tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3261052335869187859.post131194544399700815..comments2023-06-18T23:25:49.743+08:00Comments on 轉世新加坡的台客: “No, it is not even though we’re different, we are one. It is because we are different, we are one.” “政者正也, 子帅以正,孰敢不正”忠 Chonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02260178086336121164noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3261052335869187859.post-43367218648878480312011-10-22T00:43:16.000+08:002011-10-22T00:43:16.000+08:00十七年(643年)元月二十三日,魏徵病逝。太宗悲恸之极,谓侍臣:“人以铜为镜,可以正衣冠,以古为镜,...十七年(643年)元月二十三日,魏徵病逝。太宗悲恸之极,谓侍臣:“人以铜为镜,可以正衣冠,以古为镜,可以见兴替,以人为镜,可以知得失。魏徵没,朕亡一镜矣!”<br /><br />《资治通鉴》卷一九六ang clhttp://clang13.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3261052335869187859.post-71127217845965932152011-10-19T17:15:44.000+08:002011-10-19T17:15:44.000+08:00Gerald Giam’s speech (Debate on President’s Addres...Gerald Giam’s speech (Debate on President’s Address)<br /><br />Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to make this, my maiden speech to this House.<br /> <br />In his address to Parliament, the President gave a broad outline of this Government’s goals for the next five years. The Government says it wants “every Singaporean worker to hold a skilled, well-paid job; every family to live in an affordable, comfortable home; every young person to develop himself fully and pursue his dreams; every senior citizen to stay active and to live with dignity”.<br /> <br />These are bold goals which my colleagues and I in the Workers’ Party will hold the Government accountable for over the next five years.<br /> <br />Sir, today I would like to focus on three areas that many senior citizens, families and workers have pressing concerns about. They are healthcare, public housing and public transport.<br /> <br />Healthcare financing<br /> <br />Mr Speaker, the axiom, “it’s better to die than fall ill in Singapore” has been heard time and again—twice during this debate alone.<br /> <br />Many Singaporeans, especially the elderly poor, worry greatly about falling ill. They are concerned not just about the painful treatment they will have to go through, but more often about the high costs involved, and the financial burden they may place on their struggling children.<br /> <br />In Singapore, government subsidies make up only a quarter of total health expenditure. Out-of-pocket expenses, employer benefits and private insurance make up most the remainder.<br /> <br />The much vaunted “3Ms” of Medisave, MediShield and Medifund pay for less than 10% of total healthcare expenses, the lion’s share of which comes from Medisave, which is really patients’ own savings. MediShield is a self-funding insurance scheme, which members pay premiums to join. These premiums rise as they grow older. They also have to fork out large deductibles and co-insurance before receiving pay-outs, and coverage ends at age 85.<br /> <br />The Government will say that we have Medifund. But Medifund is subject to extremely stringent means testing and the disbursements are not exactly generous. In 2009, an average of $1,029 was given to less than 24,000 in-patient Medifund applicants. This represented just 5% of the total hospital admissions that year.<br /> <br />For seniors with no income and little savings, the burden of healthcare is shifted to their children. In 2005, 60% of the elderly had their medical bills paid from their adult children’s Medisave accounts. This is a very high percentage, and is in fact a departure from the principle of “self-reliance”. If these patients’ children are also low-income earners—as is often the case—the Government is merely shifting the burden of poverty within the pool of the poor. Basically we are asking one disadvantaged group to pay for another.<br /> <br />The Government seems very reluctant it to take on a larger financial responsibility for caring for our senior citizens. Instead, it hides behind the mantras of self-reliance and filial piety to justify its relatively low expenditure on healthcare for the elderly.<br /> <br />Self-reliance is good in principle, but when a patient has exhausted his own savings and has to rely on his own struggling family members, then we as a society are not being fair to both the patient and his family.<br /> <br />The Ministry of Health claims to provide universal health coverage to citizens, but I believe we are still some way from that. The World Health Organization defines universal health coverage as having a healthcare financing system that provides all people with access to adequate healthcare services without suffering financial hardship paying for them.<br /> <br />If we are to achieve this goal, we need to expand the coverage of MediShield and reduce the over-reliance on direct payments by patients at the time they need the care. To fund this, we need to strengthen the current forms of prepayment and risk-pooling, and provide assistance to those who cannot afford the premiums, like housewives and the elderly. All this points to a need to perform some major surgery on MediShield.<br /> <br />Hospital capacityang clhttp://clang13.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.com