Govt subsidies amounted to S$2.2b for patients
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Govt subsidies for patients in public hospital amounted to S$2.2b in 2010
SINGAPORE: Government subsidies for patients in public hospitals amounted to some S$2.2 billion last year.
This was disclosed by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong in his reply to MP for Marine Parade Seah Kian Peng in Parliament on Tuesday.
Public hospitals saw four million outpatients in 2010 and over 67 per cent of these were subsidised patients.
Out of the 345,000 inpatients who were discharged during that time, close to 85 per cent received subsidies.
About 250,000 stayed in subsidised B2 and C class wards, including patients in B1 wards who received some form of subsidy. Subsidised services accounted for close to 85 per cent of total inpatient workload.
According to Mr Gan, services that are not subsidised, such as Class A ward admissions or private day surgeries, are generally charged on a cost recovery basis.
Non-subsidised services accounted for about S$11 million, or one per cent of hospital revenue.
Mr Gan noted that the public hospitals are on average 85 per cent full and the ministry is addressing the tight capacity by employing more doctors, specialists and adding hospital beds.
He said 600 public sector and acute sector hospital beds, or about 10 per cent of the total, were added between 2000 and 2010 as a result of the new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Another 700 beds will be added when the new Ng Teng Fong Hospital opens in Jurong in 2014.
Mr Gan said: "Bed numbers are just one measure of health care capacity. As our hospitals develop evidence-based care pathways to better manage patients, they are also able to reduce the average length of stay while at the same time improving the quality of care. These measures effectively expand the capacity of hospital beds, allowing us to admit more patients with the same number of beds.
"We will continue to expand our infrastructure and manpower to meet healthcare needs. Planning for the Sengkang General Hospital has begun. Other than acute hospitals, we are also ramping up other facilities such as community hospitals and nursing homes. We will strengthen our primary care capabilities, including the setting up of medical centres in the community, to address the demand for specialist services."
The ministry is also beefing up healthcare facilities in the community and getting more general practitioners to share the load.
For instance, patients can now get subsidised services in GP clinics through the Primary Care Partnership Scheme.
- CNA/fa -
Must be careful with the meaning of subsidy in the Singapore context.
They buy medicine at $1.00. Set the price at $5.00. Then sell you at $3.00 with GST. Viola! you have got a subsidy of $2.00. Ain't that great!
Foreigners pay the $5.00 though, without GST
Kings and Sultans pay $5,000.00, less 10% discount.
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not sure about hospitals but i visited the polyclinic yesterday.
2hrs in all for the whole affair but it cost me only $15.10
frankly, its kind of cheap. so i believe its subsidized.
$9.5 for consultation
$1.4 for kaolin mix
$1.4 for oral rehydration salts
$1.4 for promethazine
$1.40 for parcetamol
$1.4 for each medicine is very cheap!!!
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Why there is a need to subsidise when its cost can be reduced :D...the best subsidy is to live healthily, fill the stomach for about 80-90 percents, more vegetables & fruits, moderate exercises, be light hearted to avoid stress free....all misleading information against vegetarianism can be found here - http://www.vegetarian-society.org/
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Originally posted by Whimsy:
Why there is a need to subsidise when its cost can be reduced :D...the best subsidy is to live healthily, fill the stomach for about 80-90 percents, more vegetables & fruits, moderate exercises, be light hearted to avoid stress free....all misleading information against vegetarianism can be found here - http://www.vegetarian-society.org/
not many will switch to veggie just to keep healthy.
i definitely wont coz i am a meat person.
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Originally posted by dragg:
not many will switch to veggie just to keep healthy.
i definitely wont coz i am a meat person.
That's I can't be of much help, i am just stating healthy living. Your body, your health and your life.....
It feels great for helping the environment as vegetarian, healthy, free from cruelty to animals, save energy as it cooked faster as compared to meat, cleaner as the odour is smell nice, human intestine is twist and turn - not meant for meat, human jaw as well.........life is eternity that changes its form after one's death, there is a likelihood of past life's friend or loved ones changes to animals form in this life, eating meat is causing them physical and mental agony....in all, beings vegetarianism is a form of love to your loved ones....:D
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Originally posted by dragg:
not many will switch to veggie just to keep healthy.
i definitely wont coz i am a meat person.
It was found that over seventy-five percent of the American men examined had serious narrowing of their arteries while none of the Korean soldiers had the disease. It was concluded that the diets of the two groups had contributed to the difference. While the Americans had consumed fatty meat and eggs, the Koreans had eaten mostly beans and rice. In view of these facts, vegetarianism is gaining wider acceptance these days. Peter Burwash, a formerly top ranked tennis player, writes, "Having spent twenty-five years of my life as a meat-eater, I was constantly perplexed by the physical ups and downs that are a natural part of a high protein meat diet. But my energy level as a vegetarian has been so consistent that for me a low-energy day is indeed a rarity."
Virtues such as nonviolence and compassion lead to peace of mind. Dr. A. N. Upadhye writes, "It is only a strict vegetarian that can assure himself that he is a cultured citizen who is not living at the cost of any other life in this commonwealth of animate beings. Further, a vegetarian diet is conducive to a dispassionate and balanced mind and detached and equable attitude. It is thus the baser emotions and lower instincts are sublimated resulting in nobler virtues of universal kindness, equality and brotherhood."
In view of the increasing population of the planet, especially in the developing countries, it is imperative to conserve and efficiently use the natural resources such as land and water. Vegetarianism is extremely essential for this purpose. A few years after India's independence, in a discussion with Pandit Jhamman Lal Jain, a problem of increasing population and hunger around the world was raised.The insightful scholar mentioned the rampant non-vegetarianism in America as the major factor in aggravating the problem. Dr. D. C. Jain of the Animal Welfare Society of India writes, "Vegetarianism is the greatest tool in the preservation of the environment. Water pollution, soil erosion, shortage of energy resources and the rapid destruction of forests are some of the problems which are part of environmental aspects of our diet. The availability of food depends upon the plant resources and the livestock. Livestock agriculture requires a greater investment of natural resources than the plant food agricultural resources. Land, energy and water requirement for livestock agriculture is about 10 to 1000 times greater than those necessary to produce an equivalent amount of plant food." The nutritional return per acre, published by the US Department of Agriculture, reveals that oats produced in an acre of land contain 110 kilograms of protein and provide 2760 kcal, while the beef produced in an acre contains only 14 kilograms of protein and provides only 110 kcal.Over half the water consumed in the United States is used in livestock industry. A pound of wheat contains more calories than a pound of beef but the beef requires 40 to 50 times more water.
The meat industry also uses a very significant quantity of oil, another important natural resource, to power the meat processing equipment, to store meat in refrigerators and to transport it. Waste from the meat industry is a serious cause of pollution of rivers, lakes and streams.
To summarize, vegetarianism is beneficial to individuals for health and spiritual reasons. A vegetarian diet also entails an efficient use the natural resources. For example, in India, vegetarianism can sustain about ten times more people than the existing population.
Production of plant food places minimal strain on the environment. Thus vegetarianism is good for the self and good for the environment.
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Originally posted by mancha:
Must be careful with the meaning of subsidy in the Singapore context.
They buy medicine at $1.00. Set the price at $5.00. Then sell you at $3.00 with GST. Viola! you have got a subsidy of $2.00. Ain't that great!
Foreigners pay the $5.00 though, without GST
Kings and Sultans pay $5,000.00, less 10% discount.
Public housing is also heavily subsidized.
Really.
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Subsidized to the tune of almost 1 billion dollars a year.