored the "minor" mistake there.
did you consider doing an episode about Cuba ? or Japan
Saddem Gargouri should do one on North Korea since there is no such thing as hospitals and healthcare before their great leader and maybe there will again be none after. That's why they so "whole heatedly" hold on to their beloved Kims.
Slightly confused by how the speech and pie chart about the proportion of public and private spending around 2:08 - speech says two thirds is private and one third is public, but the chart shows the opposite. Which is correct?
Singapore sounds kinda awesome. Are there any flaws in its system, beyond having to pay for parts?
1. We have a mandatory savings policy, meaning a percentage of your salary MUST be saved (excluding employer contribution), so it directly lowers your month disposable income. However, the mandatory percentage is flexible, so as to facilitate bad times such as a recession, where the percentage is decreased)
2. Even though the healthcare system is extensive, Singaporeans usually don't bother getting to know the system themselves, leading to many misunderstandings and imperfect information.
3. We can swiftly make amendments to anything simply due to the way the country is run. The ruling party has over 60%(percentage of votes needed to pass new policies) of seats in parliament. Most other countries probably cant do this.
4. Singaporeans are overall alot healthier. all males aged 18 have to undergo 2 years of mandatory military service. After which, on randomly decided years for about 10+- cycles, said males have to return for several weeks of re-service in order to maintain combat readiness. Failure to meet certain physical standards might result in longer service periods. As such citizens as a whole are incentivised to stay healthy. Many other countries do not have such a system. Some might have mandatory service, but not all have re-service.
well, these are just afew i can think up off the top of my head. there are alot more flaws to our system, but i will admit. even with our flaws, just taking a look at other countries' system will make me contented.
I remember going for surgery to remove an impacted tooth cost me just 400 SGD at a private medical centre.
Of course, many of the benefits only apply to citizens or permanent residents
2:09 you say 2/3 is private but pie chart shows it's opposite. Which is true?
Instead of a bajillion different kinds of mandatory public and private insurances and 5 different levels of care, here's an amazing idea: one national healthcare system that covers everybody exactly the same, and if you don't like it you can buy your own private insurance, which is highly regulated.
Would you cover Malaysia as well?:)
Good accurate information. Just one point. Singapore is not homogeneous, at least not like Korea or Japan. It's not ad diverse as the USA, but it deals with multi culturalism on an ongoing and open level.
How does Japan's life expectancy measure up to Singapore's life expectancy in these stats, where Singapore was assigned 84 years? I Googled Japan's this year (in 2018, 3 years after the video was posted), and it was supposedly the longest lived country at an average of only 83.7 years, but I guess it would depend on the census, wouldn't it?
Graph backwards at 2:12?
Although I am very economically right leaning, and most of my peers would advocate for complete free-market healthcare, I think this system is better. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to know that free-market healthcare is extremely effective and I wish that that were the case. But, as stated in the video, free market healthcare with no government control will not be great and I have seen no evidence of it working as Right Libertarians believe it will. This Singaporean model however, sounds plausible and sounds like the best solution to $1000 trips in the wee woo wagon that take a grand total of 2 minutes. I would even sign off on a Swiss healthcare system, I really like both. I might change a few things, making it slightly more private than public and a little less government control, but that’s it.
This is an excellent video, now I kind of understand why Singaporeans think they are superior to others. They do have cool stuff.
Healthcare is not cheap in Singapore. But no one would go bankrupt from public healthcare. And they've made a lot of improvements to affordability in recent years. They've also stepped up in major ways for the healthcare of the elderly.
I think you got private and public mixed up. 2:10
That was very interesting. Healthcare is one side of health though, I think we should also look at the overall nutrition levels of Singaporians. I bet they do not spend a lot of their times in their cars like the US does, and eat much healthier.
I mean the figures were nice, but It was not depth enough. Where are most of the spendings in healthcare in the US vs Singapore? that would have been interesting.
I was about to say near the end, Singapore is also a city state. This doesn't help keep costs lower.
Can do a video on the health care system of Australia. :)
Did anyone notice that when the guy said that private spending was 2/3 spending and public was1/3 spending, the pie chart showed those in reverse?
when will you do a video about the healthcare system of Israel? I know its really good, but don't know how it compares to other countries... please make it your next episode!
The reason the competition hurt the healthcare industry is because of the ward system. The higher wards that were privately funded got priority. If there were a true free market then the incentives would be in place to serve the masses. Think Honda being the dominant instead of Ferrari, If lower class cars were price controlled and came with more overhead and regulations then Honda would prioritize higher priced cars that didn't.
There are actually two political parties and 9 independents in the Parliament of Singapore, along with the PAP.
At 2:07 the Alex says that private spending is two thirds and public one third, but the pie chart shows the opposite. Which is it?
Private is 2/3rds, looks like he added an annotation correcting the chart
2:07 did you mess up the graphic or your sentence ? you said 2/3 are private though the graphic shows about 2/3 as public O.o
I visited Singapore for about a month, and everyone I spoke too seemed really pleased with their government. But I was told by several people that you cannot run against the government. One cab driver that I spoke with told me that any citizen of Singapore is allow to run. But everyone that has tried to run has ether been arrested and sent to prison, or deported.
yes, every Singapore can run, but to prevent the abuse of that, if your vote polls don't reach a certain limit, you have to pay a sum unless you can pay, that leads to you-know-what. But we don't deport them. Like I never saw a candidate ever deported.